BadMsM's Knit-O-Rama

Go to the people
Live among them
Plan with them
Work with them

Start with what they have
Build on what they know
Teach by showing
Learn by doing

Not a showcase, but a pattern
Not odds and ends, but a system
Not piecemeal, but an integrated approach
Not to CONFORM, but to TRANSFORM
Not RELIEF, but RELEASE

Sorry, I have to get on my soapbox for a paragraph, so bear with me.

There's a song by John Mayer called "Waiting For The World To Change", and it REALLY bugs me. Throughout the song, he gives his laundry list of what's wrong with the world (maybe his grandparents did the same thing back in the 1960's), and the only solution he can come up with is 'waiting for the world to change'. My question is, waiting for what? CHANGE, Mr. Mayer, begins with the individual, meaning you and me. Being a poet, it's easy to whine and point the finger, but as it has been said, when you point the finger at others, three fingers are pointing back at YOU. If you choose to do nothing, then there will be no change, and you become part of the problem. Life is not fair, and if you are waiting for THAT to change, you will lose everything of value in life. If you can find nothing in your life worth fighting for, fair or not, it will be an empty life indeed.

What does this have to do with knitting machines you ask? Quite a bit when you think about it. The country of Uganda fell victim to a mass genocide in the mid 1990's. That, along with the AIDS epidemic, left millions of women and children with no financial support, and their society at a crossroads.

For generations, these women depended on their male relatives for financial support and leadership, while the women farmed the land, gathered food and cared for the family. Now all that was over. They would have to do EVERYTHING themselves.

Although many of these women have had no formal education, they are very astute and business saavy. They have started business cooperatives, sent their children to school, and become leaders in the community.

By helping to equip these women,and others like them, with the tools and education they need, the seeds of poverty and ignorance are being crushed. These women are actually able to live, love and raise their families in peace and safety for the first time, a blessing so many of us take for granted.

The point is, these ladies didn't sit around whining (waiting) for change. THEY MADE IT HAPPEN! Think of it as a pebble being dropped into a pond, with the ripples ebbing out in all directions. Just one knitting machine, just one more child clothed, fed and educated, just one more family lifted from poverty...think of the possibilties!

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