March 5, 2018 Day 9 Uganda
What a day! Phoebe, our friend Enid and I went to Kampala to buy supplies for two of the sewing guilds that we will be visiting this week. I expected it to rain but for some reason it never did though it threatened to all day. Thank goodness. We bought well over 100 yards of fabric and it would have been a nightmare if we were carting it around in the rain.
We also bought an overlock machine. (An overlock is a kind of stitch that sews over the edge of one or two pieces of cloth for edging, hemming, or seaming.) Maureen had the one we bought in the states all packed and ready to go, but when she came down with the flu we decided to use that one for our cooperative Malawi that we will visit next month.
It was interesting working with the machine guys getting the overlock up and running. I think they were a little amazed that I knew so much about it. I just wanted to be sure that it would be understandable to our tailor in Kenya so I made sure every detail was attended to. It constantly amazes me that all the work I did in my father’s factory comes in so handy as I do this work. Thank you Dad!
Buying fabric was fun even though it was a million degrees in those little shops. It was a blast to pick out fabrics that we thought girls would like and to find some pieces to sell at MoonBees. The stores are so colorful and the stacks of materials so alluring. It’s hard to decide which ones to choose.
We brought shoelaces, velcro, elastic, threads and a ton of other stuff. It really made me appreciate how much Phoebe does for us. She usually does all of this alone and rides a "boda boda" (a bicycle or motorcycle taxi) back and forth to deliver goods from shops to her car, safely parked in a secure parking lot.
Tomorrow we head for Jinja to see our dear friends, and visit a school.