Afghan Hands: Fashion Meets Economic Development in Kabul

Afghan Hands, and embroidery project, 

works with women in Kabul and Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

A friend of mine sent me an email about a BBC challenge which will award $20.000 plus publicity to a group that shows innovation and economic development at a grass roots level.  One of the groups nominated for these awards is Afghan Hands, an embroidery project that works with women in Afghanistan:

Afghan Hands was started by Matin Maulawizada, native of Kabul who has found great success in the fashion world as a make-up artist and as a cosmetics science expert for Neutrogena.  As I clicked around the website and blog, I was struck that Matin is one of the rare souls who can gracefully breach this immense divide our world suffers between the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, the wasteful and the hungry.  How many of us can truly walk between these two worlds and both retain a sense of dignity while embracing the humanity of such different social situations?  It appears that Matin has this gift.  His writing is humble and honest and his vision for the women in Afghanistan is both realistic and empathetic.  Here is how he describes the mission of Afghan Hands:

Afghan Hands teaches skills to help Afghan widows gain independence, literacy, and a livable wages. At our centers in and around Kabul, women learn to create embroidered shawls and scarves, and the exquisite embroidery they make connects them to a wider world.

The centers are places to gather, study, and work. We pay the women to attend classes in the morning and embroider in the afternoon. Without this project, they could not educate themselves. Through Afghan Hands, they leave the walls of their compounds and attend seminars on basic human, legal, and religious rights. They prepare for work as free women do elsewhere in the world. This way, no one will ever imprison them in the name of law, honor, or religion.

We are a nonprofit organization. We are also linked to the Mirmon Orphanage. Our mutual efforts keep expenses as low as possible so that the funds we raise go to women and children.

In the future, we hope to establish small parks and playgrounds for children who now live in areas devastated by wars, drought, and environmental damage. We envision green havens where words of encouragement and hope are shared.

For now, Afghan women, by their own hands, are transforming their lives. This is our mission. Thank you for your interest in them and in their one-of-a-kind handmade pieces.

The main product lines produced by these women are stunning embroidered shawls, both cotton and pashmina wool, many of which find inspiration in the Suzani motifs traditional in Uzbekistan.  The embroidery is impeccable.  The shawls range from around $150-$1000.  One of the things I really appreciate about the project is this choice to produce quality pieces instead of churning out chotchkies that might be more easily accessible to the general public, but which would not showcase the expertise these women have with their embroidery skills.  Projects like this do a great service to preserving traditional skills while providing the technical assistance to reach an audience that can support quality, handmade embroidery.  Here are a couple of samples that can be found on their website:

 

Pashmina embroidered shawls, available at Afghan Hands.

 Crinkled cotton shawl by Afghan Hands

Of course, what delighted me the most, was that the women are paid to both study in the morning and embroider in the afternoon.  I am a firm believer that education is the way out of poverty.  Women who can educate themselves have a much greater access to finding their voice in all areas of their life: socially, politically, and as full members of their family and social units.

 Women studying, Afghan Hands.

I often struggle with justifying my years of work in the handicraft field.  With so much hunger in the world, ecological disasters looming, and critical need on so many levels, I sometimes wonder why I spend my time and energy in marketing things that nobody really needs.  Yet, I find redemption over and over again when projects like Afghan Hands give testimony to the healing power these crafts have in the communities where they are made.  I believe that we need the physical beauty these crafts bring into our lives, the connection we can have with the people who made them.  But, the actual process of making things also serves as a therapy which can help rebuild the broken lives in war torn areas like Kabul.  People like Matin are the best peace ambassadors we can ask for.  They open the paths of communication between people who would never have had a connection otherwise.  The women purchasing the shawls learn about the women who made them, and the women who made them likewise expand their world views in learning about markets, design, and value.  Self-esteem grows.  We are no longer strangers to each other.

Visit Afghan Hands, support them in whatever way you can (they also accept donations), and vote for them in the BBC challenge.

All of the photos in this post belong to Afghan Hands and are on their website.

Afghan Hands: Fashion Meets Economic Development in Kabul

Donna Hussain's Sewing Circle: Exploring the Art Quilt

Art Quilt Workbook: Exercises & Techniques to Ignite Your Creativity

Jane Davila & Elin Waterston

This past fall a group of my quilter friends met to form a new sewing circle to focus on the creation of art quilts using chapters in Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterson for reference and inspiration. While the women at the meeting were accomplished quilters, most were traditional quilters with little experience making art quilts. Everyone wanted to learn basic design skills used by artists who focus on quilting as their medium of expression. And all wanted to experiment with composition and the addition of different types of materials to our quilts. A group of art quilt novices, we thought, would provide support and encouragement as we challenged our creativity and learned new quilting techniques.

After much discussion at our organizational meeting we agreed on the following:

• We would study a chapter of Art Quilt Workbook each month, and each make a small quilt (9 x 12 inches) using techniques described in the chapter. (The small art quilts below are the results of my exercises.)
  

Symmetrical Balance (attempted)

• At meetings we would discuss the chapter and display the small quilts we had designed and sewn. We would also watch the video that accompanies the text, do exercises at the ends of the chapters, and invite members to do technique demonstrations at our meetings. We hoped that each member of the group would complete eight to ten small quilts by the time we reached the last chapter of the text.

Depth

• The circle would be open to everyone, quilters and non-quilters, quilt guild members and non-members. Should the membership grow, we planned to form additional circles with the same agenda, giving members the freedom to choose which group they wanted to attend.

• We agreed that individual quilters would choose a theme and/or color scheme to give unity to their series of 9 x 12 inch art quilts. I chose India as my theme because I have many appropriate fabrics in my stash.

Found Objects (Indian coin, mirrors, tikka)

Here is a report of our progress after four chapters, four meetings.

We have two groups with a stable core membership in addition to others who join us on occasion. Many of the women have difficulty meeting the target of one small quilt a month; many have their own interpretation of the 9 x 12 inch size restriction. Some members are free spirits whose quilts evolve and stray from their original intent. When completed their quilts have no reference at all to the assigned book chapter. My quilts start with a brainstorm. Later, after my quilts are completed I try to find a chapter in the book to fit. But all of us are having fun exchanging ideas, learning new skills, admiring each other's work, sharing snacks, and making new friends.

Isn’t that what quilting is all about?

Fabric Collage

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.

The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.
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Donna Hussain's Sewing Circle: Exploring the Art Quilt

Introducing Artezano Links, A Treasure Trove of Cultural Crafts!

I've been toying with idea of starting another blog, so I finally broke down and did it.

ARTEZANO LINKS!!!!!!

Artezano Links shares some common ground with Rayela's Fiber Focus because, obviously, they both serve my passion for ethnic art and cultural education. But, Artezano Links will include all crafts (fiber, clay, glass, metal, etc.) and will really be a link resource. Go take a look! Then, come back here and tell me what you think. I just got it up yesterday and started with molas, so there isn't a big body of material yet, but you'll get the idea.

I actually started something similar many years ago before blogs were popular. But, it was harder to disseminate information and it never really got going. As I've been working on Fiber Focus, I've seen so many sites that I didn't use in an article or find that the links just keep growing and growing and this idea of another blog has been pushing its way into my brain.

Artezano Links will grow in spurts, as I am able to work on it. It's much easier than Fiber Focus where I often spend up to five hours on an article. Finding photos, figuring out what to say, asking permission to use the photos, and so on. On Artezanos, I'll load a photo representative of the site, add a descriptive text, link, and poof! On to the next one. Related books and videos will also be included. I'm exploring the possibility of developing some educational packets so this also serves as a research tool for me. Hopefully, this will interest home schoolers and teachers.

Fiber Focus also differs from Artezanos in that the glue is really the material (fiber) not the genre (ethnic). Here, on Fiber Focus, posts can talk about indigenous groups or urban deconstructionism (whatever THAT is!). My hope here is that through the medium of fiber we can find our common ground. Artezanos will focus on crafts that have culture specific references. If you sell or represent cultural crafts or see any sites you think should be on Artezanos, send me the link and I'll add it on. Of course I would love to have sponsors that would advertise on either or both of these sites........................ (hint, hint!)

Well, check on Artezanos from time to time and watch it grow. It will blossom into a beautiful sunflower, each seed representing a people, a place, and a heritage on this wonderful Earth!

Introducing Artezano Links, A Treasure Trove of Cultural Crafts!

Teaching Quilting in India by Donna Hussain

Main building, Nasr School
Hyderabad, India

A few years ago I received an invitation to teach quilting at Nasr School in Hyderabad, India. The invitation came from my husband’s cousin, Begum Anees Khan, the school founder. Starting with a small nursery school in the 1960's Anees slowly added students, extended the curriculum, built classrooms, and acquired property to expand the school. Today Nasr School enrolls over three thousand students from preschool through high school on five Hyderabad campuses.

Classroom building, Nasr School

Students on the way to school.
Hyderabad, India

Although I have taught quilting here in the States, I questioned my ability to teach abroad. Would familiar quilting supplies be available in India? What level of quilting should I teach? How long would I need to stay abroad to make my teaching worthwhile? Anees was at a loss for answers to such questions since she had no quilting experience herself. “Just come,” she wrote. “Once you are here we can figure out how to proceed.”

Despite my misgivings, the challenge of teaching in India was too enticing to resist. In early January 2006 my husband and I flew to Hyderabad for a seven week stay. We became part of Anees’ family living in her home on school grounds. I taught hour and a half sessions of beginning quilting twice a week to a class of 12-14 year old girls. I also taught quilting to two groups of women, mostly teachers, two afternoons a week. I had a busy social schedule as well: formal house calls to all of my husband’s relatives, dinner parties, weddings, and other family celebrations.

Morning assembly at Nasr School

Primary school students

High school girls, Nasr School

Classroom at Nasr School

Twenty-seven girls signed up for my quilting class. The sewing classroom was large, but sparsely furnished. There was a small teacher’s desk, eight “new” treadle sewing machines for my quilting classes, and benches for the students. I asked for the addition of six large tables, bulletin boards, and irons and ironing boards, a request immediately granted because of my relationship with Anees.

Quilting classroom

Students at work

Unfortunately, the “new” treadle sewing machines were a disaster, at least in my classes. Most of the girls needed instruction in their use and time to practice on the machines. Since the treadles were easily jammed with thread and inoperable most of the time, I taught them how to piece and quilt by hand.

Cranky treadle machines

I brought plastic rulers, cutting mats and rotary cutters to India in my luggage. Before my departure from home I debated whether to do so. It seemed reasonable to teach students the easiest, most accurate ways of measuring and cutting fabric. But would it be wise to teach the use of tools unavailable in the Indian market? Hyderabad is a city of seven million so I thought quilting tools might be for sale in the city if I could only find the right shop. A relative spent hours and hours driving me around the city to look for the tools with no success. Fortunately, most of the girls in my class said that they had relatives living the Middle East, England, and United States who could send them quilting supplies on request. I donated the tools I brought from home to the school on my departure.

In driving around the city I also looked for cotton or wool batting like we have in the States. None was found. However, I did find a thick polyester batting that might be used if split. In one small shop I met a quiltmaker who was doing hand quilting for a client using layers of thin rubber sheeting as batting. I used flannel for batting in the small quilts I made while in Hyderabad.

In winter months Hyderabadis like to sleep under soft full-cloth bed quilts that are filled with cotton held in place by rows of large hand-sewn stitches. The cotton is so light and fluffy that workers in shops where the cotton is sold wear masks to protect their windpipes and lungs from fuzz in the air. When dirty from use, the quilts are taken apart, the used cotton fill is discarded, and the fabric sandwich is washed. The fabric is then refilled with cotton at a shop.

Shop for cotton fill used in bed quilts.
Hyderabad, India

Once classes started, I taught the girls to measure and cut fabric, and how to sew together quilt blocks. We focused on four- and nine-patch blocks and those that included half-square triangles. The girls then practiced how to assemble a variety of quilt blocks using paper and fabric cutouts. It was my expectation that they would then choose a pattern and start making a small patchwork quilt top in class using fabric brought from home. To my disappointment few girls actually started a quilt project. Instead of learning the final steps in quiltmaking by doing, the girls watched me demonstrate how to add borders, batting, and binding, and hand-quilt with a hoop.

Members of my adult quilting class.
Hyderabad, India

My classes for adult women were much more successful. All of the women had sewing experience, and all wanted to learn as much as possible about quiltmaking before my return. While some of them wanted to make quilts for their families, most were teachers who carefully took notes in class hoping to pass on knowledge of quiltmaking to students of their own. The women didn’t want a slow-paced class that allowed time for practicing new techniques in the classroom. They preferred that I spend all of the class time introducing new material. At the next class they would bring me samples they had sewn at home to show me that they had mastered the skills that I had demonstrated in class.

My husband and I enjoyed our stay in India. On my return, however, I keep reviewing my experiences including all of the teaching mistakes I had made. I could have done better. Last Fall my spirits were bolstered by an e-mail Anees sent to me with pictures attached showing girls in Nasr School uniforms sewing patchwork blocks onto school tote bags. None were my former students…my girls must be nearing high school graduation by now. However, Nasr School’s sewing teacher was in my adult class.

Girls sewing patchwork
Hyderabad, India

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.

The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

Teaching Quilting in India by Donna Hussain

Harry Chapin Sings & Picasso Paints: Flowers Are Red

I visited Spirit Cloth, Jude Hill's blog (which is full of eye candy!), and she had posted an old, type-written story about a boy whose creativity was erased in school. It reminded me very much of Harry Chapin's song, Flowers Are Red. There is a live performance of him singing it on Youtube, but embedding has been disabled. It's wonderful, so do go watch it! I found another rendition by Zain Bikha which is also good:



I loved Harry Chapin when I was in high school (yes, this dates me...) and was saddened by his untimely death when I was in college. I had never seen him perform live until I saw the Youtube video and was moved by his charisma and joy of life. I looked up his bio and learned that he had been an avid campaigner against hunger in the United States and in the world. He saw hunger as an insult to the nation. My memory of him as a rather placid folk singer has now been replaced with a new confirmation of why he meant so much to me back then. His song, Flowers are Red, was not an abstract statement about child development, but rather an indictment he really believed in. His legacy lives on through the music of his daughter, Jen Chapin:



Having freedom in how we see color, shape, and function pivots us into unchartered territories in art, redefining the old, translating concepts into what is relevant to our own lives. Achieving this freedom may often mean challenging powerful role models, teachers or parents, who are not comfortable with stretching boundaries into new parameters. My friends' kids know much more about the world than I did at their age, even though I had a cross-cultural experience and alternative education. Access to resources and multi-culturalism are just much more developed than they were 20 or 30 years ago. What we discovered back then is taken for granted now. But, there are still kids (and adults!) who are terrified of seeing in a new way, of coloring outside the lines. Many years ago, I taught art at an after school program in Chicago and I had a girl who was damaged in this way. The exercise was to put several dots on a white page randomly and then connect them into lines and see if a picture would emerge. She was frozen with the pencil in hand and no amount of cajoling could get her to place that first dot. I wondered back then who had done this to this child.

But, is freedom of expression and the ability to be creative actually art? Ah... the big can of worms... Tension exists between established crafters who have pursued a road of MFA's, academia, and high end ticket prices and the burgeoning indie craft movement, who are often seen as unskilled and unfocused. Throw some sequins on a jean jacket, add a dab of paint and now you are an artist. I listened to an interview that was very thought provoking between the two schools. I couldn't find the original interview, but, Imogene, another blogger spoke out against the judgmentalism she saw there. The IRS doesn't consider any of us artists unless that is our main source of income, so that might be one way of defining an artist.

I find the title of artist pretty useless. It's an easy way to tell people that we have a messy corner in our house full of supplies and that we make stuff. The path each of us takes towards recognition or fulfillment can go through any number of landscapes. But, I do believe skill is important. Whether someone makes goose costumes or woven tapestries for a living, I want to know that it's not going to fall apart in two months and something about it has to grab me as original. Skill takes a lifetime to achieve. Time weeds out the wannabes from the harvest of creativity. Several years ago, I read a statistic that 2% of graduates with a master's degree in art end up in an art related field. What happens to the other 98%? Well, I believe that that exposure to art will continue to speak to their life in some way.

Skill is also about freedom. With it, an idea in the head can become reality transformed into an object. I have many ideas in my head that I will never be able to execute because I don't have the skills to do it. This is where Picasso comes in. I didn't care much for his work until I went to his museum in Barcelona. Walking through the rooms of his drawings and paintings, respect grew inside of me. Talk about color! Picasso came from a traditional background in drawing and painting. He first mastered the ability to see and translate and then became free. Two eyes on the same side of a face came only after realistic portraits of men and women. We often start backwards: play with the eyes and colors first and then try to express what you really want to. I'm not sure there is a right or wrong way, but I don know that the process should be about exploring our abilities to our fullest capacity. Only then, could a body of work show such growth and transformation:


Having teachers and parents who allow us to explore our potential, to see color in a new way translates into a society that has flexibility and innovation. Maybe a nobel prize or two... I saw a documentary a few years ago which examined Japanese society and they claimed that the Japanese had never won a Nobel Prize. Their gift was of taking an idea that was already planted and perfecting it. For all the chaos, bigotry, violence, and poverty that abounds in the United States, this is still a place where ideas flourish. This is at least one aspect of American culture that I can embrace and claim with pride. Take it for yourself, too. Engage yourself in the creative process and allow it to grow like a field of flowers around you in every color of the rainbow!

Harry Chapin Sings & Picasso Paints: Flowers Are Red

That creative chick, Susan Sorrell, teaches online!

I first saw Susan Sorrell's work on Etsy, several months ago. Immediately, I found myself drawn to it. Then, when I first started Fiber Focus, I invited her to write an article. She said, "Sure, I'll try." No word. Several weeks passed and a friend invited me to join Fiber Arts/Mixed Media, a social network, in fact, a very cool group. Guess who started it? Yep, that creative chick, Susan Sorrell. I joined and then decided to form my own, more informal network, as a companion to this blog, Fiber Focus, the group. Some time passed and then I got this e-mail announcing that Susan was teaching online classes. Huh? How does that work? I e-mailed her again and asked her to explain it in an article for this blog. Which she did. Scroll down. It's below...

STOP!
First you have to look at some of this woman's work. Let's take a look at some of her sermons (Click on images for a larger picture):





Take the time to ingest the message. Susan is a Southerner (that's the lower half of the United States). Preaching is a Southern thing. As a pastor's daughter I am drawn to it, especially if it makes you think twice and is full of color and bead work. About 20 years ago I was managing an artisan's co-op in Chicago. I was sick of the traffic, or all the "issues" and decided to go on a pilgrimage. I went to Howard Finster's Paradise Garden, in Georgia. He was still alive, but barely. He was a preacher who got zapped by God and started painting. Susan definitely got zapped by something and spews out paintings and textiles. She obviously has a message. In her words, this is it:

Who Is SuSan SoRrELL???

With a needle and thread I will turn the art world on its ear.

I raise abandoned beads that people have discarded in thrift stores.

I color outside the lines….and do it with permanent markers.

I like the color red, because it is obnoxious, vibrant and loud.

Fiber art is not something you eat for breakfast….you hang it on your wall.

I am inspired by lots of artists and creative people…living and dead.

I pull my ideas out of the air like a magician.

I have a college degree in Visual Arts, so that makes me know less about how not to save money.

All my clothes are from Old Navy and have paint stains on them.

I am an artist…..watch me paint the world clueless.


Much of her work shows women or portraits challenging the world up front. Look at me in the eyes!



So what do you think? Can you learn something from this woman? I happen to LOVE her work, but maybe you think it's too busy, too cluttered, to full of something. Still, don't you think she could help free up that wild woman (or unlikely man) inside of you? Don't you think it could be worth a $60 or so investment to find out what demons (or unlikely angels) might be released? This is where the classes come in. Here is what she wrote:

Online Classes??

by SuSan SoRreLL

That is what people say to me when they ask me what I do for a living. First I have to explain to them what a Fiber Artist is and then how I teach classes over the Internet. “This is the wave of the future and pretty soon you will be able to do all types of classes on the web”, I tell them. People that have grown up with a computer see this a future trend, but people around my age….44….are still leery about the computer and a hacker stealing their ID. My great aunt, who is 91, just can’t get over the fact that I am making a living as an artist, plus this computer monster that has taken over the world. But now, computers are getting so simple to use that several years ago I was approached to design a Fiber Collage class for an online website. Now, I have a Masters in Art Education and had taught for 12 years in the public school system, so I saw this as an excellent opportunity not to waste this expensive diploma hanging on my wall.

Online art classes come in 2 categories, Projects and Creative Learning, in my opinion. Some classes that you can take will show you how to make a project, so you end up with the teacher’s example. (To me that is like coloring in a coloring book or following a dress pattern) The 2nd category is what I like to call Creative Learning. This is how I was trained to become an art teacher…to help the students think out of the box and try new techniques. I write my lessons like I would like a lesson plan in a classroom and shoot a lot of photos to go along with the lessons. Keeping it simple and using a lot of visuals is the way I like to do my workshops. I guess I write the lesson as if I was going to take it. I have taken many online classes and the teachers are really creative, but their lessons are wordy and don’t make sense. So, you will encounter a lot of different teaching styles out there, like you would in a classroom.

The Pros in taking an online class is you can do it on your time schedule. You don’t have to waste gas and drive anywhere. You don’t have to drag around all of your art supplies, they are right there in your studio. You can download the lessons and you have a mini book to keep of the class. You meet other students from all over the world and see how they interpret the lesson. You can experiment without feeling like you have to make your project perfect, so there is no pressure. The cost of the workshops cannot be beat!! I charge around 60.00 for a 6 weeks workshop and if I had to teach it in person I would have to charge around 350.00 a student.

Yes there are some Cons to taking an online class. No immediate feedback from your teacher and other students. No one on one, in person learning while you are working on your project. That is the biggest Con and there probably are several more, but I can’t think of any.

How I teach my online class is everyone in the class are given a password to an online forum and you can download the lesson from the forum. The forum is there for students to share, ask questions, and make comments about each lesson. I download the photos that are in the lesson, that way you can get a clear picture of what I am demonstrating. Plus, in the future I am working on having videos accompany my classes. The forum isn’t in real time, since there are students from all over world in different time zones. But if there is a new way for me to communicate with my students, I will find it. I am really big on the learning experience and want to make it a positive experience with all of the students. When the class ends, I have a Yahoo group and Flickr.com groups set up for everyone to keep sharing their work. Just because the 6 weeks might be over, doesn’t mean I am not there to help.

If you are considering on taking an online class, choose something that really interest you and you will be more apt to do the lessons. You need some motivation, but it is a really inexpensive way to try out new crafts and meet wonderful people.

Hope to see you online!!
Susan Sorrell
www.creativechick.com

I'm not going to list all the classes because I have a feeling this is a post that will be searched often. Here is the link info:

Creative Chick Studios-Online classes:
http://www.creativechick.com/classes.html

I wish I could let Susan unleash the demons/angels inside of me... Let me make this clear, though. I've never met the woman, have had very little contact with her, but all I know is that if an artist's soul speaks through their work, then that creative chick, Susan, is someone I like. I mean, look at how she ends her e-mails: "Laugh, Love and do the Hokie Pokie" I can't dance and have no clue what the hokie pokie looks like, but if I could and I did, I think I would want to try it out with her.

Disclaimer done, I need to add one more thing. Susan joined the little itsy-bitsy network I started, Fiber Focus, the group! Hubba, hubba, try-very-hard-to-dance-something! I have a good feeling that we will get to know each other better over time. A cyber-relationship I look forward to! (OK, I'll let you know if it turns into a nightmare, chuckle, chuckle...)


Now, to her links. The woman is all over the place! I've been spending a lot of time trying to learn this blogging/networking thing (with the supposed goal of promoting my store on Etsy, ha!) and there she is... I've given you some active links above, but here are more that you will have to cut and paste in your browser:

Http://www.myspace.com/creativechicksc
Blog: www.chatterbox.creativechick.com
Studio: http://www.littlehouseartstudios.com
Shop: http://creativechick.etsy.com/
www.cafepress.com/creativechick

The weirdest and funniest?
Need to get hitched quick? www.weddingsinaflash.com

Definitely an entrepreneurial woman! I will study her closely...
Following you will find her bio, but I just need to say one more thing. It's been like pulling teeth to get people to leave comments on this blog. I have no clue why. Traffic is growing and people spend an average of 5 minutes here, so that means interest is being captured. But, I look at other blogs and they have 26 or 52 comments. Why? I have no clue. But, here is something that might tweak your interest.......... Ask Susan (lowering voice to a whispered tone) about the Bigfoot sightings in her area. Let's see what answers she comes up with....


Susan Sorrell has always had a “wild imagination” growing up. Traveling all over the world with her father’s job, she has had to entertain herself with all kinds of arts and crafts. She didn’t become serious about art, until she made it her major at Winthrop University. Earning a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Design, Susan worked for a short time as a graphic artist, then decided to get her Masters in Education at Converse College, to teach art. Being around children was a great way to get her creative juices flowing, so she quit after 12 years and became a full time artist. Susan calls herself a “mixed media” artist, since she likes to dabble in a lot of different medias. She has been working with textiles since 1998 and hasn’t tired of it yet. Combining painting, sewing, beading and embellishing on fabric has opened new avenues to express her self. Her pieces are whimsical, colorful and have a personal theme. Susan likes to draw her inspirations from her life and what is happening in the world. Her recent series of work, “Southern Fried Fiber” is inspired by her “Southern” roots. Susan lives in Greenville, South Carolina,USA. To view more of Susan Sorrell work visit her website www.creativechick.com.

That creative chick, Susan Sorrell, teaches online!

Three Cups of Tea: Building Schools for Peace

I just finished reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. My mind is reeling with the determination of this man, Mortenson, and by Relin's wonderful story-telling abilities. The story is basically this:

Mortenson, obsessed with mountain climbing fails at an attempt to top this big mountain in Pakistan, K2.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
K2, the world's second highest mountain. Pakistan.

There's bad weather, he gets separated from his companion, almost dies, takes a wrong turn and ends up in a little village, Korphe. The title of the book, "Three Cups of Tea" has a different meaning from what I expected when I started reading it. I thought that in Arabic circles, a guest was given a cup of tea on arrival, a second when negotiations were half-way finished and a third when it was time to go. In this context, the third cup of tea means that you are now family.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Azerha with her children in Korphe Village. Pakistan.

The people of Korphe help Mortenson get his strength back and when he is well again, this big American guy who sticks out like a sore thumb now has a new family in this remote Pakistani village. Mortenson had a mission when he was climbing K2. His sister Christa, who had been ill as a child and suffered from epileptic seizures as an adult, had died of a massive seizure on her 23rd birthday. Mortenson loved his sister and pursued a career in nursing with the hopes of finding a cure for her. When he climbed K2, he had a necklace of Christa's in his pocket wrapped in a Tibetan prayer flag which he was going to plant on the summit in memory of her. Instead, after ending up lost in Korphe, he decided to build a school in her memory. This is how it happened:

"Often during his time in Korphe, Mortenson felt the presence of his little sister Christa, especially when he was with Korphe's children. "Everything about their life was a struggle," Mortenson says. "They reminded me of the way Christa had to fight for the simplest things. And also the way she had of just persevering, no matter what life threw at her." He decided he wanted to do something for them. Perhaps, when he got to Islamabad, he'd use the last of his money to buy textbooks to send to their school, or supplies.
Lying by the hearth before bed, Mortenson told Haji Ali [village elder who became Mortenson's mentor] he wanted to visit Korphe's school. Mortenson saw a cloud pass across the old man's craggy face, but persisted. Finally, the headman agreed to take Mortenson first thing the following morning.
... The view was exquisite, with the ice giants of the upper Baltoro razored into the blue far above Korphe's gray rock walls. But Mortenson wasn't admiring the scenery. He was appalled to see eight-two children, seventy-eight boys, and the four girls who had the pluck to join them, kneeling on the frosty ground, in the open. Haji Ali, avoiding Mortenson's eyes, said that the village had no school, and the Pakistani government didn't provide a teacher. A teacher cost the equivalent of one dollar a day, he explained, which was more than the village could afford. So they shared a teacher with the neighboring village of Munjang, and he taught in Korphe three days a week. The rest of the time, the children were left alone to practice the lessons he left behind." [pages 31, 32]

Instead of just getting some supplies as a thank you and tribute, Mortenson goes back to the United States, determined to bring back enough money to build these kids a school. He suffers all kinds of deprivation, comes back, buys the supplies, makes it back to this remote area, and the village rejoices. The men carry the lumber up on their backs where trucks are inaccessible:

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Porters carry roof beams 18 miles to Korphe School. Pakistan.

After all this hard work, Haji Ali tells Mortenson that this is all wonderful but that first they need to build a bridge (they had been using a box on a pulley system to get from one side of a pass to another) and that they needed clean water as so many kids were dying from lack of good water. Mortenson realized that in order to study, these children would first need to survive their first years. So, he goes back, suffers some more, makes all kinds of mistakes and blunders into his first large donation that makes it possible to build this first school. By then, he is hooked and this becomes his life's mission.

The Central Asia Institute was then formed although for the first years, it was Mortenson's dogged determination that represents the U.S. side of the operation. On the Pakistani side, grass roots leaders were invited by him and they helped him make the needed connections to open new schools all over this desperately poor region.

The common denominator in the building of these schools is that the village leaders want the schools for their kids, including for their girls. They beg, plead, line up, demand, cry, and pool all their resources together to make dreams become reality. This is not an American coming in and saying, "Get your kids educated!" This is about communities already starving for places, materials, tools, who have their own raw materials, their children, as central to their hopes and dreams. So, over time and much hard work, it starts to happen. Children who were learning outside, begin having their own schools.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Girls study at an outdoor school in an Afghan refugee camp. Pakistan.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Eighty-one boys attend school
in an abandoned truck trailer in Chiltan Village. Afghanistan.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Patika schoolgirls study outside after the 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir. Pakistan.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Lalander School. Afghanistan.

Mortenson's failed climb to K2's summit was in 1993. By the time 9/11 happened, he had already an established network of support in Pakistan. He has never tried to impose American or Christian ideology on these people. Instead, they use Pakistani curriculum along with extras like health and nutrition. Study of the Koran, of local folklore, of Urdu and other languages are also included. Mortenson's job is to insure that schools remain in good condition, that teachers are paid and that basic services the community needs are addressed. The goal is that eventually, these schools will become self-sufficient.

After 9/11 Arab monies also recognized the region as ripe for indoctrination. Overnight, Saudi money began building fundamentalist madrassa schools. Mortenson realized that his schools now served another purpose. They ensured a balanced education that would help children become reasonable adults. Thus, the subtitle, "One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time." As the region became more volatile, Mortenson's life was endangered by fundamentalist opposition in Pakistan as well as anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States. Finally, a couple of reporters reached wide audiences in a couple of stories of how these schools help relations between the United States and Pakistan, between Christians and Muslims. More money came in and Mortenson was able to fulfill another dream: to build similar schools in Afghanistan. The guy went by himself into wild territory that was heavily mined in Afghanistan and put his life in the hands of a local tribal leader. With machine guns pointed at himself, Mortenson explained who he was, that he wanted to build schools in the region and could they use his services? A local translator spoke excellent English and when they realized that he was Dr. Greg, a feast was ordered (with lots of tea) and work in Afghanistan began.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Greg Mortenson with Gultori schoolchildren. Pakistan.

As I read this book, I identified with much of Greg Mortenson's philosophy and approach to life. We are both children of the 4th World, kids who grew up in another country and who have no real nationalistic ties. He was a Lutheran missionary kid in Tanzania and I was a Lutheran "mk" in Brazil. Growing up overseas, many of us naturally gravitate towards professions that have international or humanitarian dimensions. But, I don't have his stamina and determination. I don't like to be cold, am scared of heights, terrified of guns, and would never, never, never, be able to do what he does. But, I can and do rejoice in this man's gift to humanity, to all these kids, and to the contribution he makes to global understanding.

The highlight of the book, for me, was when one of his earlier female students completes her education in Korphe's school and walks into a meeting of a group of elders who are sitting with Mortenson and demands that she get a scholarship to complete her education off the mountain. She later comes back to continue to work with the village. Mortenson stresses the importance of educating girls and the village elders not only agree with him, but chuckle at this girl's spunk and welcome her leadership roles.

This blog is about fiber related issues. So how does this story fit in with that? Well, one of the things Mortenson realizes as he is building this school is that the village women also need a place to meet and money to get started in cottage industry production. All of the schools have an area where the local women can meet, sew and he has procured sewing machines for them. I read an article a long time ago about the connections local craft economies have with education, farming and production. Nature's cycles dictate when people can plant and harvest and in the winter, craft production is a natural filler and income generator when crops don't need tending.

On a broader level, everything we do is connected. Those of us who can't climb mountains can promote peace, understanding, conservation and other good things by the life styles we choose. We can enable others to practice their craft skills. We can develop our own. I find it tragic how people fight so hard for basic needs such as education, housing, health care, and the opportunity to have meaningful work and then once there is affluence, these basics lose relevance. We all have children in our communities who are neglected. We all have mountains to climb. And, we all have cups of tea that can be given out to our still unknown family.

Image courtesy Central Asia Institute
Greg Mortenson with Khanday schoolchildren. Pakistan.

These schools need continued support. Please visit the Central Asia Institutes's website and if you have children or work with children, see if their Pennies for Peace program is something you can start in your area. If you would like to purchase a copy of the book, use this link and 7% of the sales proceeds will go directly to help support the schools: http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

Three Cups of Tea: Building Schools for Peace