We returned last night from Kenya. The progress we made exceeded our expectations. You can read about our adventures and the project at www.thewoolproject.x10hosting.com and click on "The Wool Blog".We'll try to update our fundraising activity there too.
On the way home on Virgin Atlantic Airways (Nairobi-London), the cabin crew had a contest on who could turn in the "tidiest" tray. Lilly and I worked together on it... and we won! The crew clapped and happily handed her a huge bottle of champagne since the tray came from her seat. She thought that was so funny. Don't worry, her celebration drink will be sparkling grape juice!
A fun ending to a really successful trip. We also overnighted in London on the way home and were able to walk through the theater district and see the outside of Buckingham Palace.
Meanwhile we are catching up on sleep, paperwork, and soon will be sorting all the photos and videos. Thanks for all your good wishes! If you know of a group that would like Lilly to speak about the project (weaving, social action, service groups etc.) please let me know as she and I will be updating her Power Point presentation with photos, details about the project and projected needs for the future. She also has some of the weavings from the first training week to share. Our hope is to complete raising funds for the training and some initial wool and other materials, and then to have the people involved, spin and weave and with the money earned from their products to be able to buy more spinning wheels from Schacht Spindle and more commercial looms from Kenya as well as to support themselves. The idea is for self-sufficiency as soon as possible. George, the trainer, hopes that soon he can assign some of our women and men to weave and spin for him on specific projects. He has more work than he can handle. But first we need to send four people to train with him and his staff in Nairobi for one month. This will cost about $2,500, including living expenses.
Best Wishes,
Susan
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Susan's Blog July 19th, 2008
Well today was an emotional day for us as not only did the weavers leave, but then we later said goodbye to the people who we have gotten to know who will benefit from the project. Today we decided to take a matatu (public transport) to Karambu's home to meet the weavers, but we ended up waiting more than an hour in a matatu until it filled up. People are not so worried about time as they are in the US! When we got there everything was in full swing, and George said people came as early as 8:30. Such a far cry from the first day when people didn't even start arriving until 12:30 pm. It really shows commitment and enthusiasm to me. We finished out the morning workshopping at the three stations. One woman worked late into the night and early in the morning and finished a very lovely scarf. Another one was well into a second scarf when got there and it was finished before I left. Again a full house of men and women making carpets on the three wall looms, scarves on our loom, spinning and carding wool. and then putting finishing touches on placemats and scarves by tying off the end. The weavers needed to leave and go back to Nairobi and everyone was so sad to see them go. It was touching to see how close the Meru women and men had become to them. We did a closing ceremony, and George the weaver pledged his support to the group. He told me he had helped three street children on drugs and turned their lives around and now they are weavers earning a good living. He said he grew up poor and just wants to give back. We are so blessed to have found him. I stayed three more hours helping to sort out and organize the materials, spare parts etc that we were leaving there and also to bring some school supplies to a nearby local school. I asked some of the members to say some closing words for the camera. And that was it. We said good-bye to everyone and we had a closing circle. They sang us a raucous goodbye song in either Meru, Kiswali or Swahili I don't know. ANd we closed with a blessing. ANd then it was over. Although we have some major fundraising to do-- the week with the weavers cost about $1,000 including all the materials they left behind (we only had about $300 left, and International Peace Initiatives covered the rest) we also have to raise money for the training of four people with George in Nairobi for one month. Including living expenses that will cost about $2500. After that it is really up to the people to earn their lving and purchase more materials and equipment with the money they make from their products. George says that people in the weaving community of Nanuki (about two hours from Meru) are only weavers and they will pay top shilling for thin wool yarn which our Ladybug spinning wheel is so good for. But though the women learned to spin, they need more training so it's absolutely smooth with no little lumps. That will take a month, he says. So we want to send four people to train with him and one will learn spinning, one dyeing, one floor loom and one wall loom. Then the idea is the four experts will go home and share and they will work as a co-op. So I will close the wool blog for now. Lilly and I will go to Samburu tomorrow for a one-day safari. On SUnday we return to Juja to Sister Luise's place (about four hours from Meru) and early Monday morning SIster Luise's driver will take us to the airport. We'll overnight in London and hopefully get to visit a lively pub and then we return to Denver where we will undoubtedly feel some culture shock as we return home. It is a different world here!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Susan - July 18th 2008
Well today was an emotional day for us as not only did the weavers leave, but then we later said goodbye to the people who we have gotten to know who will benefit from the project.
Today we decided to take a matatu (public transport) to Karambu's home to meet the weavers, but we ended up waiting more than an hour in a matatu until it filled up. People are not so worried about time as they are in the US! When we got there everything was in full swing, and George said people came as early as 8:30. Such a far cry from the first day when people didn't even start arriving until 12:30 pm. It really shows commitment and enthusiasm to me. We finished out the morning workshopping at the three stations. One woman worked late into the night and early in the morning and finished a very lovely scarf. Another one was well into a second scarf when got there and it was finished before I left. Again a full house of men and women making carpets on the three wall looms, scarves on our loom, spinning and carding wool. Then finishing touches were put on placemats and scarves by tying off the end.
The weavers needed to leave and go back to Nairobi and everyone was so sad to see them go. It was touching to see how close the Meru women and men had become to them. We did a closing ceremony, and George the weaver pledged his support to the group. He told me he had helped three street children on drugs and turned their lives around and now they are weavers earning a good living. He said he grew up poor and just wants to give back. We are so blessed to have found him.
I stayed three more hours helping to sort out and organize the materials, spare parts etc that we were leaving there and also to bring some school supplies to a nearby local school. I asked some of the members to say some closing words for the camera. And that was it. We said good-bye to everyone and we had a closing circle. They sang us a raucous goodbye song in either Meru, Kiswali or Swahili, I don't know which language. And we closed with a blessing. And then it was over.
Although we have some major fundraising to do-- the week with the weavers cost about $1,000 including all the materials they left behind (we only had about $300 left, and International Peace Initiatives covered the rest) we also have to raise money for the training of four people with George in Nairobi for one month. Including living expenses that will cost about $2500. After that it is really up to the people to earn their living and purchase more materials and equipment with the money they make from their products. George says that people in the weaving community of Nanuki (about two hours from Meru) are only weavers and they will pay top shilling for thin wool yarn which our Ladybug spinning wheel is so good for. But though the women learned to spin, they need more training so it's absolutely smooth with no little lumps. That will take a month, he says. So we want to send four people to train with him and one will learn spinning, one dyeing, one floor loom and one wall loom. Then the idea is the four experts will go home and share and they will work as a co-op.
So I will close the wool blog for now. Lilly and I will go to Samburu tomorrow for a one-day safari. On Sunday we return to Juja to Sister Luise's place (about four hours from Meru) and early Monday morning Sister Luise's driver will take us to the airport. We'll overnight in London and hopefully get to visit a lively pub and then we return to Denver where we will undoubtedly feel some culture shock as we return home. It is a different world here!
Today we decided to take a matatu (public transport) to Karambu's home to meet the weavers, but we ended up waiting more than an hour in a matatu until it filled up. People are not so worried about time as they are in the US! When we got there everything was in full swing, and George said people came as early as 8:30. Such a far cry from the first day when people didn't even start arriving until 12:30 pm. It really shows commitment and enthusiasm to me. We finished out the morning workshopping at the three stations. One woman worked late into the night and early in the morning and finished a very lovely scarf. Another one was well into a second scarf when got there and it was finished before I left. Again a full house of men and women making carpets on the three wall looms, scarves on our loom, spinning and carding wool. Then finishing touches were put on placemats and scarves by tying off the end.
The weavers needed to leave and go back to Nairobi and everyone was so sad to see them go. It was touching to see how close the Meru women and men had become to them. We did a closing ceremony, and George the weaver pledged his support to the group. He told me he had helped three street children on drugs and turned their lives around and now they are weavers earning a good living. He said he grew up poor and just wants to give back. We are so blessed to have found him.
I stayed three more hours helping to sort out and organize the materials, spare parts etc that we were leaving there and also to bring some school supplies to a nearby local school. I asked some of the members to say some closing words for the camera. And that was it. We said good-bye to everyone and we had a closing circle. They sang us a raucous goodbye song in either Meru, Kiswali or Swahili, I don't know which language. And we closed with a blessing. And then it was over.
Although we have some major fundraising to do-- the week with the weavers cost about $1,000 including all the materials they left behind (we only had about $300 left, and International Peace Initiatives covered the rest) we also have to raise money for the training of four people with George in Nairobi for one month. Including living expenses that will cost about $2500. After that it is really up to the people to earn their living and purchase more materials and equipment with the money they make from their products. George says that people in the weaving community of Nanuki (about two hours from Meru) are only weavers and they will pay top shilling for thin wool yarn which our Ladybug spinning wheel is so good for. But though the women learned to spin, they need more training so it's absolutely smooth with no little lumps. That will take a month, he says. So we want to send four people to train with him and one will learn spinning, one dyeing, one floor loom and one wall loom. Then the idea is the four experts will go home and share and they will work as a co-op.
So I will close the wool blog for now. Lilly and I will go to Samburu tomorrow for a one-day safari. On Sunday we return to Juja to Sister Luise's place (about four hours from Meru) and early Monday morning Sister Luise's driver will take us to the airport. We'll overnight in London and hopefully get to visit a lively pub and then we return to Denver where we will undoubtedly feel some culture shock as we return home. It is a different world here!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Susan - July 17th 2008
Today was another great day for training the weavers. They not only came on time, but many came early! This says to me a real commitment and enthusiasm. Again we had 20 people in the house!
The early morning was spent again with three stations set up-- three wall looms, spinning and our loom. The three teachers taught at each of the stations.
We did another wool dying session, this time using two colors for green, then three for brown. It was very fun and interesting.
The rest of the day was spent in the hands- on training with the three stations set up. There was so much activity going on. I am so exhausted from it all, but it is a happy exhaustion. I really feel we done good!
More projects were finished and George says everyone is improving. In the afternoon, four people learned how to warp our loom (put the threads on) which is so wonderful, because that is the most complicated part of the process. As usual I left at 6:30 pm and there were still people there weaving and spinning. Lilly always finishes out the day with a short spinning lesson and both George and the spinner said that she is doing a really, really fine job at spinning the thin yarn, which is so valuable here. They are so impressed with her. I wish we had time to send her to Nairobi for training. She could really be a great weaver and spinner!Karamana, Karambu's sister returned for the first time today. Since she is in charge of the women's projects, it was so nice for her to return. She agrees that it's valuable to keep the momentum up and get the four (including) herself trained in Nairobi. So Lilly has her work cut out for her in fundraising, and Karmana will also apply to a women's fund to try to get some money to get the training going. It's possible International Peace Initiatives can put out some money for the training too. It's up to the board of directors.
I guess that's it for today. Tomorrow the weaving teachers stay till noon, then we say goodbye to them as they make their way back to Nairobi.
The early morning was spent again with three stations set up-- three wall looms, spinning and our loom. The three teachers taught at each of the stations.
We did another wool dying session, this time using two colors for green, then three for brown. It was very fun and interesting.
The rest of the day was spent in the hands- on training with the three stations set up. There was so much activity going on. I am so exhausted from it all, but it is a happy exhaustion. I really feel we done good!
More projects were finished and George says everyone is improving. In the afternoon, four people learned how to warp our loom (put the threads on) which is so wonderful, because that is the most complicated part of the process. As usual I left at 6:30 pm and there were still people there weaving and spinning. Lilly always finishes out the day with a short spinning lesson and both George and the spinner said that she is doing a really, really fine job at spinning the thin yarn, which is so valuable here. They are so impressed with her. I wish we had time to send her to Nairobi for training. She could really be a great weaver and spinner!Karamana, Karambu's sister returned for the first time today. Since she is in charge of the women's projects, it was so nice for her to return. She agrees that it's valuable to keep the momentum up and get the four (including) herself trained in Nairobi. So Lilly has her work cut out for her in fundraising, and Karmana will also apply to a women's fund to try to get some money to get the training going. It's possible International Peace Initiatives can put out some money for the training too. It's up to the board of directors.
I guess that's it for today. Tomorrow the weaving teachers stay till noon, then we say goodbye to them as they make their way back to Nairobi.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Susan - July 16th 2008
Today was another great day. Two of the women actually came early before 9 am and the rest also came by 10 am. It shows that they are really getting enthusiastic. There was a lot of activity with three wall looms going, our floor loom and spinning and numerous women carding. There were 20 people in the house, including instructors and IPI staff. During that time I helped cook lunch for the big crew. Then in the afternoon George gave a lecture and then hands on instruction on how to dye the wool. We did it outside with a wood fire to save propane. He washed three skeins of doublestranded wool that the women made, and we had time to dye one red. It was very interesting.
Also today three placemats were finished and one small rug on the loom. Also another doublestranded skein was finished. It's so great when everyone is working on stuff and George can walk around and fine tune people. Everyone is improving so much and several women are really good on spinning. Lilly is now an expert! But there is a lot of training yet to go, before they can do something commercially. Slowly and surely we are getting there.
George loves our Ladybug spinning wheel. He said that it is a great spinning wheel to do very fine (thin) yarn, and that that fetches a high price. It is much faster than his commercial spinning wheel to do such yarn. He wants them for his staff. He calculated that a woman working six days a week spinning for eight hours could earn about $415 a week, a huge amount of money by Kenyan standards and also a way to start becoming self sufficient so that each of the women (and men) could purchase their own wheel. When I told this to one of the International Peace Initiative staff, she was cautious, saying she really wants to know what the market is for this fine yarn. So I will quiz George about it tomorrow. I also got some good figures for how much it will cost to train four people for one month, and for living expenses and materials. It was about $600 a month per person all inclusive. He feels once we do this, then there are a core group of experts and after that those trained people can come back to train with him in Nairobi for a day or so to fine tune or if they have questions.
I really again feel so lucky to have connected with George. Not only was it lucky I saw his sign, but he told me today that many days he's off in Mombasa (Kenyan coast) selling his rugs to coastal hotels and is not even in the Nairobi office. So it was really meant to be that we connected.
Also today three placemats were finished and one small rug on the loom. Also another doublestranded skein was finished. It's so great when everyone is working on stuff and George can walk around and fine tune people. Everyone is improving so much and several women are really good on spinning. Lilly is now an expert! But there is a lot of training yet to go, before they can do something commercially. Slowly and surely we are getting there.
George loves our Ladybug spinning wheel. He said that it is a great spinning wheel to do very fine (thin) yarn, and that that fetches a high price. It is much faster than his commercial spinning wheel to do such yarn. He wants them for his staff. He calculated that a woman working six days a week spinning for eight hours could earn about $415 a week, a huge amount of money by Kenyan standards and also a way to start becoming self sufficient so that each of the women (and men) could purchase their own wheel. When I told this to one of the International Peace Initiative staff, she was cautious, saying she really wants to know what the market is for this fine yarn. So I will quiz George about it tomorrow. I also got some good figures for how much it will cost to train four people for one month, and for living expenses and materials. It was about $600 a month per person all inclusive. He feels once we do this, then there are a core group of experts and after that those trained people can come back to train with him in Nairobi for a day or so to fine tune or if they have questions.
I really again feel so lucky to have connected with George. Not only was it lucky I saw his sign, but he told me today that many days he's off in Mombasa (Kenyan coast) selling his rugs to coastal hotels and is not even in the Nairobi office. So it was really meant to be that we connected.
Susan - July 15th 2008
Today was a day when everything seemed to come together for me. When the vision of what I thought this project would be came alive. Today George started by teaching how to warp our loom, which is very complicated and mathematical. He could see the women were discouraged, and they asked him how this would help them. He told them he lives a very nice life, and that he recently bought a car with the money he earned from weaving. He said that he needed weavers and spinners for his business and that he would hire them. And that they would be able to pay their kids' school fees with the money. Then their attitude totally changed and after lunch they were very enthusiastic. The women were late, but much earlier than yesterday and there were also about five men there too. After lunch they split into three groups one for spinning, one for weaving on our loom, and one group who worked on the three wall looms that George built yesterday. One of the women, Purity, was so proud of her double spun yarn. It really looked great. Others were proud of the tablemat they were weaving on our loom and the rugs they were making on the three wall looms. There was a lot of activity and excitement and it was great! George wants to train four people at his Nairobi shop for a month. The idea is to train four people so that they each become experts in one area-- spinning, weaving on a floor loom like ours, weaving rugs on wall looms, and dyeing wool. Then the four experts will come home ready to do their own projects, but also to train the others and each other in the other fields. I think this is a great idea. It will cost $400 per person for a month of training and Lilly will be fundraising for this when she returns. The men stayed even after I left at 6:30 pm and the women left about an hour before Lilly and I left. There is a lot of enthusiasm and I now have a lot of hope for this project. George has seen a lot of projects like this die after the organizers leave, but I am thinking now we have a good plan so that this project thrives. He will keep in touch with me through email when we return. We start the long trek home Monday morning. Tomorrow George will teach how to wash and dye the yarn. Fun!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Susan - July 14th 2008
Today, we met with the three weavers/spinners from Nairobi who would train the women. I was excited, then disappointed. Although it was made clear that training would begin at 10 am, no one arrived until 12:30 pm. It's hard for me to say, oh that's OK it's Kenyan time when I know that we spent our hard-to-raise dollars (and some we don't have yet) on this training. So I used the time to quiz the lead weaver about details such as how to buy wool, what to look for, where to buy it, and took some notes. There were lots of other difficulties. There was no power, which is not unusual in Kenya, but this was the first time for me that there was no power all day. Luckily I had charged the battery for the video camera and the one for the camera and they are interchangeable. But I conserved the battery the best I could. The second one didn't start running down until we were losing light anyway. The other thing that happened was there was a problem with Karambu's one-burner propane stove, so she had to go out and buy several coal stoves to make tea for everyone. Also, Karambu's mom was brought to Nairobi for a doctor's appointment, by Karamana, Karambu's sister, and I thought that was unfortunate too, as Karamana is such an integral part of working with the women. I think there were six women and two men as well as several IPI staff members. I wish there were more, but they will have to train the others. The training was done in English, with Cathy, Karambu's cousin, translating into I think Swahili, but I am not sure. I videotaped all, with the idea that if things are forgotten, there will be disks to watch the video. George, the lead trainer, is a really nice guy. All the weavers that Karambu contacted up to this point did not want to share their knowledge because they are worried about competition and in general don't want to help someone else. But George wants to do it. He feels that others shared with him their knowledge, and he wants to share with others. And he was really good at it. I am not a religious person, but I feel like there was some divine intervention there. I was falling asleep in the car when I opened my eyes and saw his small sign. To find someone who is so helpful, who wants to share, and who is so skilled and speaks such good English feels like such a blessing to me. George gave an introduction. His perspective is totally different. He is all about production, how to do things as quickly as possible, but of course with much skill. So he feels that the baby wolf loom we brought is not the best option for the women and is too small for larger projects. We will still use it for scarves and other small items, but when we buy the next looms, they will probably be larger and we will probably buy them in Kenya. He has another Kenyan company do the wood working to make these production looms, and he and his staff assemble them. So here is another great reason to connect with George. He also has a different attitude about preparing wool. He starts with a fine grade of wool, picks out the large stuff, then cards (brushes) the wool to allign it and get out some of the dirt. Then after spinning the wool, it gets washed. He says it is much faster this way. It's not the way we originally taught the women, as we taught from a hobbyist sort of book, but we will switch to George's way. We taught the women to do all the cleaning before the spinning. The first part of the training was spinning and carding and some instruction on the loom we have. Then while the women were having their tea, George was in the back yard with his loom guy and they were building portable wall looms with wood that he instructed karambu to buy. He finished three in that time, and after he had his tea, he proceeded to teach the women (and two men) how to string it (not the technical term) and how to prepare it for weaving. He taught until the light failed. Remember we had no electricity. Tomorrow he will teach washing and dying the wool, as well as how to make a rug on this simple loom. I am very optimistic about the portable looms. They can be assembled in an hour, and the rugs he makes on them are lovely. But more importantly, they can be transported fairly easily to the women's homes--although I am thinking we will need to employ a donkey to do it--- and then they can work at them in their homes and only transport the yarn and then the finished project. We also talked about how alternately some women could have spinning wheels in their homes. This is vital for many of the women who walk two hours to get to Karambu's home. It's just not feasible to keep every thing at her house. George really liked the spinning wheel we brought, but he even talked about commercial grade spinning wheels. I can't remember the difference. I do know that it will be cheaper to buy the equipment here, and then we won't have to deal with shipping costs or tariffs. I asked the women to sing songs that they sing while they are stringing beads (another IPI fund-raising project) and they sang beautifully Christian songs of faith. It is amazing to me that women who have so little can be so joyful. It will be a great addition to Lilly's documentary. I started the day with an aerobics class, thinking about how odd it was to be doing aerobics in Kenya and then later in the day to be working with women who often don't have enough food and live without electricity or running water. I hope we can raise money to give each woman a spinning wheel in their home. I think they cost about 150 USD. George wants to keep in touch and come back for more training. I have to close now as it is dark and I need to call Cathy and ask her to call a taxi for me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)