top of page

A Vision of Hope: Blessings' Pursuit of Education and Opportunity for All

James Noble
Apr 25, 2023

We met Blessings and her son, Tasheni, in Zambia. Blessings is an incredibly inspiring woman, and we are sure you will be as inspired by her story as we were:


"I was invited to join this group by my grandma. I was very interested in the idea of being empowered by these skills. I really enjoyed art classes when I was at school, and I taught myself how to knit doormats, so I was really interested in developing this skill.


I trained as a teacher, but it is so hard to find employment as a government teacher, and you can’t earn money in other teaching positions. Because of this, I have a dream to start my own community school one day.


I want to teach vulnerable children and give them chances that they wouldn’t get in a normal school. I will teach them language skills, how to read and write. I want to teach very young ones first. I also want to teach ICT skills, knitting, and tailoring to the parents of the children. This way, we can support the school by selling what we make, and the children’s parents won’t have to pay for school fees.


I’m saving some of the money that I earn from tailoring to work towards opening this school one day.

A woman holding her son and a floormat representing the flag of Zambia.
Blessings holding a mat representing the flag of Zambia that she made.

It's quite difficult now because my husband and I have a child. Here he is, Tasheni. My husband is out of work at the moment. Sometimes he finds piecework, but mostly, I support the family at the moment.


Tailoring helps us, and it also helps the community. We make things, we sell them in the community and amongst ourselves. It helps all of us to eat every day."


Tools and skills not only uplift individuals but also entire communities. Blessings is supporting her family thanks to her tailoring skills, but her ambition is far greater. We're sure that with the support of her tools, skills, and friends, she will achieve her dream of opening a community school. This is the true impact of your support.


 

A donation of £35 would cover the costs of collecting, refurbishing, and packing a knitting machine, which will be sent to a trainee knitter, helping them to learn skills that will transform their family's lives.



Comments

We'd love to tell you more about the impact that we're having. If you'd like to see even more stories of livelihood creation, sign up for our email list and we'll keep you updated.

Quick Links

We take a wide variety of tools. Click the button above for the full list of accepted tools, and to find your nearest local collector or drop-off point.

Our work is mostly done by volunteers, whether that's driving around collecting tools, refurbishing them, or helping out in the office. Have a look at our roles.

Support our work by covering the costs involved with putting together a tool kit, as a donation, or an alternative gift on behalf of a loved one.

bottom of page