“This teaching has changed me.” Over and over again, this is the feedback that Celebrating Children Workshop (CCW) Alumni are hearing as they run their own seminars across East Africa. Since October 2020, 16 facilitators have successfully launched 28 seminars in various locations in East Africa. These 16 facilitators have trained 1311 beneficiaries – pastors,…
“Everything that I am doing now has changed my life.” – Gemma, Vuka Small Business Owner It has been one year since Loom launched the Vuka Small Business Start-Up Course with a training in Arusha, Tanzania. Since then, twenty-eight leaders have completed the course and have launched their own small business in their community.…
Bosco Tuli is a social innovator working near Lira, Uganda in the wake of Northern Uganda’s civil war. His goal is to give the youth of Uganda an opportunity to rebuild their future through education and job skills training. Northern Uganda is recovering from over two decades of armed conflict, which resulted in the displacement…
In each community Loom engages, we discover extraordinary people. The struggle of their lives has created in them a rare power and hope. They are willing to face head on “how things have always been done” and to disrupt fatalistic value systems and thinking to make authentic impact. Yet the reality of their vision is…
This past month, we said goodbye to several of our faithful board members and welcomed two new members to the board. Past board members were a big part of making events like banquets and Woven Evenings happen, hosting volunteer celebration nights, and so much more. While they left some big shoes to fill, we are excited for…
Lent is traditionally a season of preparation – a time to re-examine our habitual actions, hungers, and ways of looking at the world. It is a time when the church has focused particularly on generosity and justice. This year, we invite you to join us on a Lenten journey—whether by yourself, with your family, or…
Dostoyevsky famously said, “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.” And although the events of the past year have sparked a wave of selfless generosity and courage, much of the past year has also felt like a reckoning. The poverty of our love and our imagination; the poverty…
When looking back over this past winter, it’s not hard to see how the math adds up. In 2019, Loom had begun conversations with leaders in Uganda who wanted to co-host a Celebrating Children Workshop (CCW) in 2020. As we talked further about a CCW Uganda, everyone agreed that 70 participants was the maximum number…
This month we asked each staff member to submit one book, article, or podcast that has been especially meaningful to them in 2020. Here is what they said: Anna: “I love this podcast, it is a go-to for me.” Eva: “Normally I read a lot of variety of books, but this year it has…
Recently one of our staff has been sharing photos with us of traditional African textiles. While Africa is now known for its bright, exquisite wax-printed fabrics, for many centuries the intricate art of weaving on hand looms has also been a large part of their textile heritage. As we read through descriptions of the laborious…
