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Save Darfur

Check out Sixteen days of Activism Against Gender Violence on the Save Darfur Coalition website.

Today is Day six; honouring journalists covering violence against women in Sudan.
I'll never forget what fellow Darfur concerned friend once told me in terms of media coverage about the ongoing genocide and displaced persons in the Sudan.

"Darfur just isn't sexy any more".

It just doesn't generate interest any more.

We'd rather gag on H1N1 25 hours a day.

Well, here's to bringing sexy back.

(chennille bedspread; embroidered velvet; orange quilt; odds and ends; Brian's rejected shirt; a calendar tea- towel; and some other stuff).
Inside the bag:

The tea towel forms another two pockets- one for your pen and the other for something smaller like a phone or what-evah.Two more pockets under the flap- nice for the phone and the keys. (both of which I"ve lost. Shoulda had me one of these bags....)

Specs:

roughly 11" x 11".

Adjustable strap.

delightfully colourful.

Start price is $25- Cdn. Bids are welcomed until 9:30 pm cst, this evening, November 30, 2009.

Thank you

for being part of the Darfur project. Thanks to your support, our current total of funds donated is:
fifteen thousand, one hundred and seventy-six dollars!

The Family Tree

The place has been a little lacking in bag-giness over the past few days. That's why I'm posting the tree- thinking you'll all forgive me for calling in sick for the past two days.... I've been at my mother and father's house; trying to "look after them". My mother had a minor surgery on Wednesday, and I hung around the place, awkwardly setting the table, washing the dishes, fetching the cream for coffee.

I haven't slept over at ma and pa's for a number of years. And its been considerably longer that I've ever slept over there without an assortment of babies and children clamouring at and around me.

I liked it because it gave me the oppurtunity to enter their world; instead of imposing mine upon them. What I saw comforted and encouraged me. It reminded me of the roots that hold down my family tree.

Now, my parents aren't perfect.

And we're not the Waltons or anything.

But.

Here's what warms my heart.

When I was a child, my dad started every breakfast by pulling out his Bible and his monthly copy of "My Daily Bread" (a daily devotional). He sat in his spot and read the lot of it out loud to his family. Then he bowed his head and prayed a prayer of reverence and gratitude.

Every day.

And he still does.

He's eighty-six now. He and mom have been together for about fifty-nine years.

I loved being in their quiet, unhurried world, watching their routines and the simple but genuine ways that they care for one another. I love how sharp my dad's brain is, stroke notwithstanding.
~

I know that time is short; growing shorter all the time. I imagine how much I'll miss them. I know how incredibly lucky I am to have such strong and independent parents.
~
and that's a little about my family tree.

~

About the other tree: 8" x 10", four pockets, adjustable strap, lotsa sweet buttons.

Now I know that I generally post these photos in the morning, but this week has been a little out of the ordinary. I'll go ahead and publish it now (quick! before parent/teacher interviews!)

The auction on the tree bag will conclude on Friday, November 27, 2009 at 9:30 pm.

(ah, by that time I'll be leaning heavily into the weekend, full on appetizers and wine..........)

Don't Go Too Far Away....

Super busy day today.
.... and no bag photographed yet.
Perhaps I shall be back later today to launch tomorrow's bag.
Until then, you can find me running between the fridge, the table, the sink, and meting out justice as I see fit. (those pre-schoolers can be tough customers!)

Have a day that looks for the good....

Hold the Lettuce

A lovely shoulder bag from Lettuce in London, England; handwoven on a table top loom.
(How I'd like to see these looms for myself one day...)
For a description of how this bag is put together, check out this post: Letty's woven.

It's a pleasure to host these bags in my home, and have the privelege of auctioning them off for Darfur. People with a love for fabrics and textiles have unique ways of expressing it; and what a joy to share something different here.

Lettuce does beautiful work.

The bag measures 9.5" x 10".

The strap is 18" long.
Auction concludes this evening, November 24, 2009, at 9:30 cst.

Bids begin at $25-.

Evasio

The Augustine United Church in Osborne village hosted a two part lecture series on the "Responsibility to Protect". Part one was the Christian considerations for peacekeeping and peacemaking; exploring Christian traditions of just war and pacifism in light of the united nations responsbility to protect.

I missed that part.

But I made it to part II: Christian Responses to Stories of Genocides & Massacres with:

Waldemar Janzen, refugee from Soviet oppression.

Evasio Murenzi, survivor of early Rwandan massacre.

Marceline Ndayumvire, survivor of Burundi genocide.

Henny Paritzky, Holocaust survivor.

There wasn't a speaker who didn't squeeze some "hmmmmmm's", or "huhhhh's" out of me.

But the one that stands out in my mind is a young man who survived the massacre in Rwanda.

You may remember me mentioning a book by Evangeline Iilibagiza called "Left to Tell"- which was her unbelievable account of survival in that Rwandan genocide. So, coupled with what I remembered from her story, I found Evasio's to be profound and remarkable.

His earliest memories; at the age of five; are of witnessing men setting fire to houses in his village. He was excited and intriqued at this "bad boy" behavior and wanted to join in.

The memories that followed were of people killing neighbours. Machetes. Guns. Death. Flames.

I find it remarkable that anyone could emerge from those scenes in their formative years and be whole, even in the slightest of ways. That he could be upright, law-abiding, peace-loving. That he could have escaped severe mental illness, and sociopathic behaviors.

This is a great mystery.

So, then, this bag is dedicated to Evasio- and all survivors. And to the people they left behind.

The bag measures 8" x 10".

Pockets number four- as photographed.

(and by the time I got back here to add some words; I see that the auction has begun.)

Auction concludes this evening at 9:30 pm, central standard time; November 23.

Fatima

So much to say.
Some mornings I struggle a little with the titles of these posts. This morning it was a toss-up between three possibilities. I settled on "Fatima" because of something remarkable that happened earlier on this week, which I will soon expound on.

The two other possibilities had to do with a relatively new commenter named "Janice" and my almost seven year old son Sam.(bag turned inside out- this is a Campbells soup bib apron turned pocket.)I'll start with Sam. Now, I had a son born to me almost five years before my Sam joined our family. This first son saw most clothes as uncomfortable, flashy, stress-provoking evils associated with life on this earth.

When Sam came along, it was a different story. He liked choosing clothes in the store. I remember seeing him as a toddler holding up a hanger in a store and making happy noises. This was altogether new for me. The other pocket(s) inside this bag are a pair of Sam's pants; re purposed.
They are actually hand-me-downs from a Darfur supporter whose son loved watching the bag action online. They passed down some of his clothes for the project, but they were just about the right size to wear on Sam first; and then make it into a bag. So, that's what we did.

Last night I photographed this bag, and had it slung over a chair, inside out- just like the above photo indicates. Then I came into the office and busied myself getting said photos onto the computer.

Sam came to me weeping.

It was a sad cry, and not his more typical mad cry.

He was sad about those pants. Mommy- why did you make my pants into a bag?!
(I soon realised that he thought these were his current brown pants, and that I'd taken them out of his drawer and sacrificed them to the greater good)

Oh, sweet sam.

(rear of bag- a red velveteen children's dress)

"Bright is in"- that's what Janice said.

She came here in the most serendipitous way. After the privelege of hearing Mariatu speak in the flesh, she went home and googled her name.

And came here.

And has delighted me since.

(this is under the flap: do you see that the two pockets are actually the bottoms of two sleeves on what I imagine is a child's Christmas dress?) The white lace forms the cuffs of the sleeves. Reminds me of photos of my sister and I dressed matchy matchy at Christmas time.

Now about Fatima. I had the awesome privelege of sitting in on the local MCC thrift store's annual meeting earlier on this week. I was duly impressed with their work in clothing and feeding people worldwide- it really looked like Jesus to me.

There was a guest speaker whose work involved operating a central Canadian warehouse from which goods are circulated worldwide. He shared powerpoint photos of baled clothing and quilts and then some of their destinations.

I got sort of breathless when he began to show photos of distribution in the Darfur region of Sudan!!!!! (a note about the straps: one side is a pretend patchwork scrap that I just had to keep. It was small, but I knew it would be perfect for something; and here it is. The other side of the strap is embroidered in flowers that I sat up all night stiching. Not. They really are embroidered, by hand I think I can safely assume. They did adorn a tablecloth in their other life.)

He shared a photo of a woman named Fatima. She was standing in a displaced persons camp, accepting a quilt sewn in the back rooms of some Canadian (Manitoban? Nivervillian?!) thrift shop. (our local thrift shop produces 500 to 600 quilts annually!)

~

It was bright and colourful. And she was grateful to receive something so beautiful.

~

When asked what she was planning to use her quilt for; she told our speaker that it was going to become her infant's bed. When asked where the infant currently slept, she explained that she made him a bed in the sand.

~

Fatima is one of us. She's not someone far away who looks great in photos with a donated quilt and makes us feel comfortable with our contributions to the "lesser". I think that's a pit easily fallen into. I often forget the Fatimas when I'm sewing stuff together in my basement with fifty million toys on the floor, a couple of toddlers, a warm furnace, and fat on my bones. And yes. Sometimes the sewing is measured in comments. Or readers. Or followers. Stats.

~

We are a greedy and selfish nation. (now you're starting to think: geez, here comes the fire and brimstone, and a lion's share of guilt). I think I'll ease off here.

~Particulars~

LARGE. 16" wide and 14" deep.

The lining is made of a thin quilted material. It wouldn't exactly protect a laptop, but it would help. This bag is also practical for: people who carry a lot of stuff, or binders, or small children. Even a mid-sized dog.

Bids begin at $25- Cdn, and the auction concludes at 9:30 pm, central standard time; Thursday, November 19, 2009.

Comments are always free.

Time Zones

Until I figure out a handy dandy way to put this in my sidebar, or along with my other FAQ's, here is Canada divided into time zones. I suppose that's not fair either, since the whole freaking world doesn't live in Canada, does it.

*sigh*

Things seem so easy until you put some thought into them.

Must stop thinking.

Foliage

Very similar to last week's bag (Remembrance)
However, this one fastens closed twice: once on the under flap pocket, and once on the flap itself.
Here is the inside; View A.

Inside; view B.

The back. The green has a velveteen feel to it. Very pleasant to touch.

The bottom.

Bag measures 7" x 10".

Auction concludes at 9:30 pm cst tonight, on November 17, 2009.

Bids begin at $25 Cdn.