ur South African economy is in tatters. One in three adults is unemployed. Many school leavers have never had a job … and little hope of ever finding one.

People look to the church for help – and help we do. We run feeding schemes and offer basic health care to the poorest of the poor. But handouts don’t solve the problem. And they create another one: loss of dignity and a culture of dependency.

In Embo, a poor rural area in the Valley of 1000 Hills, there is a training centre that offers real hope. Both men and women can learn basic sewing or welding … skills that can start them off in their own, small, home based business.

Kiddies’ clothes and school uniforms, as well as useful sewn items like shopping bags, are always in demand. And high crime rates in the country mean that security items like burglar bars and wrought iron gates find a ready market.

But the cost of the training is beyond the reach of people who have nothing. They are literally stuck in the poverty cycle, unable to grasp the opportunity that would allow them to escape. Unless someone like you is willing to reach out and help.

Can you find it in your heart to sponsor one person’s training? Your gift of £175/$225/E195/R3350, not only pays for basic sewing training – it also covers the cost of a hand sewing machine and a small kit of needles, cotton, scissors, patterns and fabric to take home afterwards.