Make and Mend

The more practical skills I am able to give the ladies the more they will be able to care for themselves and their babies.  The craft session yesterday afternoon aimed to deliver 3 basic sewing stitches that would help them to mend and maintain clothing.  I am extremely fortunate in that my own mum encouraged and supported me to sew by hand and machine and attempted to get me interested in knitting.  I feel I mastered sewing but the knitting did not appeal to me 😐.  I asked the ladies to bring 2 items to mend and was not surprised that some items were in truth beyond repair, however I demonstrated how scraps of material can be used to patch and make good.  The ladies found it amusing when I told them torn and ripped jeans are fashionable in the UK, they laughed saying not in Kenya 😀.

The evenings get very chilly with the wind whiping up quickly out of nowhere.  Despite everyone’s best efforts the banana tree which was bearing fruit was unable to sustain its upright position and fell breaking its stem.  Staff told me the banana would not recover but would send out a new plant as bananas grow in generations having parents and grandparents.  The actual bananas will be bought inside to ripen. If I can source some over ripe bananas I will demonstrate how to make banana bread on Thursday when we will bake again using the carcoal oven.

Im learning so much and am grateful for this unique opportunity to give back. The ladies are wonderful young women who with a hand-up (not hand-out), courage and determination will go far.