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The trip was a great success. Things went way better than they should have, thanks in large part to the amazing people that we are working with. Initial reactions to the products have been very encouraging and we are going to get a couple events going on to get more input and sell the 40-some-odd skirts that we brought back. Stay tuned...

We are working with three of the most amazing ladies, Alice Mary, Rebekha, and Susan. We originally had five, but one lived too far away and didn't need the help, and the other had a husband that wouldn’t stand for his wife to earn money. He thought that his family should be able to live off what he earned. That made me sad, because the husband was on a power trip while that family definitely needed more income to provide for their needs. They live in a small, thatched roof shack that isn’t constructed as well as many goat sheds. The lady has good sewing abilities, loves to sew, and could do a great job of helping the family come out of poverty. She was excited to work with us, but declined to do so, saying that her husband would probably get angry and ruin the sewing machine. Perhaps the husband will reconsider after some time, and after he sees the success of others. I hope so.

The ladies that we were working with were chosen because they had some sewing experience, but mainly because they were good workers. They needed some help in life, and we needed their abilities. They come up with solutions to problems on their own, and this bag is proof. We asked them to make a couple sample bags really quickly for us. I was thinking a simple square bag, but this is what the team of Alice Mary and Rebekha (neighbors and best friends) threw together...



Do you like it? Comment on this post. Post up something random and eloquent, or just a simple “like” (as is done on facebook to express approval) and win the bag - the first bag ever to wear a Nivi Empowerment Initiative Logo. Handmade and designed by Rebekha and Alice Mary.

Other pictures...

Working up some samples for the tags. They took pretty long to get done and it put us in a time crunch. The guy ended up printing 2500 tags for us on paper that we didn't want. Nickesh couldn't stop laughing. We still got our tags though, barely in time.



The first tag that was signed.



Rebekha, showing off the folded skirt with the tag.



Some of the initial tags were hard to get quite right due to the lack of schooling in writing. They will come along though.




The last, rushed meeting to get all the skirts together, mark who did what, etc. Went really well. The first part was dedicated to setting goals and that was amazing. These ladies have great aspirations.



Rebekha, and one of her skirts.



The skirt signings and goal meeting