We have known Jessica since we lived in Uganda. She is the older sister of two of our students. At 22, Jessica has been struggling to take care of five younger siblings plus her own baby girl for many years. Her father died of AIDS when she was a child, her mother died the same death when Jessica was in the middle of high school forcing her to drop out of school to take care of 6 children At least one of her siblings, Joseph, a grade 4 student at our school is HIV positive and had been quite sick on our last visit. Don’t worry he’s on medication and is doing much better.

 

Jessica came to us in the summer almost every day, asking for a job, any job at the school. Since our school is fully staffed we asked her to think of a business plan for something she was interested in. The next day, she had a written proposal for a shop to sell used baby and toddlers clothes.   We had not seen a shop specifically for kids clothes in our area and quickly agreed to give her a micro loan. 

 

Before we came back to Canada, we had Wilbur, our local contractor friend, build her a small shop on the land in front of our school. This way, Jessica would be rent free to start off her new business. She promptly went to the huge used clothing market, Owino market, and purchased a garbage bag full of clothes. She proudly carried them to the school to show us. The road our school is on is a busy one, with many people and shoppers, it is a great spot to do business.

 

While at home this fall, my mom and I decided to boost Jessica’s inventory by buying some baby and toddler clothes at garage sales and thrift shops. Who doesn’t love buying little frilly dresses after all? We got a little carried away, but boy did we find some great stuff. Then, the word got out and several ladies, including Tim’s mom, my mom, their friends and various clubs from both of their churches, sewed, crocheted and knitted blankets, burp clothes, bibs, sweaters and booties. We filled a huge suitcase to its 50 pound weight limit and off it went to Uganda with Tim.

 

Tim felt like Santa as Jessica opened the suitcase, which he left there and she now uses to cart her inventory back and forth down the dirt road each day. She cried, he cried (her baby cried at the sight of the white guy which happens all too often), and then there were lots and lots of smiles and thank yous.

 

Even though Jessica had the micro loan last August, the profit margin between what she had to pay for the clothes at the market and what she sold them for was small and any profit was quickly used to feed all the kids living with her. She also used it to pay for transportation to the clinic in the city where Joseph could receive his free HIV shots.   She still needed a boost, and we were thrilled to be able to provide her with a big stash of stuff for the store. 

 

Tim explained to her how it may take a while for her to build up a clientele and not to worry if it takes a while to sell all of the new inventory. No need for that – she immediately arranged her new clothes on the hangers we sent and had 20 sales the first day. She even upped her prices a little and Tim watched as one lady looked at some things, muttered “too much”, left and then came back a few minutes later to buy them.

 

Jessica is so proud of her new business and so relieved that she can feed and clothe her family each day. Thank you to everyone who participated in making such wonderful things for Jessica to sell.

 

To see a slideshow of Jessica and her store, click on the youtube link.