Empowering Women

I had an exuberantly happy moment at the hospital.
Since I acquired sewing machines through USAID, I have been talking with the most motivated and energized women in town to get them organized into a sewing collective.
We had our first meeting, conducted in French and Sonrai, depending on my vocab...but I think we understood each other. Most of the women were wearing Int'l Women's Day fabric, fresh from the festivities of Mar. 8th. Though they raised concerns about splitting up the times on the machines and how to determine whether certain women deserve machine use even if they don't know how to sew, their leader Fadi reassured them. She is the director of the Jardin des Enfants; a sure asset to any work I do in town. She is entertaining too, for when the women showed up nearly two hours late for our meeting, she called them all donkeys. The most stubborn and slow moving of all beast of burden here :)
I am excited for their ideas of sewing infant "completes" of a cloth to carry the baby on the back (to "bopbop" in Sonrai), bonnets, and onesies. They will provide the fabric, but first they will find a house where the machines can stay. Then we will develop a schedule.
I feel like I barely did anything, I guess when you work with the right people projects just fall into place! I really hope these women will be able to generate some extra income by selling the outfits in market and at the hospital, and hey, babies will be better clothed. A plus for health.
The best part of one of my first sustainable development experiences was when we left the conference room and some of the male doctors and nurses were hovering. One asked what we had been "plotting". I responded, "Oh, just doing my job empowering your women!" "Fine," he says, "Just as long as one doesn't become President of the Republic!!" Eh? If only!! We all laughed, for laughter is the best medicine after all...