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Registered charity 12345 6789 RR0001 · Kamloops, British Columbia · Bweyale, Uganda
[email protected]Carpentry Level 1 is the entry course in building, maintenance and renovation, modelled on Canada's entry-level trades training. In one year, students learn to measure, cut and join, build useful things, and look after a customer. It is hands-on, and no experience is needed. Our volunteer experts train the teachers who teach it.
Skilled carpenters are scarce around Bweyale, so good furniture and roofing are often imported at a high price or built unsafely.
Carpentry also suits people with limited mobility, because much of the work can be done seated at a bench. We prioritize them when selecting trainees.
1 year · 3 days of theory and 2 days of practice each week
Workshop and site safety, hand tools and sharpening, timber and other materials, reading simple drawings, measuring and marking.
The joints every piece of furniture depends on. Stools, tables and shelves built to a cutting list and checked for square.
Doors, window frames, simple roof structures and formwork for concrete.
Pricing a job, buying timber well, dealing with customers, a final project, the BVE certificate and the path to the Intermediate level.
Every trade is built as a three-level path. Level 1 runs today; Levels 2 and 3 are coming soon, and Level 1 graduates will be the first to move on.
1 year
The entry course: safe working, core skills and a BVE certificate, ready to earn.
$450 funds one student, free for them
2 years
Deeper skills and larger projects, for graduates who want to work independently.
3 years
Advanced techniques, supervision and teaching skills, preparing the next master instructors.
Pathways to income: Making and selling furniture, roofing and joinery work for builders in Bweyale and, once it opens, Level 2 training to become an independent carpenter.
Every carpentry class is taught by a qualified carpentry professional who is in the workshop every day, accountable for results, and committed long enough to build the course. Volunteer experts from Canada then train these instructors in new methods, so students get both.
Qualification, years of experience and a short bio, added when the instructor is confirmed
Qualification, years of experience and a short bio, added when the instructor is confirmed
Classroom. Tools, safety and materials, plus English, mathematics, citizenship and social skills.
Workshop. Hands-on carpentry: measuring, cutting, joining and building real pieces.
Local master carpenters teach the students every day. From time to time, expert tradespeople come from Canada to train those masters in new skills, so they are fully equipped to train the students. The masters then pass it on, so one visit keeps paying off for years.
Funds one student for a year
Free for the student, paid for by donors$450
“A chair I made was the first thing I ever sold. Last month I sold nine.”
Yes. Level 2 is a two-year program and Level 3, the advanced level, runs for three years. Both are coming soon. Level 1 graduates will be the first to move on as places open.
Yes — and we prioritize them. Many carpentry tasks can be done seated at a bench, and BVE adapts workstations where needed.
We buy from local timber merchants, which keeps the money in the community. Costs are tracked in the cohort budget.
You can, but we usually advise against it. Shipping tools overseas often costs more than the tools themselves, and freight is slow and uncertain. Buying the same tools in Uganda costs less, supports local suppliers and arrives in days. Choose “Buy locally for me” and give the value, or contact us before you ship anything. Kamloops drop-offs are accepted for lightweight, high-value items such as laptops.
For cash gifts, yes — eligible gifts of $20 or more receive an official donation receipt. For gifts in kind, the Canada Revenue Agency requires the fair market value to be established, and some items need an independent appraisal, so we confirm eligibility before you send anything. Where we buy tools for you with your cash gift, it is simply a cash donation.
Cohort funders receive photos, handover lists and a short report after each graduation. Tools are counted at handover, with a record of who received what.
Equip the workshop, send a volunteer expert to train the teachers, or sponsor a student. Whatever you can give — money, tools or your own skills — we put to work in the next stage.
$450 trains one student for a year, free for the student · $9,000 funds a full cohort of 20 · 122 students have taken part since 2024 · 79 tools still needed (about $2,186)
Trainees practise on real community builds. Here are the projects this program connects to.
Bricklaying and building skills for a fast-growing settlement.
Learn moreLevel 1 welding: metalwork skills for gates, doors, frames and repairs.
Learn moreComputer literacy for office work, administration and small business.
Learn moreGarment-making that can start with one sewing machine.
Learn moreFarming skills that turn allocated plots into food and income.
Learn moreCounselling and life-skills support for every participant.
Learn more
Give money, tools or your own skills to the program that matters most to you, and follow what it achieves in our field reports.
Give money, tools or your skills. Every gift goes toward tools, teacher training and places for the people who need them most.
