Quilting Bee Mountain High Style

Last week I left you in suspense as the “Mountain High Sewing Circle” was inaugurated with little fanfare but a lot of apprehension on my part. What if none of the patients liked the projects or wanted to sew? What if nobody showed up? What if the projects were too hard/easy/fast/slow/boring? What if my slapdash sewing ability did not go over in this country where an iron is a necessity, even for families without electricity. (By the way, Join the Peace Corps and you will probably need an iron). What if there weren’t enough needles, fabric, thread or patience (patients)? What if the patients didn’t know how to sew and didn’t want to learn? What if our projects interfered with the nurses and we are scolded for wanting to have a few laughs and fun in this hospital environment? Well, the week was generally viewed as a success because every day we had 10-15 women who left their beds to come and sew and join the fun. They were disappointed when I told them on Friday that we would not meet on the weekends as it takes all weekend for me to obtain groceries in this remote outpost. I believe that the blessings fell on all of us even though some of the projects were not culturally sensitive. The time was well spent and I got to know the women as individuals with lives, families, aspirations, boyfriends, vanity and an urge to embrace the future.
Monday, after advising the director of nursing of my intentions to start handwork (she is called the Matron), the nurses rounded up the willing and able to sit in the corridor on benches while I showed them the headscarf (induku) project and had them draw numbers out of a hat to determine who would get to select the first piece of fabric that would be hemmed. I had purchased 5 types of soft cotton in one of the many fabric stores in town and cut them into 50cm squares for hemming. We started with a prayer and hymn as all meetings do in South Africa, sacred and secular. The 17 women enjoyed selecting their printed or plain fabric and I was glad there appeared to be no “dog” in the selection. One of the patients is only 19 years old and she asked for PINK, just like the young girls in the US. After 2 hours most of the women had finished hemming their indukus and put them on their heads. Twala or wrapping the induku is an art in this country with double, twisted and formed roses appearing on the women’s necks. The best part of the morning was hearing the women chatter and gossip, comparing their lives and sewing abilities.
I was at a loss for what to do on Tuesday so I showed them embroidery stitches they could use on their induku to personalize it. So we had an embroidery lesson where we did initials and names on the induku from Monday. Most of the women came back for more. By Wednesday I was brainstorming to figure out what we could do with only some scraps of fabric left from the indukus so we cut squares and triangles and started working on a quilt for the maternity ward. The women seemed unfamiliar with the idea of patchwork but caught on quickly and enjoyed deciding between square or pinwheel designs for the final assembly. I told them that this was an Ubuntu Ingubo or Community Blanket as each women assembled a patchwork square of small triangles and then sewed them unto the larger quiltop.
By Friday, it was time to celebrate the week’s accomplishments so I dragged my hotplate into the hospital TV room and showed them how to make NO BAKE Cookies, a blast from the 50’s (Thanks to all those moms who taught us useful life skills and sent the NOBakes to camp.) South Africans are partial to sweets-Don’t ever try to work through their Tea Break at 10am. The sweets (candy to us) aisles in the grocery, sundry, housewares and department stores are enormous with many new delights that would charm any expat including chocolate covered turkish delight, nougats with real cherries and almonds, and tiny chocolates in the shapes of ballet slippers with pink decorations. However, good luck trying to find paper towels, ziplock bags or pork chops!
After the cooking demonstration and sampling the goodies tackled the quilt which by now is getting larger and more complex. A few dedicated souls battled the glitches but sewing was competing with the wrestling match on TV. I was happy to hear gales of laughter as clowns hauled away losing wrestlers and the ladies cheered their heroes. A great time was had by all!! Tomorrow we start on booties made out of fleece, lap quilts and tote bags with the birds of South Africa (made from leftover fabric from my curtains). I don’t know where this handwork project is going but was heartened when a new nurse volunteered to assist with handcrafts at the employee staff meeting. Hopefully she will help plan projects that are better fits for the culture and are sensitive to the skills of the patients. The men are also restless in their long days with nothing to do and time to think about their illnesses and problems. Gardening may not be possible for them due to health issues so the next task may be to research appropriate handcrafts for them.
This week I have been thinking about the fragility of health, life and the impacts of disease on family relationships. My good friend Melinda's three year old grandaughter has just been diagnosed with Leukemia and the whole family has been affected. (Please say a prayer for Melinda and her family). The seriously ill patients here are mainly in their 30’s and 40’s when they should be supporting families and contributing to society. The TB and HIV prey upon each other so that two diseases must be treated. The patients are treated well but many do not have a good prognosis. The hospital is remote so that it is difficult for the families to visit. Every family here (patients and staff alike) has been affected by HIV and it is the breadwinners who have been removed from their roles, leaving the families bereaving and broke. There is little anger about this sad state of affairs; only a bland statement that a mother, father, or brother or sister “Passed Away.” Pray that a vaccine or cure for this plague will be found soon.