Natasha first came to our craft sessions as a participant, but she now volunteers for us and sometimes writes articles about our work too. Here's a snippet from her latest piece of writing. Keep an eye out for this article in Harrogate newspapers! 

"I cannot believe that in 2016 people with any form of disability are made to feel worthless and face discrimination on a daily basis. With the Olympics and Paralympics still fresh in our minds, we should now hope that people with all forms of disability, whether it's mental, physical, or emotional, get recognised with their own rights, and are given the recognition they all deserve, whether they are famous or not.

My name is Natasha, I have epilepsy and a form of dyslexia. On the outside, I look like an everyday person. Alas, I sometimes have problems fitting into society. I have been known to get strange looks when I show the conductor my bus pass. Some get really big eyes when I say, “Oh mine is a Disabled pass....” "But what is wrong with you?”, they all think. “You don't look disabled.”

I am a very creative, people person, who loves to make things, help others to learn new skills and make craft goods. Not having all the skills, space, or equipment myself, I am honoured to be able to volunteer for Craft Aid International. It's one of the only places I feel accepted.

At the beginning of the craft classes, everyone bustles around, helping to unload the car, and set up the equipment. Then we have a brief meeting about what we are making today, and if needed, we’re given instructions on how to make the items. Then once all the participants have arrived, the fun begins! And we get to choose one of up to four different crafts. We make greetings cards, flower brooches, mosaics, jewellery, marbled paper and more. At the moment, we are making Christmas goods!

We will also have lots of different wools, and with the help of our friendly volunteers, you will have a chance to make your very own funky Pom-Pom. All we ask is a small donation, and for you to remember us, and tell all your friends about us! We look, forward to seeing you there to share in our excitement!" ​​​ ​

You can read the full article here.

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." 

So perhaps this is a slightly odd title for a charity blog based around craft... There is obviously no Craft Aid International without the craft! However, I was reminded again today that the work of CAI is about so much more than teaching differently-able people new craft skills. At our Starbeck session this afternoon, we had our usual tea break, and as we sat around munching on some very delicious chocolate and banana cake, we chatted about jewellery, barbecues, and holidays. We also talked about some of the hard things we'd been going through: loss and illness and discrimination. It's beautiful to see that CAI's craft sessions are not only a time to have some craft fun, but they are also  a safe space to share the joys and struggles of life. I found a facebook post from nearly a year ago, which sums this up perfectly:​

And it's not just during our tea-breaks that we get the chance to have a chat, there's also plenty of time to catch up on life as we get on with the crafts. Another key part of our workshops is learning to work together as a team. Today some of us worked together to make cards, using a letterpress technique, whilst some of us dyed t-shirts, and others worked on cutting shapes out of marbled paper. Below are some of the beautiful results!  

Ella writes: Yesterday was a very productive day! Ellie and Fiona, our new design volunteers, sorted out some things for their stay here (they will soon be appearing on our meet the team page!) and Ellie also taught one of the differently-able artisans how to make a new earring design, which she picked up extremely quickly! We found out how she and her sister, another one of the differently-able artisans, had been getting on with the new bracelets over the weekend, and they had already produced twenty high quality bracelets in one afternoon!

I had the chance to interview her, as well as the two ladies who run the group for people with disabilities at the church. There is so much I could write about here, but time is a little limited, as we are about to head off to the church again. The thing that struck me most was actually quite a small detail, but I think it speaks clearly of the joy that Craft Aid's work brings. One of the ladies told me that the differently-able workers are so happy to now be earning some money, which allows them to contribute to family life. One of the participants bought the turkey for the Christmas dinner for the first time ever this year!

Later in the afternoon, we bought a few materials for the session today and briefly visited the shop where some of our products are sold. I finished the day with a hot chocolate Peruvian-style; this involved cream and vanilla ice cream!

Now off to meet the group of people with learning disabilities at the church to make some paper beads!

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 taken a little longer to write my first blog post about our travels than I intended, because not surprisingly everything has been so busy over the last few days. We flew through Amsterdam and Paris and finally arrived in Lima yesterday, excited, but also very tired and slightly disorientated. We stayed over night in Paris with an amazing view of the sacre-coeur, so it felt very surreal to find ourselves in Lima later the same day!

Our first day in Lima has been really exciting: all the new sights, sounds and smells of the city! The architecture is very beautiful and the bead shops here are incredible! So so so many different colours and types of bead, elastic, thread etc. We spent the day visiting some of the many bead shops in the centre of Lima and buying a huge amount of very good value beads, so that Ellie, our new designer can work on some new jewellery prototypes for the project, as well as continuing some of our popular items. Ellie also made her first attempt at haggling. It was so successful that the shopkeeper congratulated her!

I also found myself asking the question: "have we found any llamas yet?" I think that is only a question you would ever ask in Peru. We were in fact looking for llama charms to put on bracelets, rather than the real thing, just in case you were wondering if craft aid was planning on changing its stock to something a little more agricultural.

It has been a tiring, but very satisfying first day in Lima. We have another day of bead shopping ahead before we fly off to Arequipa.

One more thing before I sign off: In Peru, I have noticed that the practical and the spiritual are not always separated in the way they might be in the UK. In the shower this morning I noticed a label, which had the slogan of the shower company in Spanish, something like "quality that endures" and underneath the phrase "Dios es amor", which means God is love. That made me smile. 😊

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:

"Recently, at one of the UK craft sessions, I asked one of the volunteers what her favourite craft activity was. Even if she had no intention of being particularly philosophical, her answer struck me as very profound. She explained that she liked the crafts where they reused materials that would normally be thrown away, such as turning pieces of broken china into mosaics.
 
Since then, I’ve been thinking about the beauty of this craft idea and it seems to me (with my great love of metaphors) to be a wonderful picture of the work that Craft Aid International does. People with disabilities are so often disregarded by society. Like broken pieces of china, they are often thought to be without potential and swept to the side. And I think this metaphor is applicable to everyone. Whoever we are, whatever our abilities, whatever our, race, gender, sexuality, culture, education etc., if we are truly honest with ourselves, we find that we are all broken.
 
But my hope and belief is that God’s love has the power to transform our fragile, imperfect, messy selves into something gloriously new and beautiful. And Craft Aid International’s history (which began with buckets of elephant dung!) gives us a wonderful glimpse of this reality, as people’s lives are being changed. Individuals are being empowered to realise their potential as a unique and beautiful part of their community."

Tuesday:   The earth is a dazzlingly, *dazzlingly* beautiful place, full of awe and wonder. You only have to fly over a country like Peru for a few minutes to appreciate this. Range upon range of black mountains capped in white snow; speckled hills and ravines threaded through with silver rivers, studded with great blue lakes with aquamarine edges; vast blankets of soft cloud revealing dark oceans lapping at the feet of volcanic cliffs, gilded from above with the reddest-goldest fiery light imaginable.

The final cadence to all this grandeur was the sight of El Misti and her two volcanic sisters, the three mountains that watch over the ‘white city’ of Arequipa, as we came in to land this morning. 

To describe Peru, and her people, is to realise that there are not enough synonyms for beautiful. 

Once you’re on the ground the similarity of the infrastructure and vegetation to our former home in Tanzania is striking. If it weren’t for the people, I would believe on first glance that I was back in East Africa without question. The hastily thrown-up concrete buildings are the same, the trees and flowers, even the style of bill-board advertising and the brands they’re brandishing. But, as you'd expect, the people are very different. I love their expressive warmth, their exuberance and their public displays of affection. 

I got up at 2am in the UK on Monday morning to start my journey, and got to bed at 26 hours later in Lima, with almost no sleep before, during or after. This morning I flew the final leg to Arequipa, arriving at lunch-time and then whisked from the airport straight to the church where the Neuvas Feuzas group were eagerly waiting. The cheers and shouts that erupted as I entered the room nearly knocked me over. It was so, so lovely to see everyone again. I was hugged and kissed to within an inch of my life and Richard (the aforementioned Karaoke King) even wept great theatrical tears when I said how good it was to return to my family in Peru. It was a wonderful reunion. 

I spent the afternoon with Betsaida, the project leader, and Carmen, her right-hand volunteer, un-picking how things had gone since I left in April and deciding what we need to cover whilst I’m here. It was encouraging to see how beautifully they were making the products we’d taught them last time.  There were a few disappointments and challenges too, but nothing insurmountable. Our meeting confirmed how important it was for me to come back, and has given us a road-map for what we need to achieve before I leave again. There’s a lot to do, but time enough if we keep our hands to the plough and don’t lose sight of the horizon.

Wednesday: Was strange to wake up to my silent flat alone. I missed my noisy family and the usual pre-school-day hubbub. The only CD I could find in the flat was 'Classic FM's Royal Wedding Selection" which thankfully turned out to be not nearly as bad as it sounded. The walk to the church cheered me with El Misti shining on the skyline above the haphazard rooftops. Have spent the day teaching Betsaida and Carmen new techniques and designing new prototype necklaces to teach the Neuvas Feuzas group tomorrow. Heading off now to the bead markets to buy materials and then off home to bead into the wee-hours finishing said samples for tomorrows teaching. 
​

After a day of orientating the team around Arequipa and collecting final bits of equipment and materials yesterday, we finally welcomed our first trainees today, who arrived with great excitement. We started with the physically disabled group in the morning, who're learning beadwork; and added the larger group of folk with learning disabilities in the afternoon who learnt how to make cards using die-cutting machines and local fabrics. Everyone was really keen to learn and we were really surprised at how quickly they all picked up the new skills. Within a few days they'll be experts! Despite our lack of Spanish, the warmth of the welcome and the affectionate enthusiasm of all the participants meant we were able to start building really lovely relationships with all the trainees very quickly.  There was a fab surprise for us at the end of the day; we were all enthusiastically entertained by Richard the Karaoke King and Laura (above) who performed a local dance for us all. We were even presented with hand-made chocolates which they'd made especially for us. It's been an extraordinary day, especially for the Leeds volunteers who've never experienced anything like it before. Grace - our youngest team member at 13, has been a total star and has made a lot of new friends, as have we all! ​