Kwambu

I've saved the best part for last, in this series on our recent trip to East Kwaio. On Saturday, we woke early and went to the local market. The OBM brought us there - it was through the Mangrove passage and then on the other side of the harbour. There, standing on a pile of stones that jutted out from the natural mangrove landscape, was a small leaf house - the market. By the time we arrived, there wasn't much left to purchase - tomatoes, tobacco, betelnut, greasy looking cooked fish, and an assortment of buns. Needless to say, we skipped the tobacco, betelnut and fish, and bought some tomatoes and buns.

The market is always a great place to meet people you haven't seen for a while - and a small local market like this, is even more of a hub for the locals. People stayed to chat long after the produce was sold out. I too met up with some people that I hadn't seen in a long time, one of whom was Salome. I was so happy to see her on her own turf!

I also met a new friend, Betty, who was one of the first people to start a village for new converts to Christianity, or new souls, as they are called here. Betty grew up in a Christian home, but her and her husband started living in the village of Kwambu as a way to offer a new place for new souls to live.

I was so excited to meet her that I proposed we go over and visit Kwambu. Because it was early morning, the tide was low, so it was harder to get there - a 10 minute trudge through the mud would have started the walk. So we decided to come back later in the day when it was high tide.

We set out at 3pm in the little OBM, travelling again over the harbour. It started raining and I crept in the covered part of the boat

while the other huddled under umbrellas. We approached the mouth of the "river" and made our way carefully through the passage in the mangroves.

When we reached the shore, we gingerly got out, looking carefully around us. Not far from Kwambu, in fact, further up the mountain, is a heathen village. Two of their women were down

by the water, washing something when we arrived. The fence in the background is the "pig fence". The heathens let their pigs roam free, but they don't want their pigs going into the Christian village. They say that if the pigs go into the area of the church, then Satan won't be happy with them if they sacrifice that pig. So they built this long fence - (Kwaio's version of the great wall of China!) to keep their pigs in their area and away from Kwambu and the church. That is no small undertaking - believe me - the fence starts here at the bottom by the water - with allowance for low tide, and goes all the way up the mountain!

I thought it was strange that so many of the heathen women I saw either in the market that morning, or here by the shore, had really short hair. I thought they'd have long wild hair, but it was short. I asked about it later and I was told that the heathens believe that Satan hates life - and new birth. So when a pregnant woman is ready to deliver, she has to go into the bush and deliver it by herself. After three weeks, when she has recovered from giving birth, she has to shave her hair and the baby's hair and then she can return. The hair is too closely linked to her pregnancy and delivery - too closely linked to life - so she has to get rid of it, and come back to the village devoid of hair. I thought it was so... well, fitting, I guess. Satan hates life - he is all about death. No wonder he hates a new baby being born. Whereas God is a God of life - He gives life - both physical life - and spiritual rebirth as well! No wonder they believe Satan hates life. Life is from God.

Anyway, we walked up this stony path, over the fence a few times, past streams,

through Kwambu village, up to the church. We passed this little girl, a kastom umbrella on her head, looking at us. We found out later, we were the first white people ever to go inside that village.

They rung the bell and people started coming to the church. They welcomed us, and prayed with us, introduced themselves, and talked about their work of reaching out and witnessing to the heathen people up the hill. Many of them are new souls themselves. Including this man

who in his former life was a pagan priest. His cheeks are green with numerous tribal markings associated with that role. Now David knows Jesus and has been set free. A number of years ago already, he and wife and children, and his mother, came down from the heathen village, and became followers of Jesus instead. He proudly introduced us to his children - 11 of them! He was quite chuffed when I said he almost had as many kids as Abraham.

And then I met Salome again - and her husband and one of her children. They were so loving and full of joy. You could feel it. Though her skin bears the tattoos and markings of her former life, her face, marked by freedom, tells a different story. Why? Because of Jesus.

The people of Kwambu were so generous - even though we had come just to visit Betty had prepared food for us - good local kaikai straight from her garden.

Betty is the woman on the right, while her mother-in-law is the older woman standing next to my mother.

I felt so privileged to be able to visit Kwambu - to meet people whose lives had been changed so radically because of the gospel and who are passionate about reaching out to the heathens further up the mountain.

The church in Kwambu - definitely the hub of the village - overlooks the harbour, and itself can be seen in the harbour standing as a testimony of the changes that have come about in that area.

Remember Kwambu in your prayers, that they may be a city on a hill, a light to those living in darkness.

Life in Canaan

Living in Canaan for a week to run a sewing workshop was very special. Here are some snapshots of our experience of life in Canaan.

The leaf house we stayed - bathed in dawn's first light.

daily tasks for a little girl.

Sewing leaf for a house.

Those are actually waves in the background - there are very few of them in the happy isles.

There's always plenty of pikinini playing.

New kid on the block.

Taking a moment to pose for a photo after scampering over rocks on our beach walk turned tramp.

Meet dinner.

White sand streets.

Youth or older, every evening almost every man plays soccer as the sun sets.

Everyone else watches.

Watching the canoes coming in...

But always ready with a quick smile.

These boys spent the entire afternoon riding the waves on their dugout canoes.

And the sun goes down (still surfing!)

The entire village watch End of the Spear on a 14 inch t.v.

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?

Redlands Team

Last Thursday we farewelled a youth team from Redlands (CRC). It was real exciting to have them here at SWIM! The 8 of them spent 9 days here - doing a kids program for the local kids on the first three mornings. In the afternoons they busied themselves painting our Transit House - and they even had time to start on the Deed House - where we live. It was exciting to see the colour transformation. 13+years had worn the original paint of the buildings considerably, so the place is looking great now.

Then, during the second week, on Monday to Wednesday mornings, the team split up into boys and girls. The guys did a sport program with the youth in Lungga, and the girls ran a crochet class for local women. It may seem a bit of a simple thing to do, but it was so appreciated by the local women. Crystal, pictured below, told us how for a long time she's wanted to learn how to crochet but no one would teach her.

"They want to keep the knowledge to themselves," she said. She was so thankful to have the chance to learn.

Rose is another woman who is excited about her new skill. She's pictured here pinning up a hem for the first time in her life! She's working on making this food cover. She'll crochet the edges and then do cross stitch or sew something on it to embellish it.

While all us ladies were sitting around doing crochet and hemming the edges, we talked about how good it would be to meet regularly - to encourage each other to keep busy with our hands, to pass on skills or new ideas.

A lot of the ladies in Lungga community (where SWIM is located) don't have paid employment, so apart from the daily chores of working in the garden, washing dishes and clothes, and cooking food, they don't have much to do - and certainly not much money coming in either. They were excited about the prospect of being able to learn a new skill to be busy with while sitting around at home.

I led devotions at the beginning of each session, focusing on the Proverbs 31 woman and the ways she put her skills and hands to good use for her family. By the end of the third morning, we decided to meet back at the end of the month, bring whatever we're working on and discuss how we can make this a more regular thing.

I'm so pleased about this! A) because I love creating things and I've wanted to find a way that I can serve God here using the talents I already have and B) I've always wanted to find a way to help people to become good stewards of their gifts and resources, using them to provide for themselves and their families. This seems like a road forward! So thanks to the Redlands Team - you've really started something good here.