We have had a very exciting couple of weeks at the Ordway
hotel. The bed hopping began when Dave
and Peter from Hope’s American head office were in town to visit a variety of
their saving circles. Next in line was very
talented Nikole Lim. She was doing videography
work for Hope in Rwanda before moving on to Kenya where her NGO is based out
of. It was fun and inspiring to swap
Africa stories as she is well traveled around these parts. She started her NGO Freely in Hope, which helps young girls
who have been victims of sexual violence, soon after finishing university. Freely In Hope provides the girls
with scholarships for secondary school and university and when possible matches
them with a mentor as well. To read
Nikole’s incredible story and see some of her work check out www.freelyinhope.org. Lastly we hosted
four friends of the Ordway’s from their neighbourhood back home. Much to Maddie’s surprise the visit included
her best friend. Along with them they
brought a couple decks of cards which became a main source of entertainment
between events. This week we are back to a quiet house, but not for long as three more friends will be visiting beginning next weekend.
In between the visitors I have continued with teaching Ibyishimbo - the sewing co-operative. We have now finished our
pockets unit. They have learnt western, ¼
top, and welt pocket; as well as designed their own unique patch pocket. The cooperative continues to be incredibly disciplined
and invested in their learning. We have
been working hard on increasing the quality of their sewing while learning new
pockets. This has often meant redoing stitching
which the coop always does. Teaching has
brought back many memories of first year sewing classes at Kwantlen. Comparing almost every line of sewing and
such relief when the teacher said it was good enough. Next up - plackets.
