Playing Hooky

Wednesday I played hooky from school (with permission of course) to visit a Widows' Group in the upcountry.  Originally, I was supposed to take the head of shipping from our Home Office only, but our group grew to include our President, two of her granddaughters and our Village Director.  It was really nice to have a larger group, especially for the women we visited.  They were so hospitable!

We drove over an hour into the upcountry, away from Nairobi.  We passed lots of coffee farms and many of these huge cactus trees.

We finally arrived in the tiny community.  This two room building, previously an elementary school, had just been renovated and is being used as a polytech school.  The leader, a local pastor, allows the widows to use the space during the day.

Helen, on the left, is the Widows' Program Coordinator for the PCEA, a large Kenyan denomination.  She set up this visit for us.

Inside, about 20 ladies of all ages were hard at work crafting beautiful baskets and jewelry.

The bead work was very intricate, and the ladies were just using the light from a window.

Some of the ladies were rolling the sisal used to make baskets and purses.  They go into the bush, chop off the leaves of a certain plant, dry the leaves, shred them for their fibres and then spin the fibers into sisal.  The best way to roll it is on your thigh according to these women.

Our President was instructed in the technique.

Here is a lady weaving a basket with the same material.

I think it's beautiful.

After a few speeches and introductions, the ladies sang and danced a praise song to God, thanking Him for providing everything they need.

Each of us was given a handcrafted Masai wall-hanging made of banana fibres and then we shared a cup of chai tea as a mark of hospitality and friendship.

This lady is not one of the group, but teaches in the polytech school.  She took a bracelet off her wrist and put it on mine, insisting she wanted me to have something to remember her by.

This gentlemen came and watched us through the fence the entire time.  He stood proudly for us to take his "snap" even though the rest of the community laughed at him.  It seemed the whole village came out to sit and watch us from across the street.  I pray that as the women's lives inside change, the rest of the community will see and accept God's love and change for the better as well.