Sewing Cooperative

Lora Lee Peaslee, Riverview Rotarian since 2011, first heard about the town of Sand Hill, Belize, when she was with a team of Rotarians doing maintenance projects at a school in a nearby community. Lora Lee learned that Sand Hill is a small community with few opportunities for women. She was determined to return to share her passion for sewing with people in the village. And return she did!

In November 2019, after raising money for sewing machines and fabric, including $5,000 from the Rotary Club of Edmonton Riverview. With these funds, Lora Lee was able to purchase 16 new sewing machines from Central Sewing in Edmonton, who “gave us a great deal.” The first group that went to Belize in 2019 included Lora Lee, her brother and sister and Rotarian Cynthia Dusseault. In Belize, the women taught sewing to a group of 15 women, while Blaine (Lora Lee’s brother) built a cabinet for the machines and fabric.

During that first trip to Sand Hill, there was a woman who came every day from Belize City.  “Every day she asked if we could do this in Belize City,” By the end of that week Lora Lee was committed to come back.”

The following year, Lora Lee, Cynthia, and Blaine returned. With six sewing machines, they arranged for classes to be held in a community centre.  Women ranged in age from a teenager to a grandmother. One participant was a single mother with four kids who accompanied her every day. Most were new to sewing. “These women were pretty determined,” Lora Lee said. “They worked hard and learned quickly.” During the two weeks the team was in Belize City in 2019, Blaine built a 20 x 24-foot building to be used by the women who had determined they would establish a sewing co-op.

On Lora Lee’s most recent trip, in November 2023, she led a team of 5, including Lindsay Robinson (also a Riverview Rotarian).  They returned to the Belize City sewing co-op and Sand Hill.  On all the trips to Belize, volunteers pay for their own travel and accommodation costs. All funds raised are used to purchase sewing machines, fabric and other expenses directly related to the project.

The little extra income that comes from sewing can noticeable help improve the lives of women in Belize:

“Alma, a 70-year-old woman said that her savings were used up when her husband had cancer.  since he died, Alma has been earning money by cleaning a church and school and babysitting. The money she now earns from sewing is going to make a huge difference for her.”

“Another woman said she will use her money to pay for her brother’s medication while another said it will pay her children’s school fees.  And a third said she was saving what she earned to pay for Christmas gifts.”