“THOSE TOOLS ARE THE BASIS FOR EVERYTHING!”

In Mpigi, Uganda, stands a building with white painted walls, a green pointed roof and a wide entrance. Above this entrance is a banner with the text “EQUIP by Gered Gereedschap. Refurbishing Workshop”. Refurbishing: because this newly opened building is one of the refurbishing workshops that Gered Gereedschap has set up together with local organisations in Uganda: These workshops are an addition to the refurbishing workshops in the Netherlands, which will of course continue to exist as the core activity of Gered Gereedschap.

Providing opportunities for the local population

In refurbishing workshops like this one in Mpigi, tools collected in the Netherlands are refurbished and made suitable for use by vocational training centres and starting entrepreneurs in Uganda. In Mpigi, the workshop built and equipped with the support of Dutch volunteers from Gered Gereedschap is the result of the cooperation with Children’s Sure House. Besides helping disadvantaged children and young people to receive a good school education, this organisation also provides vocational training.
Martin Mpanga, director of Children’s Sure House: “We started this project in Mpigi in June 2018. Children’s Sure House wants to give vulnerable young people not only good schooling but also vocational training. This project with Gered Gereedschap fits in perfectly with this”. Martin points to a grinder on the work bench in front of him. “This grinder was in one of the two containers that Gered Gereedschap sent us. We are using it to make the supplied tools suitable for reuse. Most of the tools that are being refurbished in Mpigi are used by Gered Gereedschap to support vocational training in Uganda.

Tools for strengthening education and entrepreneurship

Children’s Sure House keeps a small part of the supplied  tools themselves. Martin: “We then sell or rent these tools at our Kampala locations. With the money we receive for this we can keep this workshop running. We can use it, for example, to pay the five people who are employed here. In addition, we give part of the refurbished tools to young people who have followed a vocational training course with us. We give them a small startup kit with basic tools with which they can work independently. We will continue to monitor them even after they have completed their training. We want them to get off to a good start and to be able to earn an income by themselves”.

Martin takes a saw from a shelf behind him. “And with a saw like this we make all kinds of traditional products here. Together with Gered Gereedschap we can make a great contribution to the future of many young Ugandans! Martin puts the saw back on the shelf. “A beautiful system,” he says smiling. “The grinding machine and the saw make our work possible here. Those tools are the basis for everything.’