Follow Emma’s Journey to #GetHaitiSewing

Earlier this week we received a request we couldn’t ignore. One of our customers, Emma Wilkinson (of Emma Wilkinson Designs), is travelling with a small group to Haiti next month to help out at an orphanage & school called Hope House, that was set up after the earthquake & hurricane in 2010. The group includes three teachers from a local primary school who will be taking resources and will also be involved in supporting the local teachers.

Emma’s role will be to teach a handful of older teenage girls who are eager to learn to sew, one in particular who is helping sew school uniforms and is keen to learn more advanced skills and pattern cutting. Acquiring a trade could be a valuable source of income for some girls.

The group have acquired half a dozen reconditioned hand-sewing machines which they will be taking with them. Emma’s request involved supplies of equipment that will be difficult to source in Haiti. When Emma approached William Gee, we knew that teaching sewing was not just something to get by, but a skill for life.

Some of the items we’re supplying include sewing threads and machine needles, tape measures, set squares and rules, fabric scissors and papers, as well as all kinds of haberdashery items- zips, elastic, piping cords etc.

The orphanage is home to 31 children. Although officially an orphanage, Hope House is a genuine family rooted in love. All those who have visited the family can testify to this. Each member of the family have a real sense of belonging. Older siblings help the younger children. There are no lists of chores; from cooking to cleaning everything just gets done as the family unit work together in union.

To donate, please visit the Hope House Haiti website and remember, learning to sew is a skill for life. Alternatively, we’d love to raise awareness using the hashtag #getHaitisewing. What better way to go about things than the pleasure of getting people around the world into sewing.

We wish Emma all the best, and we look forward to receiving some photos from her time at Hope House.