On the Ground: Two New Sewing Machines

Bon’ soir was the greeting on everyone’s lips on Friday November 20th at Le Château, a French restaurant in Kampala.  Hundreds of French expats came together to not only eat and socialize, but to honor Invisible Children’s MEND program, as well, with the awarding of two new electric sewing machines.  The French Ambassador and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Forceville, the chief hosts of the dinner, presented the much-needed machines to IC Country Director Jolly Grace Okot and MEND seamstress Irene Laker.

For months now, Invisible Children has been strengthening its relationship with the French Ambassador.  Mr. and Mrs. ForceVille came to Invisible Children Uganda’s Rescue event in March; they paid a personal visit to IC’s Gulu office shortly thereafter; a few IC staffers have been invited to attend a dinner that will be held at the ambassadors home at the start of the new year; and communication between IC and the French Embassy has been frequent and positive.  The dinner party on Friday night and the two sewing machines given to IC are indicators of the French Ambassador’s commitment to help with northern Uganda’s recovery effort.

After scoring well on a survey administered by the Francophone community in Uganda, Invisible Children was deemed eligible to receive an award for its dedicated service to the war-affected residents of northern Uganda.  If anyone from the Francophone community is reading this post, we at Invisible Children Uganda want to say merci beaucoup!  Your support is immensely appreciated!