Southwest Michigan in early April: gray and grayer, rainy and rainier. Chilly. Spring on hold. It was especially bleak yesterday because I was just back from a glorious, warm, sunny, convivial staff retreat in Sanibel, Florida.
I was desperate for color and so I delved into a project I’ve been working on called the Congo Cloth Connection. The idea is to promote awareness of Congo in a way you won’t get by listening to the news, which is infrequent and always horrifying. Without downplaying the horrors, we want to share the beauty and vitality of Congo as it is represented by cloth. We want to use the cloth that is sold and worn in Congo to connect with Congolese people, especially women.
My friend Nina writes more about the Connection here, and I describe my own connection on that blog as well. We’re not sure where the project is going, how long we can ask travelers from Congo to bring back suitcases full of cloth, or whether we will have the wherewithal to bring portable Congo Cloth markets to churches and groups as we have started to do.
All we know is that the connection works. The cloth gets snapped up, beauty creates more beauty, like this quilt made by Mennonite women in Indiana.
The personal links between women are taking hold as well. I’ll just give you some pictures to feast your eyes upon, in case your days are as gray as mine.
These fabrics shown are beautiful. How can I find or obtain them? Are these fabrics cotton or a mixture of different fabrics?
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The fabrics are all cotton. We are holding a big Congo Cloth Market at the Mennonite Church USA convention in Pittsburgh July 4-9. After that some of us will hold markets in churches as we are able, on request. Want to make a request?
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