The Little Blue Shed brings skills, education, employment and hope to girls and women living in East Rural Uganda.
Tanja Curcic, of the Rotary Club of Taree, NSW, had a stirring in her soul to assist women living in Africa following a life-changing visit to Uganda in 2010.
Mama was sitting inside a blue shed in a nearby village with one sewing machine. Mama asked for more sewing machines to be brought for the other ladies in the village so they too could generate an income. It was done! The shed was expanded, given a fresh coat of paint, and officially named ‘Little Blue Shed’.
Upon returning to Australia after a one-year journey, Tanja found she had no passion or purpose left in her nine-to-five corporate job. So, in 2015 she bought a one-way ticket to Uganda and packed a small suitcase.
A love affair with Africa
This was the beginning of a much deeper love affair with Africa. The ensuing years spent in rural Uganda were some of the most difficult, but most transformative years of Tanja’s life, and opened a new-found understanding and compassion for women and girls living in Africa.
Witnessing the daily struggles and suffering they so bravely endured gave birth to another level of vision for Little Blue Shed.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
Little Blue Shed provides training, employment opportunities, counselling and care to vulnerable women living in poverty.
Often women in developing countries are faced with countless adversaries; the main challenge being poverty. Many are forced into early marriages, prostitution, trafficking, and other dangerous activities
to survive.
The major cause of this desperation is lack of education and opportunities. Little Blue Shed has identified the root cause of the ongoing suffering and exploitation, and is on a mission with others to provide a solution to empower as many women as possible with sustainable programs.
“We believe that every woman should be valued and protected no matter what part of the world she lives in,” Tanja said.
“We are on a mission to facilitate education programs, skills training programs for females living in Rural East Uganda. This will be a safe place for employment opportunities, as well as counselling and an emergency drop-in centre for victims of domestic violence or ongoing trauma.”
Tanja is now seeking a Global Grant for the Little Blue Shed Empowerment Project in Uganda and reaching out to Districts to join and contribute to this vitally important project. To register your interest please contact Lindsay Ford on 0417 988 192 or ford.rotary@outlook.com or Tanja Curcic on 0421 709 994 or tanja.littleblueshed@gmail.com