This morning J, M, and I drove to an interior design firm to pick up a couple hundred fabric sample books the firm donated to CAS. The sample books range in size and contain about twenty to thirty squares of high-quality, upholstery and decorator fabric in each one. From Durban, we drove south to the Umlazi Township - the second-largest township in South Africa with a population of about 750,000 people in the area. Decent living conditions and health care for many residents remains a challenge, although the area has had recent construction of more primary and secondary schools.
When we arrived there we dropped the fabric off at the Zamukuziphilisa Community Centre, a "self-help" sewing and beading center for women in the area. I met the director of the center, Mrs. Gambushe, and we spoke about marketable sewing items we could make from the fabric in the books. I will return to the center next Tuesday with M and we'll work with interested women on sewing things with the fabric. Certainly we could make throw pillows or quilted blankets from the cloth, but if anyone else has any additional ideas, I welcome suggestions. In the past I used fabric from sample books to make a lined, patchwork skirt as part of a larger collection I created for a fashion show I organized for a charity event held at Fais Do Do in Los Angeles (this was in 1999 when I was still in fashion school at LA Trade Tech - I can't believe it has almost been a decade!). I plan to check some crafting sites online (like craftster.org) for additional ideas on things one can make out of smaller pieces of cloth. In the sewing room at the center they have three industrial machines (Singers), one industrial overlock, about fifteen home sewing machines, and two home overlocks (or what the home sewing industry calls sergers). I can't wait to get back to sewing on an industrial machine! I will post pictures of the sewing room after I return next Tuesday.
Later in the afternoon, J and I visited the Umbilo Temple, which is in Mayville, a suburb close to where I am staying in Glenwood. It is hard for me to use the word "suburb" to describe Mayville because the connotations I associate with that word evoke mental images of white picket fences and comfortable, family houses. Mayville contains a large informal settlement with shack houses that cover the hillside and few water pumps and toilet areas that the residents are forced to share. At the end of January, a local newspaper published the horrible news of a baby in Mayville who died from a rat bite he received in his shack. Further down Bellair Road from these shacks, the third iteration of Umbilo Temple stands, nestled amongst green trees in the hillside. The first Umbilo Temple was established in 1875 and was the first Hindu Temple in Africa. Because of the expansion of Bellair Road, the national government under Apartheid forced the temple's move. The first temple is submerged by dirt underneath the freeway because the road construction workers could not break the stone of the temple. The temple's style and decoration represents traditions of temple styles found in Southern India, with the exception of a smaller shrine influenced by Northern Indian style. The temple complex consists of a large courtyard area filled with trees, marigold bushes, and one smaller temple next to the central one. I have included a picture of the smaller temple, which is the "Mother's Temple" and its purpose is to honor women. The other picture comes from within an area of the larger temple - these deities represent the planets in our solar system, with the Sun in the center. 
We visited with the caretaker of the temple who explained its purpose and meaning for the community and invited us back to the Fire Walking Festival on March 30th (which I'm looking forward to). After we told him about CAS he also told us to return Saturday morning to collect some cloth that has been donated to the temple that he would like to reach women sewers affiliated with CAS. Also, by chance, we met his colleague E who leads a senior citizen's group for Indians in the area - he invited us to speak to the group (he said it is mostly women) at their community center on March 5th about CAS's cloth production projects. M and I will attend and show them examples of the cloths women have made and talk about how they construct personal histories of South Africa. After our presentation we will invite anyone interested in making a memory cloth and arrange a time for a workshop. J said she will look into funding for this, as their convention is to give each person who produces a cloth a token of R120. If members of the group are interested in participating, this would mean the first cloths that CAS will collect to represent the Indian perspective of South African history! Especially since this group is older, many may remember or want to recount their experience under Apartheid, including past forced relocations and the riots and police violence that occurred along Bellair Road where the Temple is located.
The apprehensions I had yesterday about my involvement with CAS and my lack of a "critical distance" (something I've never particularly cultivated anyway) went out the window for me today. I came here with a background in sewing/garment production and writing and I'd just as soon apply it. So while I'm completing my dissertation prospectus and collecting research (using the CAS and Univ. of KZN archives and eventually conducting formal interviews), I've also committed myself to work on the following projects:
- Parliament Millennium Programme/Amaswi Abesifazane "What Does Democracy Mean to Me?" Project (one-week workshop in March in a Northern Province)
- Zamkuziphilisia Sewing Project (once a week in Umlazi)
- Umbilo Indian Community Center Senior Group Presentation (March 5th and possible workshop to follow)
- Proposal/Grant Writing (M and I are going to try to work on proposal/grantwriting to apply to some new funding sources for CAS projects)
I think totebags with some simple piecing might be a good application for the more baroque decorating fabrics.
Posted by: Gwen | February 19, 2008 at 05:18 PM
Rat-bite fever is rare in the United States. However, since RBF is not a notifiable disease, exact numbers of cases are not known.
Posted by: rat bite fever | February 16, 2010 at 01:52 PM