Thursday at the Round House

It seems very strange to think that we have come to the end of our day - the ladies worked until 6:30 this evening, and have just left us and are walking up the hill to the community centre where they have supper. Meanwhile you are just getting up at home. They are terrifically keen, and hard working, and all are making progress. Today, however, we realized there are some who have never used a ruler before, others who have never used an iron, and none had used pins before. So in addition to Alice reviewing the threading of a sewing machine, as seen here, we spent much time on these basics. Alice is amazingly patient, and Joy and Perez both help with translation, and somehow between us, we are all learning. We were also joined by a new student today. Sheilla is the daughter of Generous, and while she has been taught tailoring, she is unable to leave home to work, as she is caregiver to her mother, whose husband died of AIDS in 1998, and who is now quite ill herself, despite access to treatment. We hope we will be able to teach her some things to make at home, as she already has a sewing machine.