Although she is the head of the Holy Union College in Yokadouma, Cameroon and a teacher in the school, Sister Michèle Kuate finds time to visit the inmates in Yokadouma’s main prison. In 2022 she began giving reading lessons to the youth in the prison. Soon the need to improve their living conditions and food became a priority.
Sister Michèle believes it was God’s inspiration that led her to initiate a project that would enable the inmates to generate funds to help themselves. So, the “Atelier de couture Saint François” began. The aim of this sewing workshop is to provide inmates with an activity that will enable them to escape the idleness of prison, train other inmates in sewing, generate personal funds and also have a fund that will enable them in the long term to build a small sewing room as the need for workspace grows.
Since September 2024, three master tailors have been making school uniforms for pupils at Sainte Union Schools in the Eastern Region. To date, more than 500 outfits have been made. At left, Sister Michele and teacher Sr, Lucy Dimla, and Jean-Baptiste Fouri, the schools's discipline master share the spotlight with the students in their new uniforms.
Sister Michèle oversees the finances of the workshop. She keeps a reserve envelope for each prisoner. This money is set aside for their personal needs now and in the future when they will leave the prison. They have used some of the profits to expand the workspace.
The three inmate who have become master tailors are an example for their fellow prisoners. They now have a corridor given to them by the manager to use as a mobile workshop. Nearly four apprentice prisoners are in their charge, and they already know how to apply buttons and cut patterns.
The inmates' families are pleasantly surprised by the financial support they are able to receive. As one prisoner said, “This activity makes us free and responsible, much more so than our brothers on the outside”. The mother of one prisoner expressed her wish to see her son continue this work when he is released.
Photos from the “Atelier de couture Saint François” are below.
