A TIGHT-KNIT GROUP
Many hands make light work especially if they are the Hands of Christ knitting group, which is helping to raise money to build a girls' school in the troubled African state of Sierra Leone.
Under the banner of 'Slippers for Sierra Leone', the ladies have been turning out slippers in all sorts of eye-catching colours and patterns as they strive to reach their goal to make at least 200 pairs by Sunday.
Then the group will host a 'Slippers for Sierra Leone' supper on December 6, at which everyone who buys a ticket will get a pair, and the money raised will go to Aliea Kamara, a Sierra Leonian living in London, whose daughter Ngadi is married to Bermudian Abayemi Carmichael and living on the Island.
Through Mrs. Kamara's visits to her daughter in Bermuda, educator, author and knitting group member Muriel Wade-Smith learned that the London resident has long held the desire to return to her homeland and establish a girls' school.
"Since meeting me, Aliea was encouraged and inspired to almost shout it from the rooftops that she really wants to do this, but I needed some sort of project to raise money, and in January I got the idea of making slippers because another senior, Kay Crockwell, had taught me to knit," Dr.Wade-Smith said.
"On my birthday in July, I invited 18 people to come to my house, and I gave each of them a bag containing two balls of wool, knitting needles and a pattern, and I told them they were to start immediately. Knowing how to knit was the criteria for being invited," she added.
The ladies were only too eager to get started, and in the ensuing months they have also been on a 'knitting ferry ride' and a 'bagging and counting party', when the slippers were placed in organza bags to match the colours of the wool.
On the day of Lifestyle's visit, they were having a 'knitters' tea' in a private home — a delightful scene of camaraderie, friendship, easy conversation and laughter — but always with the ballet of busy knitting needles at work.
While the 'Slippers for Sierra Leone' project is very much rooted in Bermuda, the helping hands are by no means confined to these shores. Thanks to a chance meeting between Dr. Wade-Smith and visitor Vivian Cloutier in St. George's, the latter became one of many contributors sending their work to Bermuda.
Mrs. Cloutier teaches knitting and crochet at a yarn shop in Alberta, Canada, and said she would be glad to help. A friend of Dr. Wade-Smith's in Pennsylvania not only sent a large box of wool from Wal-Mart, but also has had her church group knitting slippers.
The daughter of a friend in New Mexico has had her class of girls knitting away, while a group in Atlanta has been doing the same.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wade-Smith's fellow knitters include Delores Dzofonoo, Paula Georges, Sheila Johnson, Sherlyn Jones, Judy Maynard, Melvina Robinson, and Judy Beach, the assistant director of the Hands for Christ group.
Mrs. Dzofonoo had not knitted since childhood. She knew nothing about how to knit the slippers, but accepted an invite to join the group anyway, thinking she would make four pairs. She found it so relaxing and therapeutic for her health that she has long since eclipsed her original target. And, she says it has inspired her to make slippers as gifts because inevitably those who see her work want a pair for themselves.
Mrs. Johnson is glad to contribute to the project "because it is so worthwhile", and says she has been "enjoying the experience".
Mrs. Jones is an avid knitter who has been creating things for more than 30 years. Her friendship with Dr. Wade-Smith also goes back a long way, so she was delighted to be invited to her birthday party, and her slipper count has been growing apace ever since.
"Prior to this, I spent my time on the computer playing Scrabble, so now I knit at the same time," she smiles.
Mrs. Beach began knitting as a nine-year-old "with nails and string". Today she is a knitting whiz who not only loves the 'Slippers for Sierra Leone' project, but happily helps her fellow knitters to sort out any errors. She also teaches knitting and crochet.
Ms Georges is another expert knitter, having begun 37 years ago. She describes the project as "inspiring and wonderful".
A senior, like everyone else in the group, Ms Georges says "it keeps your mind alert, and you younger because your fingers are constantly going and you're not seizing up. I enjoy the company as well". She is also making dishcloths which will be sold at the dinner.
Ms Georges also crochets and does counter cross stitching on plastic canvas, and will teach anyone who wants to learn.
In December, Dr. Wade-Smith plans to join Mrs. Kamara's daughter Ngadi and her family on a visit to Sierra Leone for what she terms "an orientation trip in terms of setting up a girls' school".
Explaining the first steps, Ms Kamara said: "When we go to Sierra Leone my mother will be doing the ground research. At the moment she is doing the groundwork to set up a community-based organisation. The visit to Sierra Leone will be to acquire the land and meet all of the requirements and Government regulations.
"The concept is to serve underprivileged girls who typically do not get an opportunity to be educated. The bias is that parents can send one child to school, and typically that is the boy child, so girls get left behind a lot.
"The school will be multi-purpose and multi-racial, and provide education as well as tertiary education for young girls. There is more vulnerability where girls are concerned, especially in Freetown, and that is where we are looking to have the school.
Ms Kamara, who was born in Egypt but visits Sierra Leone regularly, revealed that her mother is also working in partnership with the Aegis Foundation, which has projects in Africa and India, to bring her project to fruition.
"The plan is that mother will eventually move back to Sierra Leone. In the meantime, she will be doing whatever is necessary to get the school project off the ground," she says. "It will be a day school, but also have education for adults. Initially, the intake will be small, and they will then grow it. My mother will be seeking grants, which is why she will partner with the Aegis Foundation."
Mrs. Kamara is an educator who has taught at various levels, she specialises in business studies. In terms of the proposed school, her aim is to provide vocational courses which will feed into the business sector and provide the girls with an educ ation which allows them to enter the work force upon graduation.
The dinner will be held at the New Testament Church of God's Heritage Hall at 6 p.m., and tickets ($50) can be bought from Dr. Wade-Smith on 236-3593 or Judy Beach on 292-5692.