Sewing Seeds Gala 2025
This year our Gala was held on a new evening, a Thursday night, and it was filled with excitement, connection and so much fun in sharing Full Circle Moments, stories of impact, and videos of our most recent trip to Uganda.
Stay tuned for more details and a summary of that evening.
Here is one of those FULL CIRCLE MOMENTs as Co-founder, Tammy shares her experience with one of our top students from Sierra Leone…
“N’Mamah Kamara was just sharing with me that she still remembers my face/smile when JD and I flew to war-torn Sierra Leone right after the war was declared over in 2001. 100 Huntley Street invited us to come and see where there might be need for a Sewing Training Program…that was 24 years ago. As you can see in this picture over 200 war widows were waiting for us in their beautiful African dresses all with HOPE for theirs and their children’s FUTURE. HOPE that we might come back and teach them skills that could then be used to earn an income to support their families. Food security did not exist as they were reeling in the after math of the brutal war. We were told not to promise to come back if we weren’t really going to but I knew my mom, and I knew myself, and when we made a commitment, we kept it. 3 months later we returned with a team of teachers and our teenagers to provide day care for the students.
Fast Forward…N’Mamah attended every program (10) that Sewing Seeds offered and then moved into an assistant teacher position where she helped us teach new beginners in Sierra Leone. I will never forget N’Mamah’s determination, perseverance and tenacity. She was a widow with 2 small children and no means to even feed them, but she did not give up. She pressed into God’s goodness inspite of the state of her country and used her sewing skills to start her own business first in her home and then every time we came back she had a new plan for growing it. She entered into our micro-credit lending program beginning with one machine and then 2 and so on until she had enough equity to purchase an embroidery machine. This was what put her above the rest in being able to offer unique designs. Junior their son became gifted
10 years later…N’Mamah grew her business to be quite lucrative and she gained prominence in her community. She met and married a gentle man with business savvy and together they started their own Sewing Seeds Training School. With the help of Sewing Seeds, N’Mamah’s dream of offering training to women in her community became a reality.
Today…Well this certainly is a full circle moment. N’Mamah had to flee her country (2018) as the government in power threatened her life. She left her husband, and 2 children in fear for her life and gained refugee status in Canada. N’Mamah got her Permanent Residency card and last year became a Canadian citizen. She has been working hard sending money back to keep the Sewing Centre going and a few months ago she was able to bring her dear husband Musa to Canada. Musma Tailoring is still operating today run by their son, Junior employing close to 20 students when in full operation. Who would have ever imagined that this would be HER journey?
From hopelessness in losing her first husband and not being able to provide for her family, N’Mamah never gave up. She rose above her circumstances, trusted in God and stepped into her own dreams. And Sewing Seeds feels privileged to be a part of her story. Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you…plans to give you HOPE and Future.”
