Sewing seeds of greatness at St Patrick’s Catholic Church
Students from both sewing and computer classes graduated on September 8.
St Patrick’s Catholic Church, La Rochelle, in collaboration with Grassroots Heroes International (GHI) and the Nuncio of Pretoria*, recently had the graduation of not only the sewing class candidates but also the graduation of the second batch of ladies from the computer class.
These are skills development projects provided by St Patrick’s Catholic Church. The Nuncio of Pretoria funds the regular class of the sewing project and GHI for the advanced sewing project.
The sewing project started on August 1, 2016, and has grown from strength to strength. During these seven years, the project has trained over 400 ladies in sewing skills.
The project aims to empower women to generate funds to better provide for their families. The women are migrants, refugees and locals. Several women have started their own businesses and are doing well.
The latest project introduced by the church is the introduction to basic computer skills, a class that started on March 13. The course material presented includes Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
This course is also for three months, and upon completion, the students receive a certificate of completion. GHI also sponsored this project in collaboration with St Patrick’s Catholic Church.
They held a graduation ceremony on September 8, where 30 women graduated – 15 women from the sewing class and 15 from the computer class.
In attendance was Father Sergio Durigon, a former parish priest of St Patrick’s Catholic Church, who started the project with Deacon Walter Middleton and Father Eduardo Gabriel.
Middleton, currently the project coordinator and a few guests, which included his wife, June, attended. The students held a fashion show to showcase the skills they gained.
Monique Kishala is the trainer at the sewing class, and Illiana Marais manages the computer class.
Testimonies from the sewing class
Moipone Selepe: “Thank you, teachers Illana and Monique. Before these classes, I could not use a sewing machine. It was my dream, and now I can create beautiful things for my family.”
Tatenda Tamwaramwa: “Teacher Monique taught me how to sew from nothing. I can make something and sell and can feed my family.”
Testimonies from the computer class
One student said: “Teacher Illana taught me how to use a computer. I now help my children with school projects. Thank you for all the help and support. I appreciate all they taught us.”
*The Nuncio is the Pope’s representative in South Africa and the Nuncio is based in Pretoria. The Nuncio was His Grace Peter Wells.
