Sewing Workshop in Canaan

A whole week has gone by since we returned, but I've only now finally found the time to write a post about the sewing workshop in Canaan that I was a part of. It truly was a wonderful week in so many ways. There's so much to tell, so I'm going to blog about the week in three different posts. Welcome to the first one - about the sewing workshop.

A few days before we left, two Mondays ago, the team started arriving from overseas. My mum, Leida, was the first to arrive along with Peter and Lynn. Then two days later, Elaine arrived. She was the "brains" behind the operation - organising the teaching side of the workshop. The rest of us ladies came as helpers. Jair and Peter came to fix machines that were broken. That week's flight to Atoifi had been cancelled because the airfield was too wet. Well it was still raining, so we hoped and prayed that we would be able to fly there on Monday.

Our plane was the third biggest (and second to last smallest) in the fleet - but big enough to land on a wet, muddy airfield. It was more reminiscent of the 4wd driving we'd done the day before, than a place to land a plane, but no worries. We landed and got off okay, then headed for the walk to the wharf. Mum, Lynn and I were wise enough to hitch a ride with the tractor, but the others walked.

We went on a small boat - an "engine" or an "OBM" - and arrived in Canaan mid-afternoon.

Later that afternoon, I fed Theresa dinner - a dry lump of taro. Well, two actually. Taro is really not my favourite food - nor is it Theresa's but she ate it happily and quickly. Then I realised that in all the rush and busyness of getting to Canaan she hadn't eaten anything since our early lunch at home. No wonder she loved the Taro.

Anyway, Tuesday morning we started the workshop. We said we'd run the workshop for 20 women - in the end we had 43 participants! And Jair and Peter were busy fixing around 13 sewing machines over the next 4 days. It was busy.

Each morning we'd start the workshop with a devotion to challenge and encourage the women to be busy in the home. Then we'd start the morning's sewing. We were planning to do sewing in the morning, have lunch with the participants, then relax, maybe teach a bit of crochet in the afternoon. That first morning, it wasn't till 2 O clock before we managed to get down to lunch, and then some women wanted to keep going. It was 4pm by the time everyone had finished for the day! Island time.

The first day, Elaine had organised for us to teach a few basics of using a hand sewing machine, and making a bag, and a pin cushion. That kept us very busy and gave the women a chance to make something simple in a day - one thing by hand and one thing by machine.

After a late dinner, we retired for hot chocolates to the leaf house where Elaine, Leida, Peter and Lynn were staying, and decided that the next day, we'd definitely finish around 1.

But Wednesday was market day. Or rather market morning. Before dawn, people were already out in the canoes, heading out to the market in another part of the bay. Market morning is a big thing for the women - whether they are buying or selling or both. They get up early so that they can be in quick enough to get what they want. Produce is limited in the area. It's the early birds that catch the worms, right? But, because they had to paddle back as well, it wasn't till 10am that everyone had arrived back and was ready to start the workshop. Island time, that's ok. But it did mean we didn't get the 1 O'Clock finish we were hoping.

So day two, the participants had the choice of making a pair of trousers, a skirt, or a dress, for a child.

They split into groups according to what they wanted, and as the instructors, we split up in to what we could teach.

It really was so thrilling to sit down with women, who'd never sewed anything in their life, and teach them to make a skirt for their daughter or niece or themselves. The women were so motivated. And while we may have quietly longed for more (well, not more. "A") cup of tea break, or tables to sit at, the participants were just so happy to be there and learn something to help their families that they didn't mind where they sat!

By the end of day two some people had already finished one article of clothing. Someone wasn't too happy showing off her new skirt that her auntie had made!

On Thursday the women could finish what they hadn't completed the day before, or start another item of clothing. I snapped this photo

- three generations in one family learning to sew, though for Heta, only four, it was more about trying to get me to take photos of her! She couldn't wait to wear the new blue skirt her mum was sewing for her. At one point in the morning I stepped outside the church, where we were running the workshop, to take a photo of the view.

A beautiful place to go to church!

By Friday, we'd pretty much ran out of fabric. With double the number of women we were counting on, it got used up very quickly. So the women finished what their two items of clothing and then we taught crochet or appliqué. Crochet was a real hit! The women loved to learn how to use crochet to embellish clothes, or make edges for food covers.

I learnt a few more words in pijin - "hook" is the word used for crochet. I asked someone if she'd crocheted before and someone, rephrased it for me "Yu holem hook bifoa?" Have you held a hook before? I love the way these little phrases develop in pijin.

We finished the workshop by handing the women a piece of nice, new fabric for them to make something after we'd gone. On Sunday, in front of the whole village, we handed out some community sewing machines that had been donated through the compassion catalogue.

We left by challenging the women to continue using their skills for the benefit of the whole family - and to share their skills and knowledge - getting alongside other women to help them, and teaching them to their children.

We learnt a few things that we could do differently next time. We had a lot of laughs, have made many great memories, met many wonderful women who already are like the woman in Proverbs 31 that we'd talked about in devotions. I was humbled that God could use the little knowledge and the few skills I did have to enrich and help these women in a remote area of Malaita.

I'm already formulating plans for another sewing workshop in a different area. Anyone keen?