We have officially hired two great new tailors and three new seamstresses since we’ve been here and all is looking up now! We are now also collaborating with the local school for the deaf to make a new style of fabric using the native Kenti cloth-making technique. I learned how to say hello and Jenna in sign language too! You say my name by making a fist with your right hand with an extended pinkie and moving it across your body from your right shoulder to your left hip- kind of like you’re putting on a seatbelt! It was so interesting meeting some of the deaf boys that go to school there and Scott, their teacher from the Peace Corp, is the one who is organizing the whole project. He also serves as a translator between us and is working on producing a standardized code for Kenti production.
Kenti Cloth Loom
On the flip side, I had to switch out my bed due to bug beds and had a much better night’s sleep last night!! I am heading around the town today to interview all of the women working for Della that I haven’t gotten to yet, and later we’re going to Happy Kids orphanage to play soccer! This past week, we introduced a sewing program to the kids there and taught them to thread a needle, sew a straight line, and tie it off. Yesterday, a little girl there- about six years old- had a ripped dress, and without us even suggesting to she sewed it up and fixed it! Before we play soccer with them today, we are going to drop off a big box of scrap fabric and tell them to go crazy sewing whatever they want over the weekend! Can’t wait to see what they come up with!
Happy Kids Sewing Program
No comments:
Post a Comment