Warm Women

Belated, happy conclusion

clairewhite — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 22:13:45 +0000

Greetings! About this time last year, most of you reading this generously made and donated just over 100 scarves to two groups of Karen refugee women at Mae La and Umpiem Mai refugee camps on the Thailand-Burma border. At that time I promised to show you where and who your scarves went to… and I am not a girl that likes to break a promise. So, despite a rather lengthy delay (apologies – what is it they say about community development being a slow process?), I am thrilled to be able to do just that. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do and a big thanks once again for being a great part of this project.

Some of the team at Mae La camp.

Some of the team at Umpiem Mai camp.

The scarves have landed!

clairewhite — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:11:42 +0000

Hi everyone and apologies for the big break between posts! I hope you had a great and happy christmas and new year, and are enjoying a good start to (gulp) 2010 (already!). I am pleased to be able to report that the box of scarves arrived in Mae Sot, Thailand, just before Christmas, and was picked up by WEAVE staff. An unexpected postage “tax” paid to the Thai postal service aside (My response at the time went something like: “What?! Ouch! Oh well, never mind. Not a lot of money in the scheme of things I suppose. A lesson for next time etc”), the package made it unscathed. Reports from WEAVE told me that there were 98 in total. Cheers to that I say!

So I am now waiting to hear back from WEAVE about the delivery of the scarves to their intended new owners, and for some photos that I will, of course, put up here for everyone to see. Stay tuned…..

A word from WEAVE

clairewhite — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:11:05 +0000

When I emailed WEAVE to tell them the scarves were on their way, I got a really nice response from P’Cynthia that I wanted to share. A Karen woman herself, P’Cynthia is the Production Officer for WEAVE’s Income Generation Project, which means that as well as many other things, she coordinates orders, scheduling and wages, and manages working conditions, communications and the supplies inventory. She has a close relationship with the women and is their first point of contact about work with the project.

She said…

Thank you so much for all the information and news about your project. It is very interesting to hear about the project and you working with women. I have found that women helping women from different locations and different situations is a wonderful thing. We are going to UM camp on Friday. We will take pictures when we distribute the gifts. We will make sure to describe about your map and about your project.

I am sure that the women in the camps will be very happy with the gifts from your country .

Thanks again for all your arrangements with women in Australia for Christmas and New Year gifts. Please send all my best wishes to them .

Wishing you all the best.

With much appreciation.
Cynthia.

Delivery preparations

clairewhite — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:02:19 +0000

The scarves decided they were not going to go to the party naked, so I dressed them….

They each got a wee label. The colour on each matches the scarf’s origin on a map (see it here) that went with the scarves, so the women (with no English) should be able to get an idea of where their scarf comes from without oodles of translations required. The scarves came from everywhere. Well, nearly. Could one of these be yours?

So I wrapped…

and wrapped…

and wrapped!

Until all I could see was packages!

I did a trial pack.

The box I had intended to use was grossly inadequate. I had to upsize. I got there in the end. Phew!

I’ve got two words to say to you

clairewhite — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:20:40 +0000

They’re on their way!

clairewhite — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:21:27 +0000

I am really excited to be able to report that a rather large box of scarves is on its way to the border town of Mae Sot in the Tak Province of Thailand, as of last Friday 4th December. Weighing in at 13.44kg (thank YOU very much), the box full of treasures contained…. wait for it…

91 scarves!

You people are AMAZING! And, can I just add, this total does not even include the packages also on their way to Thailand from outside Australia, of which there are numerous. This means the total contribution should number around the

100 mark.

Congratulations you awesome bunch!

Bondi Beauty

clairewhite — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:42:36 +0000

The lucky last scarf to make it into the box of goodies on its way to Thailand came from Roslyn Elwing in Bondi Junction. It was a goodun’…

See? So nice and cosy.

Thank you Roslyn!

All the way from Bath

clairewhite — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:36:34 +0000

Janet Orchard (Orchard… such a nice name, don’t you think?) in Bath, England, sent a wrap direct to Thailand but its description has me so intrigued that I really wish I could have seen it! Janet describes it as a “wrap around cape”, blue with blue ribbons on it. It sounds very pretty and warm making! Thanks so much Janet.

Lovely Lorna knitted and knitted and knitted and knitted

clairewhite — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:29:37 +0000

It’s true. Lorna, all the way over in Macau (a hop, skip and a ferry ride from Hong Kong), knitted four scarves! Here they are…

All bright and pretty, just like the maker herself. Thanks so much for your top efforts Lornie – love em! And for the photos too!

Lorna’s knitting has started a trend and now her six year old (sheesh – am I right Lorn?) daughter Jess is knitting up a storm and Jess’ younger sister Olivia (four years old) is “pretending” to. It will only be a matter of time before they are as good as their Mum I am sure! I hope one day I get to wear a Jess or Oliva made scarf! What a treat that would be!

Vibrant Vicky

clairewhite — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:19:11 +0000

Vicky donated this fabbo (thermal?) beanie to the collection. You will definitely be able to see the owner coming in that number! Thanks Vicky!