Tell us a bit about yourselves:

Mark: I have played the piano since I was 6 years old and did a BA in Jazz at Middlesex University, yes you can do a degree in Jazz. I love the outdoors, hiking is one of my great joys which is awesome in the Peak District, not so good in Enfield! I have been on the staff at Jubilee Church London for the last 4 years. During my time there I feel I have grown a huge amount in my faith and walk with God and am more and more persuaded of his good plan for my life and my call to walk in simple obedience to him.

Lydia: I am 26 years old, brought up in the south of England. Art has been my favourite subject throughout education and I did a BA in Jewellery and Accessories at Middlesex University graduating in 2012. I have always been more drawn to oversized sculptural jewellery than the mainstream glitzy jewellery. I know I’m called to use my artistic talents to show God’s love and compassion to others. 

How did you find out about Craft Aid International? And what led to your decision to work in Ecuador?

Mark: I’ll let Lydia handle this one….

Lydia: In the work placement year of my Jewellery degree I volunteered for a few months at Neema Crafts Centre in Tanzania, having visited the project the previous summer on a 3 week mission trip with Soap Box. Volunteering at Neema is the closest I’ve ever got to doing a dream job so, having worked for Costa Coffee for the last 5 years, I decided it was time for a change. I longed to use my creative gifts again but I have always known I want to use them for more than just myself. 

I contacted Susie and found out about the Peru project and the possible project in Ecuador, which needed someone willing to go out and set it up. With this being a voluntary overseas position, Mark and I thought and prayed long and hard about it and we finally decided that this was such a wonderful opportunity that we couldn’t miss. We strongly feel called by God to this project as he has given us the skills and gifts for such a work, although we’re still really praying to learn Spanish quicker!

What will you be doing? How long will you be going for?

Mark: In a nut shell, we will be setting up a craft-based social enterprise employing people with physical disabilities and providing them with training and a living wage. People with physical disabilities in South America are often unemployed, undervalued and on the fringes of society. This project will aim to enable and empower physical disabled people and demonstrate their worth to the community and themselves.

My role will be very fluid, doing basically what ever needs to be done on that day. I’ll look after our social media stuff, finances and record-keeping and any general handiwork that needs doing. I’m semi proficient with a drill but I do have an unfortunate tendency to stick sharp blades into my hands so Lydia might be doing some first aid! As I am not the arty one I will leave Lydia to explain what we’ll actually be producing….

Lydia: As Mark said it will be a craft-based project and we will hopefully start by producing our own handmade paper, as all the resources needed will be available and it is a great product to get started with. We will also look to produce things like earrings, bracelets and other small jewellery items and a lot will depend on what is available in the local area. It’s an interesting prospect to have to design craft products based on the resources available and on the abilities of the employees who will be making them and I’m really excited about this challenge. We have committed to 1 year but by the time we’re settled and the project has started I can see us staying for 18 months at least!

What are you looking forward to over the next year or so?

Mark: I’m looking forward to so many aspects but my main thing is that I can’t wait to see Lydia out there, in her element, and all the amazing things I know God is going to do though her and the project. I’m also very excited to travel to a new place (never been to South America before) meet lots of new people and see all the incredible scenery and wildlife that Ecuador has to offer. 

Lydia: I’m really looking forward to travelling to a new place, experiencing a new culture and of course eating new food! I’m so excited to be submersed in creative thinking again and to use creative work to help transform the lives of those who we are working with and I’m delighted to be able to do this with Mark. I know this year is going to be full of many ups and downs and plenty of challenges but I’m so looking forward to seeing how God will work in those situations, bringing us out the other side better and stronger for the experience. ​

If you would like to support the valuable work of Mark and Lydia, you can donate here. Thank you!
​

At today's Harrogate workshop, I asked some of the people on my table to describe Thursday afternoon craft sessions in three words. They struggled to stop at three. As I was feeling lenient, I thought I would let them expand a little!

They all said that friendship was an important part of CAI craft workshops. "It's an opportunity to meet people from different walks of life" says Sara.

"Every week is different. You never know what you will be doing that week". "Spontaneous" was another word they used! Craft sessions are exciting and different, as well as calming and therapeutic. One lady explained how the sessions are clever, beacause you don't just learn how to make crafts, but the workshops also encourage personal growth. "It's an opportunity to learn patience and kindness."

They are illuminating, because you learn new crafts, but you also learn about different people with different stories and different abilities." Several agreed that if you ever come feeling sad, you always meet people at the craft session whose outlook on life is so positive, even though they have faced huge difficulties and struggles. "It puts in things in perspective." 

Ella writes: Over the last couple of days, we've been catching up with Nuevas Fuerzas, the group of differently-able people at the church, whom we are working with. On Thursday, we spoke to the wonderful women who oversee the group and discussed some of the things that had been going well, as well as some of the challenges. We also taught them how to make paper beads, the perfect product as Susie explained: easy to make, free resources, recycled materials, and beautiful to wear as necklaces or bracelets. The women will then be able to teach this new skill to the larger group of people with learning disabilities at the church. Then yesterday, Ellie taught some of the smaller group of people with physical disabilities how to make some of the stunning new bracelets, which she has been designing. They learnt really quickly and produced some very beautiful results!

However, I have been learning that establishing a craft-based social enterprise is so much more than just teaching people to make stuff! Perhaps that is obvious, but it constantly amazes me how much goes on behind the scenes that most people will never know about. There are so many things to consider, especially when working in two different cultures: what your market is, or indeed markets, as the English and Peruvian market may be quite different, what sort of facilities are needed for the project to grow and succeed, what kinds of skills they can learn, how much each differently-able artisan can earn, what sorts of materials to buy and whether they are cost-effective, and that is only a tiny proportion of some of the things we've been discussing with the women who run Nuevas Fuerzas.

There is also the added complication of having to work in a different language and culture. Having said that, I think there is something very beautiful when people from different cultures work together successfully. We can learn so much from each other. As a team from England, we are so aware of the dangerous possibility that we could impose our western ideas upon the people we are working with in Peru. However, since being here I have been struck by the fact that working with the church changes things a bit, because our core motivation is to love and to serve, not to regard ourselves better than each other but to hold everything in common and to share our skills and resources freely with those in need, of all faiths and none. I think this is important, because this changes the dynamic completely. As a body of people, we need each other's gifts and skills. Ellie can share her skills in Peru, in the same way that Flor, one of our Peruvian volunteers, can come over to England to share her gifts. The baptist church we are working with here, also runs a centre to help men suffering from drug addiction. This has been supported by churches in Brazil. It is so encouraging to see how churches from all over the world can come together to show God's love to vulnerable people in our communities.

Ella writes:

"​It’s Friday morning, and I’m on my way to a CAI craft session hosted by a traditional Anglican church. To the eye of the outsider, it might appear to be a sleepy one, but my experience of Friday morning craft sessions proves this to be far from the truth. If I arrive feeling a little sleepy myself (my usual state on a Friday morning), I certainly don’t stay that way for long. Within the first few minutes of my arrival, one of the volunteers is urging us to set up the crafts and get going. Even before all the participants arrive, everyone is already busy at work, cutting and sewing and glittering. (If you haven’t already picked up on this, glitter is a key feature of Craft Aid International’s work!)
 
A morning of sewing, chatting, and tea and biscuits (tea-breaks are another important ingredient of CAI community life!) might have the air of the mundane about it and the women who volunteer on Friday mornings might seem like ordinary ladies of the older generation, but every week that I come, I am impressed by this extraordinary group of women. As I sit listening to their chatterings, I can’t help thinking that there are so many stories here just waiting to be told. The wannabe novelist in me is itching to use all this raw material!
 
Anyway, I won’t be writing a novel quite yet, but I thought I’d just share a tiny snippet of some of the conversations I’ve had with these fun, sparky, determined ladies, who always seem to bubble with enthusiasm. They are an important part of Craft Aid’s story; they are both a blessing to us and a reminder of the blessing that Craft Aid International is to so many people. These Friday morning craft sessions not only benefit the participants with disabilities, but they have had a surprising impact on the volunteers involved, and the whole of the church.
 
One volunteer tells me that she always looks forward to Friday mornings. “It’s so friendly. Everyone’s welcome and there’s always laughter. I’ve always done craft, but I’m not good at motivating myself at home. Here I’m given something to do, so I don’t have to think about it.” As she describes some of the beautiful and impressive-sounding creations that she has made at home in the past, I get the feeling that I’m talking to a talented artist. The simple joy that she takes in helping others with sewing and glittering is humbling. Craft Aid is so blessed to have skilled, artistic people serving as part of the team. However, even those who aren’t naturally creative enjoy getting stuck in. “I’m not crafty to be honest, I was just going to make the tea”, admits one lady, “but I’ve been involved with the craft for two years now.” Another volunteer tells me how she misses the sessions over the summer.
 
These fun Friday mornings led some of the volunteers to embark on an adventure on the other side of the world (read Susie’s blog-posts from April for more info). Five of the ladies, all in their sixties and seventies, visited Craft Aid’s new project in Peru, where they trained the employees with disabilities to make different craft products. There were many keen supporters from the church who didn’t go on the trip, who nevertheless helped with the fundraising, waved goodbye to the volunteers early in the morning and supported them all the way. Those who went really enjoyed their time in Peru. “It was fun, emotional and exhausting. We had to have a get-up-and go attitude.” Another lady explained how it changed her perspective, “When I came back, things that mattered before I went didn’t matter any more. I realise what’s important now.”
 
The vicar of the church says that the craft sessions, as well as the Peru trip, have helped the church become more dynamic and have been an important part of their journey as a congregation. The work of CAI has had a “profound effect. It has given us a another way of being a more outward-looking community.”
 
I will end my little storytime here, but I am sure that there are many more fascinating tales to tell. I remember one volunteer telling us that when she was a child, she and other children were encouraged to collect conkers for the war effort. Little did she know at the time that these conkers were used to manufacture explosives. Whilst CAI clearly doesn’t want to be explosive in this kind of way, I can’t help thinking that this story is a good metaphor for the lives of those involved with CAI. Just like a little conker, an ordinary Friday morning can lead to much bigger things. And I don’t just mean exciting trips to Peru, but everything that these volunteers enable to happen. These women are all part of the explosive effect of CAI, which is changing lives around the world, one precious person at a time."
 
 

Ella writes:

We want this blog to be a space where we can share the stories of the many different people we work with. So every week, we will introduce you to someone who is part of Craft Aid International’s story. This week, I had the chance to speak to Darren, a participant at one of our UK craft sessions. Today we had fun glittering larch cones for Christmas decorations. And we were both very sparkly by the end of it! Here’s what he had to say:
 
How long have you been coming to the craft sessions?
Longer than anyone else here! I’ve been coming since the beginning.
 
What is your favourite thing about the craft sessions?
I used to do some craft at college. We got our work displayed in the window of Betty’s Tearooms in Harrogate. Now I get to use my creative ideas here.
 
What’s your favourite craft?
 All of them!
 
Tell us a bit of your story:
I have been in a wheelchair since I had an accident when I was ten. I couldn’t speak at first. But a fun fact about myself is that when I learnt to speak again, my first word was “Budweiser”. There was an advert on TV for Budweiser, which had frogs in it. And I loved the frogs!
 
How would you describe Craft Aid International in three words?
Creative, Inspirational, Different
We do something different every week!