Miriam's Dolls & My Bi-Annual Update!

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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 23^rd, 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 9^th 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

Comments

[Carin]

Thank you for a fine blogg ! Cairn i Sweden

[ann schmidt]

I have just bought one of Miriam's dolls for my 4 year old grandaughter, Natiah. She is such a cute big sister with her little sister on her back. It will be a wonderful Christmas present.

[ann schmidt]

I forgot to mention that I purchased Miriam's doll at a cultural fair in Cambridge, Mass. when I was visiting there at Thanksgiving. A lovely American couple who travel back and forth to Naimbia were selling them.