In case you missed it, last week was National Volunteer Week. What, nobody volunteered to tell you? I’m hardly surprised. Volunteering typically occurs in the background, unseen, unnoticed. Only aspiring politicians publicize their volunteer activities.
And yet an estimated 2.7 million Canadians contribute close to two billion hours of volunteer service every year. Without volunteers, every charity in the country would grind to a standstill. Non-profits would generate deficits. Hospitals, health clinics, airports – all use volunteers to ease your passage through their premises.
In this context, I think particularly of a volunteer who has almost singlehandedly changed the lives of 45 single-mother families in Bolivia, the poorest nation in South America.
The women had been the wives of miners at a tin mine, in Oruro, high in the Andes. Then the world price of tin crashed. The mine closed. In that machismo culture, the miners abandoned their wives and left for new jobs – and new families – elsewhere.
A volunteer from Save the Children Canada found the women, penniless and starving, on the streets of Cochabamba. All up and down the Andes, women know how to knit. The Canadian organized a group of them into a knitting cooperative, called Minkha – which means, in the local Quechua language, “women working together.”
A new volunteer takes over
The cooperative had been going for ten years when Beverley Edwards-Sawatzky first attended a sale of their sweaters in 2001. She fell in love with the quality of the knitting and the concept of the project. The next year, she flew to Bolivia, at her own expense. to meet the knitters personally and to make sure that income was really going to the knitters, not to invisible marketing agencies.
Since then, she has organized annual sales of Bolivian sweaters in Edmonton, Calgary, Cranbrook, and most recently here in Lake Country. The sales have forwarded close to a million dollars to the Bolivian knitters. It sounds like a lot of money, but Edwards-Sawatzky calculates that the knitters actually earn about $1.64 an hour. The most skilled knitters may earn as much as $300 a month, after the costs of their wool and other supplies.
It`s not much. But as Edwards-Sawatzky points out, “In one generation, they have gone from total poverty to owning and operating their own business.”
Unlike most other charities, no Canadian gets paid. No one. Nothing. Every penny earned in these sales goes to the women who knit the sweaters. In their homes, on the streets, on a bus, their needles never stop.
Renowned clothing designer Kaffe Fassett was so impressed by the quality of Minkha work that he personally donated some of his exclusive patterns to the women.
Canadian sales
In Canada, the sweaters – for men and children as well as women – typically sell for up to $250 each. “It sounds expensive,” admits Edwards-Sawatzky, “but in Canada it would cost that much just to buy the alpaca wool.”
Other items like scarves, shawls, and children’s sweaters sell as low as $40 to $70.
In addition to alpaca, the women also knit garments using Peruvian pima cotton, which Edwards-Sawatzky calls “the Cadillac of cottons.”
“When I used to knit for the Bolivian people,” recalls Alcida Callejas Quevedo, “my payment would buy two pounds of sugar. With the payment from Canada, I could buy 104 pounds of sugar!”
Another woman, Yola Nina Leon, was pregnant with her first daughter when she began knitting with the Minkha Cooperative 18 years ago. That first daughter is now training as a nurse. Her second daughter plans to become a human rights lawyer.
Another knitter’s son recently graduated as a doctor, and has come back to serve the people of Cochabamba.
No one to take over
But after 16 years, even the most dedicated volunteers run out of steam. And therein lies the weakness of the volunteer movement. In my experience, volunteers rarely train successors. I don’t know whether it’s because, as unpaid workers, they don’t consider themselves essential to the enterprise. Or because they’re so busy doing worthwhile tasks that they don’t have time to mentor someone else to take over.
You need an umbrella organization of some kind that takes on the task of maintaining a pool of volunteers.
The result, in this case, is that this will be the last public sale of Bolivian sweaters. Edwards-Sawatzky simply cannot carry on indefinitely.
Unless someone else – or some on-going organization – takes the Bolivian women under their wing.
The final sale will be held at Winfield United Church in Lake Country, 3751 Woodsdale Road, on May 13, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
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Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved.
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YOUR TURN
Last week’s column, about polygamy and religious freedom, produced some thoughtful responses.
Alex McGilvery wrote, “As a chaplain in a psychiatric ward many years ago, I was asked by a psychiatrist to evaluate a young man to determine whether he was very religious or delusional. A great many of my atheist friends would have no problem deciding on delusional without meeting him. Many of my religious friends would lean the opposite way. Those decisions would be based on bias for or against religion.
“But what objective measures can we bring to determine whether a religion, or more properly a religious practice, is faithful or delusional? I decided to examine the effects of the young man's faith on himself and those around him. For greater and greater periods of time, he stayed in his room, demanding his mother leave his meals outside the door so as not to defile him. His single concern was his own holiness. The effect on his family was devastating. He disappeared from the world and any responsibility for the world. My recommendation was that his religious practice was harming him and needed to be addressed. (Note I didn't say he was delusional.)
“By this same measure, the only people in Bountiful who benefit from the religious practice of polygamy are the men at the top of the heap. The younger men have no mates; the women are forced into relationships they don't want. The religious practice is harmful and needs to be addressed. Recognizing that freedom of religion ends at the point it harms others is a good place to draw the line.”
Tom Watson drew a local connection: “It strikes me that people use their religious rights to circumvent the law.
“There was, at one time, here in my city of Guelph, a foundry. It closed down. The owner tried to sell the property but the environmental cleanup costs were going to be huge, so no takers. In due course the owner sold, for $1, the property to a couple of brothers who promptly moved an old trailer there and set up their own church. Their sacrament was marijuana.
“When taken to court their defence was that smoking marijuana was a fundamental part of their Creed and, therefore, the law had no right to interfere as it was a violation of their religious rights. This defence was, in most people's eyes, laughable. In due course -- it took a few years -- the brothers gave up, vacated the property and left the city. Whether or not their ‘church’ still exists somewhere else, I'm not sure.
“The parallel between their ludicrous claim and that of Winston Blackmore and James Oler is this misuse of religious freedom in an attempt to justify flouting the law. The only difference is that that Tucker brothers hurt few people other than themselves, whereas Blackmore and Oler have hurt countless women. Their crime is inexcusable and should not be allowed to continue.”
Mary Margaret Boone picked up on the “convoluted relationships” resulting from polygamy: “I am reminded facetiously of the old song ‘I’m my own Grandpa’ which I used to think was funny, but after reading your column I am stunned at the convoluted relationships you described. What I cannot understand is why and how this has gone on so long? Are our courts so backlogged? Or are we caught up in unreasonable or ignorant rhetoric about rights, responsibilities, and the law?”
Isabel Gibson read “a piece in the Vancouver Sun arguing that our polygamy laws were enacted not to protect women (who could not vote at the time) or children (who were viewed as chattels), but to provide legal cover for prejudice against Mormons and to keep them out of the country.
“I don't know the history, but think we should be able to look at whether it's appropriate for government to tell anyone how they can live in conjugal relationships. Should we allow the abuse of minors? Certainly not. Should we prohibit oddball relationships entered into freely by adults? Everything hinges on that word ‘freely’.”
Steve Roney disagreed with my central theme: “Your concept of religious liberty, that it does not take precedence over ‘the laws of the land,’ and that ‘a religion cannot and should not exempt its followers from obeying the laws of the land,’ is no religious freedom at all.
“The entire point of a human right is that it is a restriction on government action, on what laws may be made or enforced.
“What if, for example, the parliament decided to pass a law making Judaism or Catholicism illegal? By your standard, this would be fine. Where’s the freedom?”
Keith Simmonds commented wryly on equality under the law. He “could not resist recalling the words of Anatole France: [translated] ‘In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread’.”
Robert Mason gat at the political ramifications: “If these two individuals are found guilty, which should be the case, will the Crown proceed to lay charges against others who practice polygamy, and particularly the many Muslims who do so believing it to be a requirement of their religion?
“Your article closes with concern that the court would be required to determine what constitutes a legitimate religion, and noted that would be a thornier problem. I fear that our courts and crown prosecutors will have even thornier problems if equality demands the prosecution of Canadians of the Muslim faith.”
Laurna Tallman responded to D. Martin’s letter about fairness in reporting sexual abuse: “D. Martin notes, correctly, that women are as frequently abusers of men as men are of women (although men sometimes do more physical damage). I want to mention CAFÉ, The Canadian Association for Families and Equality. CAFE is growing by leaps and bounds. It seeks to inform and to combat a virulent form of feminism that promotes violence, and seeks to change the present rape shield law that has led to dreadful inequities. Women now are being favoured over men in courts of law.
“Feminism (I have felt) tends to breed the very paternalism from which it seeks to free women. I believe issues should be solved without prejudice based in gender. Feminist prejudice against males (misandry) has influenced others in the chain of law enforcement and litigation, so that police and lawyers very often approach men (including many wrongly accused) with a prejudicial attitude. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has written and spoken out about this problem. The John Howard Society has expressed concern.”
Laurna offered a personal incident from her own family as validation for those views. I have chosen not to repeat it
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TECHNICAL STUFF
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PROMOTION STUFF…
Ralph Milton ’s latest project is called “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.ca
Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://www.hymnsight.ca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)
Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>
I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com
Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatso@gmail.com or twatson@sentex.net