Miriam’s
Dolls
I
met Miriam last year, quite by accident. I had been asked to help a woman named Aina, who had just set up a
kindergarten in the middle of NOWHERE. It took me ages to find this place, riding my bicycle up and down hills
in the farthest section of the informal settlement. Eventually I found her and the 30 plus kids
she had stuffed into a corrugated tin shack with no water or electricity. I introduced myself and we discussed various
ways that I might be able to help her. As
I was leaving the kindergarten I saw a group of ladies sitting in the shade,
sewing. I was curious, and went over to
check it out. The ladies were making
dolls, ADORABLE dolls for infants and children. They had a “big sister” with her little sister strapped onto her back,
and a “big mama” doll with twin babies tucked into her two front pockets. I was immediately taken with the dolls, and
asked how I could purchase some.
The
ladies were part of a sewing cooperative, started five years ago by a woman
from the Netherlands. She taught the Namibian women how to make the
dolls, where to get the materials and how to pool their resources and divide
the profits. They were exporting the
dolls to the Netherlands,
and also selling them in a few of the Hotels and Lodges in various parts of Namibia.
It
was not long before I was a regular customer of this doll project. Visitors and volunteers brought back dolls to
countries all over Europe, Canada,
the USA and Australia.
In
October, Miriam asked me to come and see her. She lives in a corrugated tin shack along with her husband and their 5
children. Her husband has a job as a
security guard, making $1500 Namibian dollars a month. (roughly $200 US
dollars) and Miriam stays home and sews
the dolls and takes care of the children. She had some bad news for me. The
woman who had organized their cooperative was moving back to the Netherlands,
and the women had disbanded. In one last
attempt to keep them going, each of the eight women invested $1,000 Namibian
dollars from their earnings and they got a booth in the local craft
center. They agreed to continue to make
the dolls and to sell them to tourists in this very popular craft market in the
center of Windhoek.
Just
two days after the women’s cooperative established themselves in the craft
market, they were caught stealing crafts from the booths of other merchants and
were evicted. Miriam was
devastated. She had invested $1,000, (her
entire share of the businesses’ earnings), and had lost it all because some of
the women had been dishonest.
As
tears welled up in her eyes she said, “All I want to do is stay at home with my
children and make dolls. I don’t want to
be a part of that group any more. They
spend all day fighting amongst themselves and they are cruel and dishonest. Can you help me? Can you help me get my own sewing machine and
materials and can you help sell my dolls in Europe and America?"
I
felt a great desire to help Miriam, and trusted her implicitly. I told her I would return the following week
and we would embark upon the project. She asked if it was possible for her to begin the following day; she
felt that sitting around was a waste of time and she longed to get started
making dolls on her own. I borrowed a
friend’s car and returned the next morning. We drove all over Windhoek, getting the best deals on fabric, stuffing, ribbons, thread and all the
materials. Then we went to get her a
sewing machine. Since she has no access
to electricity, she needed a small, hand operated machine. Even one with a foot petal was more than she
wanted. We ended up getting her a
magnificent little Singer Sewing Machine which was well built, sturdy and also
very reasonably priced. All together,
the machine and materials came to $1400 Namibian dollars. (roughly $200 US dollars) She thanked me profusely and told me she
would notify me when her first batch of dolls was ready.
Less
than two weeks later she contacted me, and I went out to see her. She had made ten big sister dolls and ten big
mama dolls. With the big sisters selling
for $100 Namibian dollars each, and the big mamas for $120 Namibian dollars,
she not only paid off her debt, but earned $800 in addition to it. I congratulated her, and reminded her to
invest that money in more materials FIRST, and then buy food and other things
for her family with what was left. Miriam agreed and I left with a tremendous feeling of happiness and
pride for this wonderful woman who got her own little business off the ground
in a matter of weeks.
They are also sold locally at Hotel Uhland,
which is owned by my dear friends Irmgard and Jurgen. Each doll is totally unique, and Miriam takes
great pride in making each one perfectly. No flaws, no glitches. The
precision and the detail is outstanding, and I marvel at how she can produce
such magnificent crafts in such a difficult environment. Since
then, Miriam has not looked back. She
has made over 100 dolls which I have sent to Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, and the USA.
Just
last week we sent 20 dolls to the UK with a woman who was traveling through Namibia. She asked if we could please put some sort of
tag on the dolls, so people would know where they came from. My housemates designed an adorable one, “Miriam’s Dolls” and on the back we
wrote: “Hand Made in Namibia! For more information: www.marybethg.blogs.com." And I thought, "Now THIS will force me to update my blog!"
So,
here we are. If this is your first time
reading my blog, PLEASE read previous entries to learn all about what I do in Namibia in
addition to supporting Miriam’s Doll Project. Or, you can just read on as I
give my bi-annual update!
Without
further ado, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that
you are all blessed with happiness, good times and good health in 2008 and
beyond! I spent the holidays in Windhoek, enjoying my
time with the children. You see,
EVERYONE leaves Windhoek from mid December to mid January. Residents go to the coast, to the north or to the south. The kids who are left behind are TRULY the
orphans, for their guardians take themselves and their own kids to the farms
and leave the others to fend for themselves. Because of this, I asked permission to have access to the center all
day, every day, so as to provide a home for the kids who were more or less
abandoned. The smaller number of kids
made for an intimate group, with no quarreling, stealing or fighting…just lots
of good times and simple pleasures. I
believe that is the true way to put Christ back into Christmas. No consumerism, no materialism. Love, love and more love.
For
those of you closely following the progress of The Little Pumpkins, I will tell
yet another story…….
On
December 1st we were invited to participate in a World AIDS Day
Soccer Tournament. It was being held at
a field not far from the center, so we gathered at 7:30 am and arrived at the
field at 8:00 am. The schedule showed 8
teams, 4 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams: Double elimination for the men, single elimination for the women, with
the championships at 4:00 pm and 4:30 pm respectively. Well, the first problem was that they didn’t
even BEGIN the games until 10:30 am, and then at 2:00 pm four more teams showed
up and they felt obliged to include them. Despite the chaos and confusion, the little pumpkins were outstanding
every time they took to the field. They
only had 10 players because 4 of them were being confirmed, so they BEGGED me
to be the goalie. I agreed, and we
breezed through the first two matches. The third match we tied, and then won in penalty kicks. This brought us into the championship game,
against a team from Botswana. These girls were BIG and tough. The men played their championship match at
7:30 pm, and finished in the dark. I
couldn’t believe it when they blew the whistle to call the little pumpkins to
the field. I went with the girls and
said, “Excuse me sir, but it is pitch dark here. We cannot even see the ball. We must play the championship match tomorrow
morning.” He said, “I am sorry, you will
have to play now or forfeit. The team
from Botswana must leave early tomorrow morning. Play
or lose.” So, picture this. I am on the field with 10 tiny little girls,
all 12 years old and younger. It is so
dark I can hardly see the ball, and we have been at the field for over 12 hours
with almost nothing to eat. Our
opponents are all taller than I am, and they are big, too.
So,
my little pumpkins played their hearts out. They challenged every ball, and when it came to our half of the field I
just kept shouting, “Kick it out! Kick
it out!” I was diving right and left and
throwing my 43 year old body over the ball, but with less than one minute
remaining, they scored. We had lost the
championship.
The Botswana team ran around the field in victory and received a big trophy which they all
held up in the air and kissed. Meanwhile, I was taking down the nets with my dejected little
squad. (The nets were mine; they had
borrowed them for the tournament.) Amidst the celebrations I walked over to the program director and said,
“Excuse me sir, can you please give me the prize for the 2nd place
team?” and he said, “Oh, sorry. We didn’t have that much money so we just
bought prizes for the first place teams. There is nothing for the losers.” I said, “Even if you just give us the game ball it will be fine. My girls have played their hearts out and
have been here for 13 hours. It is not
WHAT you give us, but the fact that you recognize us as winners, too.”
He
shook his head and said, “Sorry, I can’t give you the game ball. There is nothing for you.” And he walked away.
So,
I walked back to my girls, who were huddled in the dark waiting for their
consolation prize. They said, “What is
our prize? What do we get for coming in
2nd place?” I looked in their
faces, right into their dejected little hearts, and in a moment of sheer
insanity I said, “YOU GET A SLEEP OVER PARTY AT MARYBETH’S HOUSE!!!”
They
SCREAMED with glee, piled upon each other and then ran all over the field
waving their jerseys above their heads. One of the Botswana girls looked over and
scowled, “WE won, NOT YOU!” To which my
littlest player laughed and said, “WHO CARES??”
So,
on Sunday, December 23rd, after spending the day at the swimming
pool, 24 very, VERY energetic girls had their “stay over party”. I say “stay over” and not “sleep over”
because there was not any sleeping! They
stayed up all night goofing around, watching videos and playing games. They stuffed their faces with food, drank juice and just ran around and acted
crazy. Erica Frerking came from New York to volunteer for a month, and she and Nangula
painted the girls fingernails and toenails with bright orange, glittery nail
polish. I am told that is the usual agenda for these
types of events!
So,
we all survived and that was a wonderful way for us to begin our holidays! The fun never stops!
Another
highlight in December was a trip to a convalescent home in Rehoboth, just 60
km. south of Windhoek. My friend Dave had gone down to do some
repairs of their dilapidated building, and thought it would be nice if we got
some kids from the center to join us and sing and play games with the old
folks. We went there on December 9th
with 10 kids from the center. After
spending the morning with the old folks, we were treated to an afternoon braai
(bar-b-q) at the home of Dave’s friends. We then went to the Rehoboth Dam for swimming. The kids had never been swimming anywhere
except the pool, and they were eager to jump in this great, vast expanse of water. Dave casually inquired if any of them had
been to the ocean, and none had. He
therefore embarked on a campaign to bring my kids to the coast! Ian Gallagher, a fellow Rotarian (and distant
cousin, I am sure!) has offered us a 69 passenger bus for a weekend. It’s just a matter of choosing the date,
choosing the kids (now THAT will be the DIFFICULT part…narrowing it down to
only 60!!) getting adult chaperones and organizing the food and lodging! Let me know if you want to come! Seating is limited so don’t delay!
The
other earth shattering event in 2007 was the publication of my book! The title is: IT COSTS ALMOST NOTHING and it is full of
handicrafts, toys and games all made out of rubbish and recycled
materials. I co-authored it with my
friend Marie; she did all the crafts and I contributed all the toys and
games. In some cases I looked at the
rubbish and said, “How can I make a game out of this?” and at other times I remembered all the games
I played when I was a child and thought, “How can I make that out of
rubbish?”
We
have received very positive feedback from everyone who has read it, and I have
been going all over the country giving workshops to Kindergarten teachers,
early childhood development caregivers and basically anyone who is interested
in working with children in an informal, educational setting. The workshops also include children’s songs
and tips on classroom management and a variety of teaching methods. It is very rewarding to see the
transformation that comes over these women when they are exposed to new ideas
and different ways of teaching and learning.
If
you would like a hard copy of my book, just let me know and I will do my best
to get one to you. You can also download
it off the internet for FREE, and make as many copies of it as you would like
for your friends! The link is:
http://www.fhi.org/en/HIVAIDS/pub/res_CostsAlmostNothing.htm
Looking
back at 2007 I have so much to be thankful for. I was blessed with many, many OUTSTANDING volunteers who had a
tremendous impact on the children at the center. They helped me to make the games out of
rubbish, take photos of the children for the book, assist in the workshops,
organize the Saturday soccer program, supervise at the swimming pool and simply
make my life much easier and much better. They also became my dear friends and served as mentors and role models
for the children at the center. In addition
to the volunteers, my family and friends also came to Namibia, loaded with soccer gear, educational
materials, games, toys and school materials which had been collected by folks
all over the USA. I was deeply touched time and time again when
I heard about communities, clubs, religious and non-religious organizations who
had put in great efforts to publicize my work and solicit donations for the
many projects I have started here. To
all of you, from Canada to Germany, from the USA to the Netherlands, …..THANK
YOU for making my work here possible. Thank you for EVERYTHING you do to keep me energized and focused. Thank you for your trust and faith in
me. Thank you for your generous
financial contributions. Thank you for
your emails of love and encouragement. Thank you for staying close to me even though I am on the other side of
the world. It is YOU who keep me
here. It is YOUR unconditional love and
endless support which sustains me. You
make the sacrifices, and I get all the hugs. You give and give and give, and I get and get and get. Come here and be part of the action! Come run all over the gravel fields and play
soccer with the little pumpkins! Come
jump into the swimming pool with Daniel, Michael and Martha! Come teach Xavier the ABC’s in the computer
room! Come and read stories to Adelaide, Jessica and
Shawn. Come play tennis with Esme and
Eddelsine. Come play chess with
Giddeon. Come to get your hair braided
by Salome and Meroldi. Come and put
Denzel and Sha into the hug machine. Come
and lose your heart to Ruru, Bam Bam, Basanda and Claire. For kids who have been shown very little
love, they sure have plenty of it to share. I love them, and you will too.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
marybeth :)
ps. If you REALLY want to know what is going on here, please check out Erica's Blog! It is:
www.ericafrerking.blogspot.com
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