Back into the Swing of Things, Meetings with Heifer and Chisomo

We just arrived yesterday and spent time recovering from our over 20 hours of travel. Today was our first full day of meetings. This morning we met with the Country Manager of Heifer to discuss the possibility of having some HIV/AIDS support groups that grow cotton help produce yarn. Over the 2 months between trips I did research on what is needed to get from the field to the skein. I learned a lot and brought that knowledge back with me to share. The knowledge was and is very valuable so now we have to gather more information about pricing, practice and production to present to interested members before starting a pilot program. I learned today that I am much more of a big picture person and for this program I will work with Ashley, Tasha (our Malawi liaison) and Petronella Halwiindi (Heifer Country Manager) to work out the details. Ashley has volunteered to practice over the next year and teach the groups how to spin yarn. I’m incredibly excited about this new venture.

Tasha, Petronella, and Kelly

In the afternoon we met with the Chisomo group, one of our original groups. They were very excited to see all the new materials that we brought. A lot of the yarn and needles we bought at a store in Alexandria, Virginia,  UpCycle. We learned that they have been contracted to make 36, yes 36, school jerseys for a local school. They will also be making jerseys for a local women’s guild. They have made tons of progress with the use of their knitting machine and we are looking forward to helping them pay for the second machine.

When we visited the Chisomo group we noticed that there was a tent where there was a project performing male circumcision funded by National AIDS Commission and US AID.  The movement of male circumcision has gained a lot of momentum in the past couple of years because it reduces the chance of transmission of HIV by approximately 60% for males.