El Nisporo
In the beginning, God created. His creativity is one of the first traits we see about God, an essential aspect of who He is. His order, His perfection, His design, His love, His Sovereignty all manifested itself in that act of Creation. I also see His Love of Life—He is the Life-Giver and the Life-Sustainer, He is Life itself.
Perhaps there is a connection between life and creativity. Not just breathing, but life. Bearing his image, we manifest his likeness in our creativity, a mind and hands newly awake in His new life, sensitive to the beauty of life and creation.
It is beautiful to see (or hear) about the essence of creativity being awoke in another person. John, another missionary in Honduras, told me about the women of El Nisporo:
EL NISPORO is situated exactly at the pinpoint of a mountain—half of the town is on the incline up; half of it is on the incline down. Life in the mountains is hard—the soil is rocky, the jungle makes it difficult to grow crops, businesses and factories typically don't survive in the remote and undulating terrain. Instead, poverty thrives—like the blood sucking mosquitoes—festering among the rocks, cliffs, and isolation of the mountain.
The pastor from El Nisporo threaded his way down the mountain and asked the missionary, "Can you help my people?" Women in his church were handcrafting tule sleeping mats, a skill passed down from generations. They were paid 19 lempira (the equivalent of one US dollar) for each mat, having invested 17 lempira in the material and a whole day's labor to hand weave these mats. 10 cents each day does not make enough to survive on.
John, the missionary, responded. For three and a half years now, he has worked with these women to help them become self-sustaining, helping them think how they can help themselves. They collected samples of other types of crafts, and the women would try to make them. Another missionary sent a design for a coffee box—and the women instead sat down together, looked at it, and thought of a way it could be done better. This is an incredible victory of life and dignity to women who have lived in poverty, who have not taken initiative, whose creativity had been sapped out of them by the rote educational system and the grinding of poverty. Here they were, being creative together. This is a life victory.
Another woman designed a little "backpack" purse. She told the missionary that this is the first product that she has made that the community is actually interested in buying from her—her community wants something she designed, she created, she made with her own hands! This is a badge of honor, of acceptance, of worth, of rightful pride.
ABOUT TULE: Tule is a reed that grows in Central America. It has to be divided into three sections before it can be woven. The women split it, soak it, and dye it in preparation for weaving.
Comments
Post a Comment