Practice, practice, practice

The first project the women have been working on is placemats. Before they begin working using the good African fabrics, they must each make a sample using practice fabrics, and only when Alice says it is OK, can they move on. Here Kamida (with Joan's help), is painstakingly removing all the topstitching, which she had done in grey. She will use thread to match the borders once this is done. The willingness of these women to work hard; to practice, practice, practice; and their patience in correcting an error when it occurs, is humbling. They already know that if the quality is good, I will buy the placemats and bring them back to Canada to sell, so they have much invested in making a "good quality" product. But yesterday was a very good day - they were all cheered by their progress, staying at their machines until 6:30, and singing in praise before they left for the day to go and have their supper.