Day 3

Day 3

Today we met with Christelle, the head school teacher, who asked us if we would  work with some of the older school children on their sewing skills. Some of the children brought pillow tops that they had been working on while we were gone, so we helped them to put a backing on their pieces.  Some of the children were given applique strips to practice their stitches. We were very impressed with how quickly they picked up the stitches, and by how quietly and intently they worked on their projects. Once they have completed their strips we plan to help them to learn how to make teddy bears or applique animals.

Because they had sat so patiently for such a long time we finished the morning by playing games. We started with duck, duck, goose. At first they simply chased each other around the circle until one of them was tagged, but after a while they begun to understand the rules of the game. Afterwards, we played red light, green light with them. The Christelle started a game in Creole in which the children had to answer all questions by saying “no”, but when she asked them if they wanted “food” they had to all run towards her and tried to be the first one to tag her. We also brought out a soccer ball and first passed it using our feet, and then used it in an improvised game of volleyball. Once it was time for them to leave they all lined up with their hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them and we sang, “if your happy and you know it clap you hands.”

After a lunch of lentils, rice, and pickilies we brought out the treadle machines and material for the older women from the village. About twenty villagers arrived, most whom had brought quilt tops with them that they had been working on since our last trip to Bois D’Avril.  The tops were intricate and beautiful with many colors and patterns. One of the oldest women, whose name is Gislene, had added a very detailed ruffle to the edging of her quilt out of small strips of fabric hand-sewn together. We spent most of the afternoon putting batting and backs onto the quilts, and helping to finish projects that had been waiting for us to come to the village. Others worked on hand sewing applique strips, and had the more advanced sewers worked on appliqueing flowers, animals, and stars. These small beginnings may be the beginnings of future table runners or small quilts.

Once we had finished sewing with the villagers we decided to go on a walk up Zombie Mountain. The view was breath-taking. On one side of the mountain all of Port au Prince can be seen with the ocean in the distance. On the other side, rolling hills red tilled soil and jagged peaks rise up from deep valleys. On our way back from the walk we saw a boy flying a kite made out of a plastic bag, some sticks, and little pieces of dental floss meticulously tied together for the string. When we returns to our house,  we decided to try make kites of our own with the Currelly’s granddaughters. We used string, some sticks, and a plastic bag. Our kites were not nearly as impressive or well built as the boy’s, but will still had a lot of fun running up and down the Currelly’s hill with our kites trailing behind us.