Carpenter Safety Enhanced With New Equipment
Mwendo Congo granted $5800 to Let Africa Live (LAV) in January for the purchase of safety equipment to use in the carpentry workshop, now fully operational. LAV immediately obtained the equipment and trained carpenters on proper use. Worker safety is enhanced, thanks to donors like you.
Board member Dave Chatelaine was instrumental in dialoguing with Let Africa Live about safety concerns and determining the needs. He shares that story here.
Project CAUSE -- Carpentry Project Celebrates Success!
Lav carpenters loading desks built for a local school in the delivery truck acquired as part of project cause.
Ten carpenters at the Let Africa Live (LAV) central production site successfully completed their training on modernized equipment in the new workshop. They have already produced and sold hundreds of classroom chairs and tables, many church pews and numerous individual custom orders for home furniture.
Congratulations to the graduates! Kudos to LAV staff for meeting all goals of the grant project. And thank you to all who contributed to Project CAUSE (Carpenters in Action Using New Skills & Equipment)! The $70K Mwendo Congo grant provided support for a van, equipment, staff and training program.
Mwendo Congo board and donors joined their final celebration online in July 2023.
Watch the recording of the graduation celebration. Use passcode p?vtk1UK.
Binja upgrades skills through new training
(Story originally shared in Swahili; edited here for clarity.)
Binja Using modern carpentry equipment housed in the central production center that was built with financial support from Mwendo Congo
I'm Binja [family name omitted by request]. I was born in Buhozi in 2000, and since my parents were poor and vulnerable, I was unable to complete my primary education. I thus left school at the age of 12 due to lack of fees and stayed at home to assist my mother with work around the house.
By the grace of God, I was selected by Let Africa Live (LAV) to receive basic carpentry instruction in 2008, and after completing the program, I was given a set of carpentry tools that allowed me to start my own workshop and gradually become competitive in the market.
But while I was working, I became aware of my limitations – without access to modern equipment, it was impossible for me to fully complete many of the orders I received. I have now benefited from “upgrade” training to enhance my capacity in operating modern carpentry machinery.
I want to express my gratitude to Mwendo Congo for helping LAV improve the services of the production center, and for having enabled it to train us in the use of various modern machines. After six months in this upgrade training, I am now able to make use of all the modern equipment required for our line of work.
Training supervisor reflects on impacts
(Story originally shared in Swahili; edited here for clarity.)
My name is Mugisho [family name omitted by request]. I was born in Kabare, South-Kivu, in 1994. I am a former carpentry trainee at Let Africa Live (LAV) and currently work as a machinist. From my young age, my parents lacked the resources to send me to school, so I left school when I was 14.
Mugisho using a router that was purchased as part of project Cause
To find food, I had to start begging along the road. When I was at my most vulnerable, LAV “scooped me up” in 2010. They were able to train and take care of me in the joinery-carpentry sector, which enabled me to eventually become one of the top technicians and machine operators in the city of Bukavu. Thanks to the training and reintegration I received from LAV, I am now able to better take care of my wife and my three children.
I have now been serving as a carpenter machinist and the supervisor of the recent class of ten carpentry trainees at the LAV production center. We are now able to produce high-quality work and deliver our customers' items without much effort thanks to the purchase of the van and other extra machines and manufacturing equipment within the center. The production center also enables us to produce work quickly and more professionally.
Local churches, private citizens, and education organizations are beginning to place orders with us. Our customer base has grown as a result of our improvements in the manufacturing of goods and services, and the entire neighborhood now uses and values our offerings.
