Friends and Pockets

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.