Newsletters

Date: July 4th 2010

by Joan Gifford
June 26, 2010

Were we prepared?

I did not know that God had been preparing me to give classes on making a purse decorated with a flower using a technique known as "English Paper Piecing", but I was! I had given a demonstration with the technique to a group in Gainesville, Virginia, and a friend had given me 100 needles that were not what she needed. My daughters and I had been experimenting with different ways to make a bag with the seams inside. It all came together here in Colombia.

In Apartadó, while making some flowers of my own in spare time, several ladies showed interest, and soon I had a class of 10 who began sewing with such enthusiasm that you would have thought it was Colombian Paper Piecing! The day before, Dave and I found and purchased fabric, thread and pins, and I started cutting fabric to get ready. My small scissors were the only ones sharp enough to cut fabric! These women saw their projects to the end, were super pleased with the results, and I had learned a few things. It certainly increased my Spanish vocabulary and I really could help four people at once in another language!

By the time we got to Currulao I had a sample purse (bolsa) to show to others, and 18 people said they too wanted to make purses. So we bought more material, enough for 30 purses. When we had finished, everything was used up. The joy in what they had accomplished and the satisfaction they felt in their new purses was very evident.

Almost 100 percent of these people are displaced; they do not have the means to buy cloth. But what they lack in means, they make up in the care they have for one another. They helped each other and me, as one person understood what I was saying and explained in better Spanish to the others. One person with cataracts was helped by another, and others threaded needles for older ladies. Children were all around enjoying the event. Again, their joy was very evident and I received many heart-felt abrazos.

Well, by the time we arrived in Chigorodo the word about the purses had been passed along by cell phone. This time I was prepared with materials to make 38 purses. They were used up the first day! When more ladies joined us on the second day we went out and bought more fabric, cut it on the spot, and made a total of about 47 bolsas. We worked a total of seven hours. The ladies were very creative with their own designs, such as fastening their straps (colgantes) on different ways, and even the young boys got in the act making small bolsas from the scraps for their marbles and hung them around their necks.

The pastor told us the next morning how there was so much interest and that we had added joy to the people. They would like others to come to teach them new things as well. He indicated there had been talk of making some purses to sell here in Chigorodo. There is no doubt that God had been at work and we were prepared!


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