Purses Over Rocks
I put on my black Chaco sandals as I can get by with wearing them with a dress and can still manage to walk over the lava rock side streets of Goma. I still am in complete awe of so many Congolese women who tackle the roads decked out in high heels and brilliant dresses. I have never seen anyone trip or fall-I don’t know how they do it. Out of the gate of my house, I walked away from the lake, the “public beach” where people get their water. Up a hill of the black rocks I pass children carrying canisters of water on their back; pieces of fabric strapped across their head to balance the weight. I think about how I spent 15 minutes under the shower this morning. I am on my way to see a group of widows in a church who decided to meet together twice a week to learn how to sew and to weave baskets.
“We met together every week to pray, but then I got to thinking, why do we just pray together, we need to do something in addition to praying, something that will keep our hands busy and maybe even give us a chance to make money together,” said Mama Yuka, a large woman of about 60 years with a beautiful, gentle face which also has a firmness which reveals her strength. She is the mother of 13 children.
They are helping Healing Arts (www.healingartsafrica.com) fulfill an order of 2000 purses that UNICEF has requested for an international campaign crying out against sexual violence. Some women are able to make $50-$100 in one month which is a huge supplemental income for Goma. One of the women called me the other day on the phone just to tell me that she paid for all her children’s school fees and was saving for a sewing machine.
This an incredible beginning to the fair trade products that Healing Arts is developing. We have established a product line with 10 items including purses, skirts, dresses, jewelry, table settings, and wallets which will be sold in North America. We are working with 5 organizations that already exist and are...