Warm Wishes from ArtAidsArt

Today I received these photos from Tom Harding, our friend at ArtAidsArt. You'll remember that ArtAidsArt assists craftswomen in South Africa, many of them HIV+, with establishing and maintaining crafts-related businesses. One of ArtAidsArt's "side projects" is to provide Black dolls for the children of these artisans; children who live in poor shanty towns and areas that were formerly designated as Black townships, and have few if any toys. 

In collaboration with Dollies without Borders, and our dear friend Madeline Austin, women from St. Anthony's Hospital and St. John's, Newfoundland, provided over two dozen dolls to go to children in South Africa through ArtAidsArt. Looking through these photos, I'm not sure any of those dolls are among the ones that were given to these women, although Tom sent us a lovely message thanking us for them, noting that the women in one of the pictures--teachers at the preschool that received the dolls--are actually singing a spontaneous song of thanksgiving for the dolls! So how could I not publish these photos--even though, as I said, I don't think they're our dolls, Tom...sorry...

Anyway, it's still a great opportunity to share some fantastic photos, and put a plug in for two great organizations working with the arts and the poor! Check out www.artaidsart.org and www.dollieswithoutborders.com .

Warm Wishes from Old Friends

I just recently received these lovely photos from Pastora Gutierrez Reyes, taken back in November of the "doll gifting" event in the Pueblo of Benito Juarez. As you'll remember, we sent a box of 40 dolls to the women of Vida Nueva Cooperative to distribute to poor children in some of the outlying pueblos where the cooperative works. I know the photos are a little late in arriving, but they are simply precious none the less. These adorable little faces will warm your heart despite the chilly weather. 

Not everyone wanted a doll--although many of the boys did opt for one, as you can see by the photos. The women of the cooperative also bought some plastic balls to distribute to the children who didn't want a doll, and, in keeping with their respect and reverence for the elders among them, appointed the eldest member of the cooperative to distribute the gifts. 

We are extremely grateful for our collaborative relationship with the good women of Vida Nueva Cooperative. On Saturday, March 7th, we are holding a day of food, fundraising and crafting here in St. Petersburg to benefit the outreach work the cooperative does--such as teaching traditional herbal medicine, raising awareness around domestic violence, and supplying poor women and children  with vitamins and folic acid. If you live in the St. Petersburg area and would like to join us, by all means don't hesitate to contact me at karen_rushen@yahoo.com .

Brrr, it's cold out there!

Yes, even in Florida, where normally at this time of year we're running around in sandals in 80 degree weather, we're experiencing frost on the ground mornings and chilly nights! So I offer to you all a little "soup for the soul" sent to us by our friend and fellow crafts woman with a heart for charity crafting, Rose Berry, of Tomah, Wisconsin. "Heidi's Wild Rice Soup" is a family recipe that Rose is very kindly sharing with us, perfect for this bone-chilling weather! Enjoy!

Heidi's Wild Rice Soup

3/4 cup wild rice

1 Tbsp. oil

4 cups water

salt to taste

1 medium onion

1 rib celery

1/2 cup butter ( 2 Tbsp. also works for the calorie conscious)

1 to 2 carrots, shredded

3 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups reserved rice broth

2 cups half and half (again, weight watchers, skin milk works!)

3/4 cup ham or chicken

1/2 tsp. rosemary

fresh parsley chopped 1/2 cup flour

Saute the wild rice in vegetable oil. Add the water and salt. Cook the rice until it's about 3/4 done. (Chewier than you'd like) Drain, reserving the 1 and 1/2 cups of the liquid from cooking the rice. Saute onion, celery and carrot in butter in a soup pot until onion is transparent. Turn down the heat. Mix flour in thoroughly and cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Do not brown. Using a wire whisk, blend in hot chicken stock and rice stock. Cook, allowing to thicken slightly. Add the half and half, or milk, blending thoroughly. Add rice and meat, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Simmer 20 minutes. Make 10 absolutely delicious 6 oz. servings! It is recommended that you make this the day before, as it tastes better after sitting a day or so.

Stay warm, my friends!

A New Era of Hope

This beautiful little picture of Iraqi refugee children currently living in Jordan was sent to me by "Collateral Repair Project", which "is a grassroots movement, created to address the catastrophic displacement of five million Iraqis who had to leave behind their homes and communities because of the violence and instability that is the result of the invasion and occupation of their country. (Collateral Repair Project) bring(s) together the small, overlooked, incidental persons on both sides of the conflict who grieve and ask "What can we do?"."

As our country celebrates the historic election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of these United States, many of us are hoping once again for peace on earth. "Collatoral Repair Project" funds micro-projects that give people hope and bring peace through justice and healing. Some of their micro-projects include their sewing training center, and giving sewing machines to women so they can work as tailors, helping establish home bakeries and home pickle businesses, and of course my very favorite, their Iraqi Women's Craft Co-operative in Amman, Jordan, which is teaching women how to bead necklaces for income. 

There are no small steps on the road to justice, nor are there really any "small" people. Every thing done for these, the poor and displaced of this planet, is a blessing received twice, by those who are helped as well as by the ones who help them. Such acts are a certain path to hope, and peace on earth. In this time of hope, may we continue to do our part to create a world of peace, justice and hope for all.

Visit www.collateralrepairproject.org .

The Unbroken Thread in Lithuania Part 3

June Hall continues "Most of the yarn stores in Lithuania sell modern, fancy yarn, mostly made in Italy. To find pure wool from Lithuanian sheep is quite difficult. Before collectivization, almost every home possessed a spinning wheel, to spin the fleece of the one, two or three sheep everyone kept. Now, the wheels are reduced to the status of ornament or heirloom in many homes, and hardly anyone spins. This is the break in the chain of production, from sheep to finished garment. The other elements are there, as skills in the community. I set up a two week spinning course in 2005, at the Folk Art School in Vilkija, taking with me three other spinners from the UK, and four spinning wheels that had been donated by the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Cyers in Devon. We had great fun teaching young and old to spin, by hand spindle and with wheels. We restored several old Lithuanian wheels which people had brought along and it was wonderful to see them come back to life. 

Another big part of my project has been the exhibition which I called "Hand in Glove". It was designed for the Dales Countryside Museum in Yorkshire, which has a very good collection of the knitting industry of the Yorkshire Dales over the last three to four centuries. I see a number of parallels between the cottage industry of Yorkshire knitting and the possibilities for Lithuania in the present situation. The exhibition went to Lithuania and toured seven venues. Each museum where it was shown, added their local knitting to the show. I have numerous press cuttings, posters, certificates of gratitude and gifts from this tour.

My whole project has the title of "The Unbroken Thread". I am trying to ensure continuity from past, to present, and into the future, of traditional knitting and all that it can do for women in rural Lithuania. A little financial independence, self-esteem and recognition of their skills would greatly enhance the lives of many brave and cheerful women I have met, who live in remote villages, with no prospect of transport, money or customer base. 

The main obstacles as I see it are of trust and cooperation. In post-Soviet Lithuania, people have no experience of initiative, cooperation or mutual trust in the community. they do not interfere in their neighbor's business. The ideal way ahead would be for groups of women to work together to market their products, but this is an, as yet, alien notion. There is the need for a permanent presence in Lithuania of someone with entrepeneurial experience, to act for the women, yet there is a negative response when the suggestion is made of paying a commission to an agent. Some younger people, particularly those educated in arts academies, are beginning to work in this way, so maybe one has to take the long view. Selling on the internet is one obvious way to proceed, but village women do not have the skills, experience, language or equipment to do this individually. 

Ideally, knitted goods, mainly socks and gloves, make perfect souvenirs for tourists, being local in character, handmade and light to carry. More tourists are beginning to hire cars and travel round the country. As yet, not many villages are equipped for tourism, lacking accommodations, cafes and public facilities. The bulk of European Union funding seems to be going into the development of cities, while the villages deteriorate. But there are efforts to improve rural tourism. I have brought groups of women to my home, to see rural tourism in action, and they have taken ideas back with them. The recent publication (in English and Lithuanian) of a village guide book which I wrote with a community group, has proven popular and given the village a boost. By writing up the story of Lithuanian sheep, wool and knitting traditions, we can help people to value the skills and heritage they have, and to make it something they can proudly present to the wider world."

Thank you, June, for such a lovely account of your work in Lithuania. As you can see, June's approach to working with rural women artisans involves simply doing what can be done and what is practical and most needed at the moment. She is moving ahead slowly but with great care and heart in a manner that is ultimately laying an important groundwork for these women to begin to claim more and more of not only their artistic heritage but their own lives' potential. Best wishes to June in her important and selfless work among Lithuania's rural women artisans.

Please contact June at junelennahall@hotmail.com if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for her, or if you are interested in Lithuanian knitting.

The Unbroken Thread Continues

June Hall writes "Textiles play a big part in the culture of Lithuanians. As the country has been occupied over the centuries, they have fought to retain their national identity. Their music and costume have been--and still are!--the way in which they have achieved a strong sense of community. The song festivals are of great significance to them, and national costume is worn there. This means that hand weaving, embroidery and other textile skills are in demand, for authentic regional costumes for both men and women. Museum collections of original dress are proudly curated and display, and several handsome books have been published.

Less attention has been given to the history and current practice of hand knitting. A few books of patterns exist, from Soviet times, but no comprehensive account of the country's knitting history has been written. There is one regional study and one book on the regional patterns of wrist warmers. Knitting has been and is regarded as a common, every day activity, like cooking or washing clothes. It is domestic, unspectacular and unworthy of recording in photographs. So very few pictures of people knitting exist. There are a few pictures of sheep and a few of people spinning wool. This is a great contrast with the records of linen processing, which was a commercial enterprise, so was given greater importance. 

I have had great fun researching sheep, wool and knitting. I quickly realized that without the language, I would find out very little. The language is an ancient classical one, said to derive from Sanskrit, and the sole survivor in its pure form of the four Baltic languages. The university in Vilnius provides Lithuanian language courses for foreigners, and I have attended three times, in January, when the temperature go below -30 C. It has been a tremendous help to be able to talk to people in their own language. In many villages, there is no one who speaks English."

To be continued...

The Unbroken Thread in Lithuania

Those of you who receive my quarterly newsletter are perhaps already familiar with June Hall, the founder of "The Unbroken Thread", a project to assist rural Lithuanian craftswomen with preserving their spinning and knitting heritage as well as finding markets for their knit goods. Here's a picture of June Hall (she's on the right) with writer and professional knitter Donna Druchunas on a trip to Lithuania.

The information I received from June was  far more comprehensive than space allowed in the newsletter, but so interesting and well told that I wanted to devote blog space for June to tell you more about her work.   Here's the first installment concerning June's wonderful project, in her own words.

"After our mother died in 1999, my sister Vivien and I decided to investigate the family story that we had a Lithuanian ancestor. No facts, just a rumor. We made our first journey there in 2002, for just  a week, but packed so much in,  saw wonderful places and felt so at home, that we hoped to return.

The opportunity came the following year, when I moved house, joined a few interest groups, and found that there is a small charity in Cumbria (northern England) called Lithuania Link. (www.lithuanialink.org) . They were offering bursaries for people to do three months voluntary work on social and/or environmental projects in Lithuania. This was too good to miss. I decided to apply, to investigate my own interest in sheep, traditional knitting and rural life, with a view to helping the social and economic situation of the countryside there. That was a good idea at the time, and has taken over much of my life since! 

I spent an initial week in Lithuania to make contacts and find my way around. In May 2004, Lithuania joined the European Union. We were there for the celebrations, for most of the day in Zagare, a town on the northern border with latvia, before returning the the capital of Vilnius. There was a huge air of optimism and joy, with an all-day concert in the town square, an enormous iced cake with "Now We Are Europeans" and flag on top, along with firework, national costumes and dancing. So, after gaining freedom from the Soviet Union in 1991, Lithuania had joined the west.

Then my sister and I spent the summer of 2004 investigating the theme. We met wonderful people and were privileged to be invited into homes, were taken to remote and fascinating places which no tourists would find for themselves and saw behind the scenes at museums. In many villages, we were the first native English speakers to visit the school. My sister formed a particular relationship with the school in Pociuneliai, and has raised a lot of money for them to buy equipment which their allowance would not cover. 

Since our first working visit, I have been to Lithuania three or four times each year, and had many visitors from Lithuania to my home.

This is a time of rapid social, cultural and economic change in Lithuania. The difference between old and young, rich and poor, urban and rural, are becoming more extreme. Communism has given way to capitalism and people have to find their own way to live. For some, this is hard, especially for the elderly. yet these are the people with traditional skills, cultural heritage and knowledge of the land." (to be continued)

Global Girlfriend

On this day, the Feast of the Epiphany in Roman Catholic tradition, I want to put a plug in for Global Girlfriend. Global Girlfriend (www.globalgirlfriend.com)  was created in 2003 as a means to economically empower third world women by providing them with fair trade markets for their crafts. You can now go to their website under the side bar "New Arrivals" and, for $20, make a donation to assist a women's artisan group buy supplies. Currently there are two groups you can assist, one in Peru and one in India.

My husband is from Ireland, and the Irish celebrate Epiphany as Nollig na mBan (pronounced noh lig na MAHN) which translates to be "The Women's Christmas". Traditionally, women are feted by the men in their lives with tea and goodies, and girlfriends go out together this evening for a last bit of "holiday cheer". More and more, Irish charities are encouraging people to make a donation to third world causes on this day when the three kings were said to have brought gifts to the infant Jesus.

In the spirit of sisterhood, and Nollig na mBan, consider making a contribution today to benefit one of your "global" artisan  "sisters". And then don't forget to treat yourself to a last bit of holiday cheer tonight, with someone you care about!

A Letter from Ethiopia Expands a Circle of Compassion

This is Hawa, a seventy year old woman who recently underwent surgery for an obstetric fistula. Now before you begin wondering how a woman could be seventy and suffering from a fistula caused in childbirth, and what that yellow and blue blanket is all about, let me take you back a couple of months...

Back in May, I saw a special on the PBS show "Nova" called "A Walk to Beautiful" which was about the work of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia, which specializes in fistula repair surgeries for impoverished Ethiopian women. If you're looking for a powerful and inspirational film about the spirit and determination of the poor to change their life's circumstances against incredible odds, go to PBS's web site, find "Nova" and search for "A Walk to Beautiful"; you can view this one hour documentary there in its entirety.

This film, and the situation of these women in Ethiopia, moved me as few things have. So, I ordered the film and nagged a couple of friends from work to help me organize a fundraiser to pay for a fistual surgery for one Ethiopian woman, which would cost roughly $450. Now I say "nagged" but in all honestly these women, Audrey Steele and Eirene Ng'anga-Hackett, didn't need any nagging whatsoever; they were on board within thirty seconds or less, being extremely generous spirits with hearts for poor women. Audrey volunteered her lovely home and big screen TV as our viewing venue, and Eirene, being from Kenya, cooked enough African food to feed a small village. We invited about a dozen people over, fed them and then showed them the film, and let them determine what kind of donation, if any, they wanted to make. We made over $600 which we sent to the Hamlin Hospital for their good work.

But it didn't end there. Our women of Kullakas cooperative, all only one step above poverty themselves, have as their mission solidarity with and the empowerment of disenfranchised women everywhere. They wanted to do something for their suffering sisters in Ethiopia, so they decided to do what they do best--knit a blanket for a woman undergoing surgery. Now unless you've seen the film "A Walk to Beautiful" , this doesn't make a lot of sense. The Ethiopian women and girls need to stay at the hospital a minimum of two to three weeks to heal from their surgeries, and spend a lot of time in hospital gowns, wrapped in crocheted or knitted blankets they use like shawls to fight the chill in the air . Since the women of Kullakas are struggling themselves, we paid one of them a fair wage to knit the beautiful blanket shown above. When it was completed, we mailed it off to Ethiopia, with a card from the women of Kullakas as well as their picture, letting the recipient of the blanket know that she had friends and supporters in Bolivia ardently wishing her a better life.

Just a few days ago, I received a letter from Betel Amanuel, the public relations officer for the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. I am going to quote portions of her letter, including her not so perfect English (of course, do I speak Amharic? Not a word!) so you can learn yourself about the blanket's recipient:  

"We would like to share a story of our patient who was treated in our Harar Hamlin Fistula Center, this way you will know how your help have changed a woman's life, your blanket have warmed her...Hawa had been a fistula patient for 50 years and the reason she did not have help before was because she did not have money for transport or have support of family to get her to Addis Ababa. If she had found this, her life would have been different...unfortunately for her, she could not afford to pay a transport cost which was less than $1 and find a person to bring her to the hospital...Hawa was able to (finally) get to our center with a help of treated patient who was cured at our Harar Hamlin Fistula Center...(Hawa says) "Please try your best to restore my health back, I know I am old and I do not have the chance to have a child, but if you help me to get cured I will have the chance to thank my God after 50 years of suffering. I will be able to go to the mosque and pray, I would be able to be clean again."

I don't even like to dwell too long on the idea of a woman suffering the effects of an obstretic fistula--constantly leaking urine or feces, or both!--for fifty years! Fifty years! But to be a small part of the beginning of the healing of that sort of suffering, and to be able to assist others in being a part of the circle of compassion that has reached Hawa half a world a way...well, that's why I continue to do this small work that is the Global Women's Artisan Alliance. Not to mention the compassion of Betel Amanuel, most likely a busy woman as is any public relations officer of any hospital, to take the time to write this lovely note, so that we would know how our modest efforts helped someone...

This year, let's continue working together to extend a circle of compassion to other women around the world. To be a part of this global network of creativity and healing is truly a privilege.

What are Your New Year's Resolutions?

A year ago at this time, I resolved that I was going to actually make something happen out of the vague longings I had had floating around inside me for several years. For quite awhile, I had wanted to do something to assist so many of the third world craftswomen I had met on the many trips overseas that I had had to make in my career. I was impressed with the creativity, spiritual tenacity and vibrant community I had witnessed among these women, so many of whom lived in poverty. At the same time, I was acutely aware that here in the United States, support systems for creative expression, growth in spiritual tenacity and vibrant community experiences for women are often lacking, and that American women often live impoverished lives of their own. 

I got thinking--what if you could mobilize American women to form and experience communities where their creative energies and dreams would be given scope, and where, as individuals or in a group, American women could experience the richness and the joy of partnering with and assisting third world women artisans?

Out of this longing, a modest little newsletter with the presumptuous name of "Global Women's Artisan Alliance" was born, and mailed out to a select three dozen women or so who I thought might be willing, fellow travelers on this particular journey. 

A year later, my modest little newsletter has gone from four to ten pages, and goes out to an ever increasing circle of women all over the globe. In August, I took the leap to try and make another dream come true, and started this blog.

Global Women's Artisan Alliance is still a very modest effort. It is my "hobby", in addition to my "day job" in hospital administration, and my other "avocations" of free lance writing and creating works of art of my own. But it is an immensely satisfying "hobby"--one that continues to connect me with women all over the world with a similar need to create things of beauty and create community, as well as to fight the economic injustices on this planet in creative and unique ways. I learn from these women constantly, and am always proud to be affiliated with them in any manner. Some have chosen to accompany me on this journey that is the "Global Women's Artisan Alliance" and some have become my friends.

This year, I invite you to embrace and live your dreams. What might this New Year look like if you took just one dream you're having, and then took one little step, and then perhaps another step, towards realizing that dream in some concrete manner? Would the world not perhaps be that much better for your efforts? 

I was once told that our deepest dreams and longings are God's way of telling us what our life's work should be, and that in living our deepest dreams, we are actually acting unselfishly, contributing to the good of the world. I invite you this new year to get bold and live the dream--and be sure to share the good news of your unfolding journey with us!