In the rush to finish as much as possible on the drop-in center, our team worried there would not be enough time to teach the women at El Bichito to sew. On the second-to-last day there was finally a gap between projects, so out came the sewing machines.
“I have something special for you,” the team leader told Feliciana, the woman in charge at El Bichito. Two of the three machines came out of their cases, and after a bit of MacGyvering both were running.
Sheri and Kaylynn started showing the ladies how it worked, pointing and using simple words. Nobody on our side knew how to translate “bobbin” or “cross-stitch” into Spanish, let alone Quechua. It turned out not to matter. The Andean women had learned some sewing in secondary school, back when vocational courses were free; the classes now cost more than they could pay. Within minutes of sitting down they were sewing zig-zags, then pouches, then a backpack.
Within an hour the women understood each other, not through language but through experience. They worked out the whole process of sewing bags, money holders and patterns between themselves. By the end of that first class a small crowd of villagers stood watching.
Our interns are continuing the workshops with more women at the center this year. A local hotel has already contracted a group of women to sew napkins for its dining rooms, and the women at El Bichito have hope that sewing will help them grow and support their families.
