My husband and I recently traveled to Africa with the purpose of serving with the local chapter of Youth for Christ. We spent two weeks in the country of Sierra Leone serving with the ministry teams in detention centers, slums and community programs for young people. There was so much that we learned while we were there, but we were particularly struck by the living conditions and challenges that people face on a daily basis. Sierra Leone just came out of the Ebola crisis, which followed 10 years of civil war. The economy is still recovering from these hardships, and this has a direct effect on the people.
While I was in Sierra Leone, one of my
favorite things was seeing the women wearing traditional African
clothing. The fabric that they use for this clothing is beautifully
colored and reflects the cheerful dispositions of the local people.
When I see the patterns and colors I am reminded that there is hope
for the people of Sierra Leone.
I was able to purchase a small amount
of this colorful fabric and bring it back with me to America. It is
my goal to use this fabric to make a limited edition series of
African bags. These bags will be priced higher than my normal bags
with the goal of raising money to send back to Africa. There are
three areas where I'd like to send the proceeds, I will outline them
below:
- The Baptist Vocational Training Center: I enjoyed spending time with the young ladies in this group. I taught them how to sew their own wet bags and showed them how to make Mooncatchers (http://mooncatchers.weebly.com/). I noticed that there were not enough sewing machines for each of the girls to work. I'd like to raise money to purchase an additional machine or two.
- YFC Beauty School: My husband and I shared some small business tips with the young ladies in the beauty school. We were most struck by the pay rate they receive for braiding hair, which is about the equivalent of $4 per hour. There were a couple of young ladies getting ready to start their own shops, but lacked the capital to do so. We'd like to send some money to help them reach their goals.
- Linda: We spent a lot of time sharing in the poorest communities or slums. Linda was a young lady who accompanied us on most of these ventures. She spends her days ministering in these communities and giving them a message of hope. Linda does this as a volunteer. Linda also shared that her father is currently unemployed and has been so for several years. We'd like to send a portion of money to Linda so that she can be paid staff and so she can help support her family.
I would ask you to consider partnering
with me in sending hope to those in Sierra Leone by purchasing a bag
from my Africa series. All proceeds go to support the three groups
listed above.
More about the bags:
While I have some ability to do custom
requests, I will be limiting this series to one bag style, available
in two sizes. This will be the wet/dry bag with gusset in the xsmall
(8” wide x 6” long) and tiny size (6” wide x5”long).
Unfortunately, because of the weight of the fabric, I am
unable to do straps with snaps.
These bags, while constructed with the
same quality materials and craftsmanship as my other wet bags,
require a little extra care. The fabric is a wax cotton, purchased
in Africa. It should be washed in cold water, and must be line
dried. DO NOT put it in the dryer, as this may cause the wax finish
to melt and the colors of the dye to run. You should be aware that
because this fabric is created by hand, there are sometimes very
small imperfections in the print. These are part of the charm in
having a bag created with a hand-printed African fabric.
I have six different prints available,
options will be listed in my Etsy shop:
ClothOnOsborne.ETSY.com
