Compassion can bring continents closer together. I’ve written before about Bev Edwards-Sawatzky, the Oyama woman who took 45 poverty-stricken Bolivian women under her wing. Fifteen years ago, when Edwards-Sawatzky saw a display of sweaters knitted by the Minkha Co-operative in Bolivia, she knew she had to get involved. The next year, she flew to Bolivia, the poorest nation in South America, to get to know the knitters and their story personally. Until the late 1980s, the women had lived in Oruro; their men worked in the world’s richest tin mines. Then world tin markets crashed. The mines closed. In that machismo culture, the men abandoned their wives and children and left in search of new jobs. Relocated to Cochabamba, lacking education, employable skills, and incomes, the women eked out an existence on the streets. The only skill they had was knitting. All through the Andes women knit -- while walking, while talking, while riding the bus, while tending children. A Save the Children volunteer organized a few of these displaced women into a knitting cooperative, called Minkha -- and brought some of their sweaters to Canada. In the local Quechua language, “Minkha” means “women working together.”
Women working together Since then, the annual sales that Edwards-Sawatzky has organized in Edmonton, Calgary, Cranbrook, and in Lake Country here in the Okanagan have sent over $600,000 to the Bolivian women. There’s another sale coming up this Saturday, May 7. As in past years, it will held at Winfield United Church, 3751 Woodsdale Road in Lake Country. But this year, two additional continents are involved. Grannies-a-Go-Go, from Vernon, will have products available to benefit women in Africa. And Sara Al Shahoud will be selling some of her namoura, a Syrian honey cake. Last year, the al Shahoud family were refugees from the civil war in Syria, living in a refugee camp in Lebanon. They were brought to Kelowna by the Central Okanagan Refugee Committee, a cooperative effort of several local churches. Bev Edwards-Sawatzky is a working member of that committee. Through that connections, Sara al Shahoud joins the sisterhood of “women working together.” This one-day event connects Canada with three other continents -- South America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Dollars make a difference The Bolivian sweaters will be on sale from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sweater prices range from $190 to $210. Ruanas, a knitted wrap worn like a coat, cost $250. Shawls and hats come as low as $40.
“It sounds expensive,” Edwards-Sawatzky admits. “But the alpaca wool alone would cost that much here in Canada. In any international retail market, the price would be at least twice as much.” Some garments are also knitted in lighter-weight pima cotton, which Edwards-Sawatzky calls “the Cadillac of cottons.” Internationally renowned clothing designer Kaffee Fassett was so impressed by the quality of the Bolivian women’s knitting that he personally donated some of his trademarked patterns to them. All of the money received for sweaters goes to the Bolivian women. Canadian sales are run entirely by volunteers. Each sweater takes about two weeks of steady knitting; a ruana can take three or four weeks. After buying her wool from local suppliers, each knitter makes about $1.40 an hour. It’s not much. Some of the Bolivian women still live in what Canadians would consider poverty. Chickens roam through dirt-floored houses. A few women still cook on open charcoal fires. But others have improved their homes with brick walls and permanent roofs. “When I used to knit for the local people,” said one mother of three children, “I could use my payment to buy two pounds of sugar. With the payment from Canada, I could buy 104 pounds of sugar!”
Personal connections Since the Minkha Cooperative was launched, 30 years ago, one of the knitters has now had two children graduate from university -- one as a nurse, the second as a human-rights lawyer. Another woman’s son recently graduated as a doctor, and has returned to the city of Cochabamba to serve the people where he got his start. And in perhaps the finest compliment, one woman asked Bev Edwards-Sawatzky to be her daughter’s godmother. These kinds of personal connection make differences in language, customs, and religion fade into insignificance. ******************************************************** Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca ********************************************************
YOUR TURN
My comments last week about the mass media’s inability to cover sensitive religious issues seemed to resonate with several of you. Warren Harbeck, by coincidence, had written some similar thoughts in his own blog, http://www.harbeck.ca/cww/cww_160421.html. Warren wrote, “Well said, Jim. My latest column was a summary of a recent interfaith panel discussion held here in Cochrane by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. The topic: "Building Bridges of Mutual Respect and Goodwill." (Full disclosure: I was asked to be moderator for the second year in a row.)”
Tom Watson told of his own experience with refugee families: “Last night I was at a fund-raising concert in Guelph, Ontario, sponsored by Holy Rosary Catholic Church and St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, in collaboration with the Muslim-Christian Interfaith Coalition and other groups who are sponsoring refugee families, mainly from Syria. “Father Boyd of Holy Rosary spoke of how their parish had recently sponsored a family from Eritrea. This family had spent 25 years in refugee camps. Their teenage children had known no other life until now. Not many of us can even imagine a life such as that.
“Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie said that some people ask, ‘What about the poor among us at home? Why aren't we seeing to their care rather than on bringing in refugees?’ His reaction is, ‘It's not a matter of doing this OR that. We have the means to do both this AND that.’ “You may have seen in the news the story of Guelph businessman Jim Estill who has personally committed the funds to sponsor 50 families -- a sum that could well reach $1.5 million. A less reported aspect is that Jim is the son of a United Church minister. When he was a teenager, his parents sponsored a young man from Africa who came and lived with them for several years, so he grew up with knowing first-hand the difference it makes when we stretch out our hands to one another, regardless of race or religion. “Underneath it all, we are one people. Let's celebrate that in all the ways we can.”
A regular writer (who wishes in this case to remain anonymous) wrote about moving into a retirement community that is “ultra-conservative” religiously. He commented on the mental gymnastics required to remain true to his own convictions without antagonizing the people he has to share space with. But he’s living dangerously. Recently, he organized a visit to a local Hindu temple. He was careful to describe this visit as a learning opportunity, not a means of converting the “heathen.”
A disturbing e-mail came in from Jaweed Kaleen, former religion reporter for the Huffington Post. He wrote, “Thanks for quoting me but I don't recall speaking to you. Did you take that quote from Deseret News? You should attribute it.” He’s right, on both counts. I got his quote, and also one from Diane Moore, from an article in the Deseret News, out of Salt Lake City. Normally, I try to identify the source of quotes -- on what the Kelowna paper pays me, I couldn’t even make long distance calls for research -- but on this occasion I failed to do so. I should have..
In my closing comment, I had asked "Is it really so difficult?" to explain things simply. “It's my experience that few people can explain what they do in a simple, accessible way,” Isabel Gibson replied. “Many otherwise bright folks, in fact, make things complicated-er rather than simpler. Being able to explain things simply is a rare gift.”
James West also quoted my own words back at me. In explaining things to an intelligent teenager, I had said, “In that context, you don’t argue Nietzsche against Niemoller, Sunni against Sufi. You simply help your reader understand.” James asked, “How would you explain the differences between theism, pantheism and panentheism to a teenager whom you know. That column would help the rest of us.” Maybe one of these weeks, I’ll try it.
Helen Arnott questioned one of my adjectives: “Jim, did you mean monotheistic when you used the word monolithic?” No, I did mean monolithic, in the sense of solid and uniform, like a large block of stone. Helen went on, “I understand Islam to be monotheistic. They worship one God, ‘Allah.’ I understand Buddhism to be a way of life, not a religion at all. I understand Christianity to be monotheistic.....Christians also worship one God, ‘God’. “Further, l understand that all religions have symbols of God, which represent that universal concept, but are not God, just the symbols. This includes what you call avatars which only represent the one God in Hinduism, called ‘Brahman’. Christians also have avatars which some people call ‘saints’… “All religions are human creations. None has a corner on the ‘truth’. We have no common language with which to describe the Mystery which some call Universal Energy, Greater Power, God. “Having said all this, I do agree that we as humans are egocentric and [often] ignorant about our own religion, let alone the religion of others.”
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com.        If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button.        To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@quixotic.ca.        You can access several years of archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net.        I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedgessubscribe@quixotic.ca
PROMOTION STUFF…
 Ralph Milton has a new project, 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.com 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>  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
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