Valerie Hearder, Founder of African Threads, journeyed to South Africa earlier this year. She visited nine different women’s sewing groups to talk first-hand with these remarkable women who struggle everyday with the devastation of AIDS on their families and villages. Here Valerie tells about the women, their creative and meaningful art, and their determination to support and educate their grandchildren.

Valerie Hearder:

Tradtional Zulu doll maker Loboleli Ximba

Earlier this year I went on my long planned trip to South Africa. Six busy, beautiful weeks visiting 9 women’s sewing groups in various areas of S.A. I’ve built up relationships with various women’s sewing groups through my small fair-trade business African Threads, as described in my previous blog posts here. I was keen to visit them, hear their stories and share the huge suitcase of embroidery threads donated by women in Canada. I’ve come home with so many rich memories and images and I’ll try and share just a few with you.

The early winter weather in the southern hemisphere was exquisitely warm and dry and perfect for travel. Our first visit was to an embroidery group called Intuthuko, which means To Make Progress. It’s near a sprawling squatter camp about 3o miles from frenetic Johannesburg. Intuthuko provides the only income for 35 embroiderers, all of whom are single mothers and grandmothers. We talked, shared tea, stories, laughs and tears. The group presented me with an enchanting embroidered hanging – a portrait of themselves in their sewing group. They sang to me in 5 part harmony that gave me shivers and tears. Intuthuko’s charming renditions of both traditional and township life is hand-stitched with hand-dyed silk on black squares of African cotton. Quilters buy the squares to stitch them into quilts, cushions and bags.

Bertha and Pinky Resenga of the Mapula group, The Winterveld.

It was a hot, early winter’s day when we drove out to visit The Winterveld, desperately poor a rural area north of Pretoria. Mapula, which means Mother of Rain, is an embroidery group begun by the Sisters of Mercy about 16 years ago and supported by Soroptomists volunteers in Pretoria. Mapula provides the only income for 80 embroiderers who create exuberant village and social scenes on black cloth. Mapula creates economic empowerment, social stability and is a vital support for women. We brought in boxes of oranges, school supplies and cookies for the extended families and of course gave bags of embroidery threads to the stitchers. It was fascinating to visit their homes including this brightly painted house.

Joyce Gazuba with her appliqué and embroidered wall hanging, KwaZulu Natal.

We visited an extraordinary embroidery group in beautiful Limpopo Province close to Kruger national Park. This group was started 18 years ago by Irma van Rooyen, a farmers wife who wanted to create employment for the desperately poor farm families. Irma’s first group had 8 embroiderers who embroidered brightly coloured Shangaan tribal designs onto black cloth. Today employment is provided for a staggering 1,000 embroiderers! The spin-off economics for the entire region is significant as there are no employment opportunites. I was particularly impressed with the consistent quality of the handwork and it was explained that the women are paid by the weight of their stitches. Their cloth is weighed before they stitch is and once it’s returned – and that is how their payment is calculated. Brilliant. What it encourages is extremely rich embroidery.

I was thrilled to find a large group of Zulu bead workers who were employed through an AIDS centre near Durban. Zulu women are renown for their bead prowess and the jewelery they make is exciting and contemporary.

My encounters with women crafters all over South Africa were all equally impressive, heart-warming and often heart-wrenching as well. I learned when visiting an AIDS Centre in Ixopo, a poverty stricken area of Kaw-Zulu Natal, that their exquisitely embroidered note cards were the only form of income available for the women. There is simply no other way to make money. The desperation of this was driven home when I was told that a young mother had recently gone off her ARV (anti-retroviral) medication to force her CD4 count to drop to dangerous low levels. Shocked and confused by this I pressed for more understanding: how could a mother risk dying? Well, it turns out that in S.A. when an HIV positive person’s CD4 count drops they are given a small grant for basic food and put on ARVs. However, people get better quite quickly on ARV’s their CD4 count goes up, and then the government takes away the grant, on the assumption they can work. This mother had no other way to feed her children than to stop her medication, drop her CD4 count and get on the grant again. This simple embroidery project is a desperately important link between life and death. This desperate high-stakes game of life and death is played out daily by tens of thousands of people through-out South Africa.

(Please contact me if you know of a group that would like to order bulk cards to support this particular group. Email me at val@valeriehearder.com)

The simple truth is that we all desire the same basic things: we want to feed out children, to have the dignity to make our own money and not survive on charity. I learned that the sewing groups – often called women’s empowerment groups – serve as a sole source of income for entire families. This ripples out into their communities. Equally important, the sewing groups sustain the women spiritually and emotionally. They gather together in their sewing circles as a community of women, facing their hardships with poverty and AIDS with shared solace and empowerment. Purchasing their stitchery, beaded dolls and bead jewelery is putting income directly into their hands. This is the most dignified and significant way we can show our support.

Find out more at http://www.threadlink.typepad.com/Africanthreads/

The Textile & Fiber Art Exhibition opened July 11th at the Fisher Art Center in Marshalltown, IA and a popular show it is. Several central Iowa artists participated and the show includs art that reflects the diversity and beauty of textile as a medium. This exhibition will be open throughout July.

The Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA) provided information and materials to visitors and signed up several new members too! SAQA is an international association of fiber artists and provides support, information, and educational resources to its members.

Pictured here are visitors to the exhibition viewing the beautiful and expressive art of Sue Kluber, Grinnell, IA.

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Valerie Hearder, fiber artist and founder of “African Threads” recently visited the groups of African Grandmothers who create the beautiful embroidered pictorial pieces available through “African Threads.” Visit Valerie’s blog for the full story of her meeting with these courageous and talented women of Africa.

Click here to read the story of the African Grandmothers and the supportive project, African Threads.

Last week I posted an article about “African Threads” which told of African Grandmothers, whose families have been devastated by AIDS. African Grandmothers are now raising and educating their grandchildren because their own children are too sick or have died of AIDS.  These women are creating fiber art reflective of their cultures and current plight to help in supporting their grandchildren. In Part I, Valerie Hearder told us about the Grandmothers and why she formed her organization, African Threads, to help. Here in Part 2,  Valerie tells us more about the various women’s groups from whom she buys the fiber art and how you can help Grandmothers in Africa.

Valerie Hearder: I’ve found it fascinating to connect with women’s stitchery groups in South Africa– sometimes called “economic empowerment groups”. I try to work as close as possible to the stitchers and thus avoid the middlemen so that the women artisans are getting as much as possible for their work. These groups are established with the goal of paying the women well for their work, a key principle of Fair Trade.
I learned about the Intuthuko Group because I knew Celia de Villiers, a quilt artist. Community leader asked Celia to help start the group to ease the crushing poverty in a township near Pretoria. Intuthuko, which means To Make Progress, has 30 embroiderers who are mothers and grandmothers. The group serves as a strong social support as well as a source of income for the embroiderers. Intuthuko’s charming renditions of both traditional and township life is hand-stitched on black squares of African cotton find a ready market with quilters who stitch the cotton squares into to wall quilts, cushions etc.

The Intuthuko Group has also made some large commissioned wall hangings. I’ve bought three Intuthuko designs, paid artist fees, and had them rendered into silk-screens for “Grandmother of Africa” t- shirt.

Mapula means Mother of Rain and is an embroidery group is in the Winterveld, also near Pretoria with almost 200 embroiderers. This group is well documented in a beautiful new book called: MAPULA: Embroidery and Empowerment in the Winterveld by Brenda Schmahmann.

The Mapula Group’s work is often in collections and presented to visiting Heads of State, including Queen Elizabeth. I’m able to import these joyful and exuberant wall hangings that are of gallery and museum quality. The embroiderers have found a steady income through their embroidery skills – this creates economic independence for these women – a vital link to being in charge of their lives.

Kieskamma Art Project is set in an idyllic rural setting and was started by an exceptional doctor, Carol Hofmyr. Carol founded a children’s crèche, an AIDS hospice, veggie garden and stitchery projects to create employment. They are famous for their large hand-stitched alter pieces and their cattle imagery. African Threads usually has a supply of their charming cattle cushion covers in stock.

Perhaps you’re wondering what you can do to help the plight of the Grandmothers who care for the orphans in Africa? Well, getting informed about the issues of HIV/AIDS in Africa and how it affects women is a good start. You could also form a Grandmother-to-Grandmother group to raise funds to support African Grannies. To date the Canadian Grandmothers Campaign has raised close to $4 million over the past 3 years. This translates into significant funding for carefully monitored projects on the front lines in Africa. Projects such as hospices, support groups for grannies, clinics, and feeding programs. You can also make a direct donation to G-to-G, or, in the States, to Aids-free World http://www.aids-freeworld.org/ Both these sites have excellent resource information about the issues of HIV/AIDS, orphans and child headed homes, which is a growing phenomena in Africa. There are many local groups doing wonderful things such as this Warm Kids program set up by quilter Margie Garratt (tell her I sent you!) making clothes for orphans.(http://warmkids.blogdrive.com.)

Any purchase of textiles or Grandmothers of Africa tee shirts from African Threads helps to keep the women’s stitchery groups going in South Africa – this is “trade, not aid” and empowers the women economically. In addition 15% of the gross profits from all the sales is donated to Grandmothers-to-Grandmothers.

My next adventure is a 6-week trip to South Africa in April and May. My visit will be filled with visits to women’s stitchery and craft groups to learn more about what women are making. This is an important part of fair trade-to learn directly about the makers of the works. I’m also looking to expand the products that I import to include dolls and beaded jewelry. So, I hope you’ll keep in touch with my textile adventures in Africa by following my blog, http://www.threadlink.typepad.com/africanthreads/. Subscribe to my blog and sign up for my email list to be the first to know when new and exciting goods have arrived from Africa.

Bonnie Samuel: I am pleased to support Valerie’s organization and critically needed assistance it provides. The African Threads logo finds a permanent place on my blog. I encourage you to support the African Grandmothers too.

This is a story of women, very poor and desperate women, who faced with the devastation of AIDS in their families, used the the fiber skills of their culture to fund the support of their own grandchildren. This is also a story of women across the world reaching out to help. Valerie Hearder happen to hear a radio report about the plight of the African Grandmothers and immediately created “African Threads,” to help the African grandmothers sell their beautiful embroidered art, which is both reflective of their culture and the impact of AIDS in Africa.

The work of the African Grandmothers is beautiful and haunting too. I am pleased to support Valerie’s organization and critically needed assistance it provides. The African Threads logo finds a permanent place on my blog. Here Valerie Hearder tells you of the need and genesis of her organization. In Part 2, appearing next week, Valerie will tell you a bit more about the various women’s groups from whom she buys the fiber art and how you can help Grandmothers in Africa.

Why I started “African Threads” Valerie Hearder

I’ve always been passionate about the power of telling stories in fabrics. Throughout my career as a quiltmaker and teacher, I’m engaged by narrative. I was born and grew up in South Africa and learned my early needlework skills there, so that country is naturally close to my heart. One wintry evening 3 years ago I was puttering around in my studio, listening to Stephen Lewis on the radio describing the plight of Grandmothers throughout Africa. I was riveted to the spot. The Grandmothers, he explained, have been left to care for an estimated 13,000,000 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS pandemic. Lewis called the Grandmothers “African’s unsung heroes.” They’ve buried their own children and now care for their grandchildren – not just 2 or 3 children, but many, often up to 20 or more children. Lewis had worked as the United Nations Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa and his desperation about the lack of action drove him to found the highly respected Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Truth is, the HIV/AIDS pandemic –now being called Africa’s holocaust – has cut a terrible swath through the prime childbearing age group in Africa. Women are more vulnerable to this disease so mothers from 18-42 are being decimated. The Grandmothers, often in poor health and with no resources, simply try to keep these children alive, let alone educated.
In 2006 Stephen Lewis issued a clarion call to women and launched to Grandmother-to-Grandmother Campaign . G-to-G groups spread rapidly, proving to be a remarkable story of healing and reaching out to women in Africa. 200 G-to-G groups have raised over $4 million. The funds are directed to carefully monitored groups supporting the Grandmothers.
That wintry evening listening to the radio I was galvanized with a deep sense of urgency: I must do something to help the unremitting struggle of the Grandmothers. On the spot I decided that I’d start a small business importing handmade textiles from women artists in South Africa, sell them and donate 15% of the gross profits to the Grandmother Campaign. Simple, I thought, I’d get onto it right away! Through quilting contacts and old friends I sought out some interesting women’s stitchery groups and placed orders from four groups scattered across South Africa. If the textiles charmed me, I thought, surely there’d be others who’d be interested in buying them too. So, began African Threads.
My goals for this enterprise are to create economic flow to the women artists, to create awareness of the situation of women and HIV/AIDS in Africa and to donate funds for the Grandmother Campaign and operate on established Fair Trade principles. The past 3 years have brought many battered boxes all the way from Africa to my rural Nova Scotian post office. Unpacking these boxes I’m transported by the rich colors, hand stitching and most especially the narrative of the pieces. Each one-of-a-kind embroidered or appliquéd piece is a stitched story from the maker’s life: perhaps a Zulu legend, an historical event or cultural ceremony. Often the stories are personal and profoundly touching: tending AIDS patients, grannies, caring for groups of children, sometimes graves.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this piece. Moela lives in the sprawling, desperately poor Etwatwa Township. Most of the houses are cobbled together with corrugated iron, wood, cardboard and plastic. Her tender image is of someone taking care of a sick person. It takes a minute to realize the caretaker is a child. Her caption reads simply It is useful for caregivers to care enough to help children. The essence of these beautifully stitched stories is a testament to human dignity. It’s hard to imagine, but a new phenomenon is emerging in Africa: child-headed households.
The textiles have taught me much about the lives of these strong, brave needlewomen. I’ve also learned that buying their embroideries has had a deep impact on them personally. The fact that someone on the other side of the world loves their work has given them a boost both financially and morally. This is a vitally important source of income for women in South Africa for the basic survival of their families. African Threads is the main buyer from two of the groups. Purchasing these textile art works is a dignified way to create an economic flow directly to where the money is most needed and wisely used – the artist. To date African Threads has donated $4,800 to the Grandmother Campaign.

You can find out more at www.africanthreads.ca and Valerie’s blog.  Some pieces are also available on www.africanthreads.etsy.com. Send Val an email val@valeriehearder.com to request occasional emails about the latest pieces to arrive from South Africa.
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