Greg Mortenson who built schools in Pakistan similar to what Gary and I are establishing here in Honduras said in his New York Best Seller book, THREE CUPS OF TEA, "Once you educate boys, they tend to leave the villages......But the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they've learned." Many of our young men are leaving Honduras to live illegally in the United States. This has left a dearth in the villages. Many of the women are left to earn a living and raise their children alone. If the mothers leave the homes and work in the factories here the children are often left unattended, roam the streets and are "ripe" for the gangs "picking". For years now we have tried to teach the women a marketable skill but this has been met with many challenges. One of them is getting the women on a level advanced enough to have a product with the quality that could be marketed. Another big challenge is to find a market and someone to market their wares. This has been a dream of Gary Edmonson, Tulsa, for some time.
This last week, Margaret Brewer and Patrice Lott joined a team from First United Methodist Church, Tulsa, OK. Margaret and Gary planned to teach our sewing class how to sew a product that would sell.
Welder's "do rags", the caps worn under the welder's helmets are a possibility. Sizing them has been a problem, but last week Margaret and Patrice taught the women how to make tote bags and purses that African women have made and were able to market in Star Bucks. We were encouraged that our women picked up the skill quickly and that there very well may be a market for their purses. Do pray we could find a vendor.
Margaret Brewer teaching the morning sewing class how to make designer purses with designer fabric donated by an interior decorator.