Last year we wrote a blog explaining the background to our barmen’s beautiful traditional shirts. In this blog, we mentioned their current project at the time – turning old bed sheets from Lalibela into school shirts for the local school.
This innovative project came about as a solution to two problems:
- The local children not having uniform for school.
- A surplus of bed sheets that are no longer up to scratch for 5-star accommodation standards but still in good condition.
The lightbulb moment struck and our wonderfully talented sewing group, Sewing Heaven, was tasked with creating 100 school shirts.
Sewing Heaven still had all their other ongoing projects, so this was no easy feat! However, after working around the clock and bringing in help from other community members, they had a mini production line going and managed to complete all 100 shirts in time for the new school year!
The school shirts – a work in progress.
The school shirts – a work in progress.
This is where we need to thank you, our guests, for all your generous donations. Charmain, our lovely Community Development Manager, was not only able to present each child with a brand new school shirt, but also with a little starter pack for the year. Thanks to all the incredible donations we’ve received from our guests, each child received a goodie bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, face cloth and stationery.
Happy faces abounded and I think parents everywhere will understand how special it is that school is met with smiles and not grimaces!
As always, we are extremely grateful to have your support in making a difference in our local community, we can’t wait to see what 2020 will bring!
If you’d like to get involved with Lalibela’s community outreach, take a look at our Pack with a Purpose page to see what we’re currently collecting. No donation is too small but is always extremely appreciated!
