i am back in computer class. the only time i have to sit down as i watch the boys type and correct them when they only use their index fingers. luis just completed record time, 11 words per minute. dad plans to come and add to our computer classes, a course in video editing! they will LOVE it.
i cannot believe Fran leaves on monday. we have not stopped! i know i said that already but it's true. i haven't even had time to take my laundry off the line. we are home only to sleep and even then i am sewing in my dreams.
i still don't know what will come of all of this but i can see the vision and it looks incredible. it is all too premature to even begin to plan it all out. but i see this tiny program and Fran's 3 week investment of having HUGE dividends. i am certain we can begin to employ people right away and the training can be ongoing and there is potential to help them buy their own machines and work from home and make a great wage.
at the moment the plan is to put all our goods on Etsy and i will continue to post previews here. mom is coming at the perfect time as she can also help carry on the classes with me. i am beside myself that my parents are coming and that they can be involved in the work and meet my students.
we are tired but having fun. i know somewhere on a list of 100 things i want to do, somewhere at the top, is "Learn to Sew". i can check that off now with "Move to Africa", "Help poor people" and "Live by the Sea".
i admit i have been trudging along a bit with English classes. and i certainly don't want this vision to be my own selfish dream, but i do see how much more i enjoy the interactive creative classroom instead of my boring grammar classes. we have laughed so hard. Fran wiped away tears today when Veronica blew a snot rocket out in the yard immediately after i taught her the English words for "bring the pin cushion". i then told Fran, "should i teach her 'snot rocket'?". i didn't but i wanted to.
some of these women come from very rough backgrounds and some are living even now in really rough circumstances. just imagine and then know it is worse than that. i love seeing them walk in the gate to our garden and beam. i love seeing them all interact together and laugh and repeat, "bonita" and "lindo" over and over as they watch their creations take shape. for them, capalanas are multifunctional necessities. every woman has 3 on her at any given time. one for carrying things on head. one that wraps around her skinny waist and covers her ankles. one to carry her baby. one to bundle her things. to make them into a boudoir pillow is something they have never seen. Juliana squealed with delight when she sewed her first pinwheel. maybe i am doing it all wrong and making massive cross cultural mistakes as i impose my designs on them. i don't want this to be my dream but theirs. i have been thinking long and hard about dreams anyway. this was all really Amilcar's dream that happened to merge with mine and i don't know if it is a selfish Me dream or a God dream. i am confused. i think about that awful book i had to read in college, Chinawa Achebe's Things Fall Apart. all about missionaries who came and made a huge mess. and of course, the greatest movie of all time, The God's Must Be Crazy. i don't want to be dropping a Coke bottle into their lives. i simply want to show them something outside of their realm, to teach them how to create in a world of survival, to bring them together to empower them, to give them a job, and a skill. and of course, i want to bring beautiful things into your home. African Wax Fabrics are stunning and vibrant and unique and a musthave on your table or sofa or toddler!
we have a full weekend ahead. we hope to get everything posted to the Etsy site by Monday so that means uploading photos and adding wordy descriptions and pricing everything. plus i still want to show my visitor a good time and want her to spend a little time by the sea before she leaves.
Saturday we are going to Veronica's for lunch. she is making my favorite, Matapa. i have taken her home many times but she always hops off the scooter before we approach her house. i am looking forward to spending a day with her and her FIVE children and the matapa.
i won't know what to do with myself after Fran leaves but will have such full days doing all of this solo.
the boys need help and class is almost over. more soon.
xoxo
me
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