Donate your unwanted Tools to help others learn a trade in Africa

THE Rotary Club of Thame and District, together with Thame and District Round Table is asking the public to check their sheds and lofts and bring their old tools to the main car park of Thame, Montesson Square, near the Market House.

The tool collection will take place on Saturday, May 11, from 9am to 1pm. At the same time, Rotary members will be displaying a ShelterBox tent in front of Thame Town Hall to raise awareness of the work done by ShelterBox to help people affected by natural disasters around the world.

Every year Thame Rotary runs a collection point for unwanted tools (not garden tools!). These are then taken to Tools for Self Reliance (TFSR) collection centre in Southampton. The latter is a charity which refurbishes the tools and sends them to NGOs in Africa. The NGOs then distribute them FREE to men and women which helps them obtain work.

All of the tools sent to Africa are used to provide training and equip trainees with their own start-up kits to set up their own businesses after completing training, not only in their chosen trade, but in business management as well as financial and life skills.

One such trainee is Umu Jalloh. Umu was living in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with her brother when she joined a Tools for Self Reliance course in partnership with Baptist Women’s Union. She had never been to school, and had left the family home aged 14, to escape an arranged marriage – her brother was looking after her; but Umu wanted to be able to earn a living, and contribute to their expenses.

She signed up for a course in tailoring and enjoyed learning so much that she often stayed after the end of classes to practice. The business training, which was part of the programme, meant that Umu felt confident enough to purchase the materials she needed for a job, how to cost and price her products, and planning her use of the income.

Umu said the biggest change was being economically empowered ‘…..so I do not have to be reliant on a man’.

Items that can be taken to the collection point include sewing machines, tools used for plumbing, carpentry, metalwork, building, bicycle repair, shoe repair and car repair. No garden tools are accepted.

For more information visit www.thame.rotary1090.org or www.facebook.com/thamerotary