Got Any Good Ideas to Share?

I was very pleased with the turn out last Monday evening for my "pysanky making" workshop at the Franciscan Center of Tampa. In terms of it being a fundraiser, it's almost not worth it--I only made a hundred dollars, all of which will be going to Vida Nueva Cooperative. Still, $100 is nothing to sneeze at when you send it off to Mexico and let the amazing women of Vida Nueva stretch and utilize every cent of it. 

What does, however, make doing the pysanky making workshop VERY worthwhile is the fact that, for the second year in a row now, we got over two dozen people who came to learn a traditional craft that is as much contemplative practice as it is folk art. It is also a folk art that links European-Americans to the richness of our spiritual and cultural heritage, much of which has been forgotten in our rush to assimilate into mainstream culture in decades past, and which can continue to get lost in our hectic, daily lives. 

I was from that fortunate generation whose grandparents, aunts and uncles and neighbors all came from "the old country"--whatever old country that happened to be, of course, depended, but I grew up surrounded by Polish, Italian, French from the French-Canadians and any other assortment of recent, immigrant languages and cultures, which made life very, very rich. It is a legacy to be treasured, and this year as well as last, when people get up to leave the workshop clutching their first "pysanky", they are literally glowing with pride and effusive in the thanks for being given the opportunity to sit down and learn this traditional craft. That in and of itself is reward--and treasure--enough!

But this year, I got an added bonus. Attending my workshop was a religious sister visiting Tampa from St. Lucia in the West Indies, Sr. DeLourdes Lopez. Sr. DeLourdes gives young women on the island instruction in how to sew, knit and crochet and most especially, how to do fine needlework. The women's crafts are sold throughout St. Lucia, usually in the resort gift shops, but she has also had several "graduates" of her program whose work was good enough that they established their own tailoring and craft businesses. As well as teaching the women a craft with which to earn a living, Sr. DeLourdes gives them support and love, and a venue through which to meet and grow in self-esteem and maturity, as much as in marketable skills. 

I told Sr. DeLourdes about this modest little venture called "Global Women's Artisan Alliance" and asked her how I might help her and her women out. Sr. DeLourdes would like to receive ideas, pictures and patterns of any sort of craft items that might be a "good seller" among the tourist who frequent St. Lucia's gift shops. She would prefer color hard copies or xeroxes of these images, rather than emails or email attachments. So, if you think you might have some nice ideas for Sr. DeLourdes, please don't hesitate to send them along to her. You can reach her at:

Sr. DeLourdes Lopez

Franciscan Institute Palmiste

PO Box 453

Vieux Fort

St. Lucia, West Indies