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Sowing Peace Through the Eye of a Needle 4 Quilting Friends Journey to Africa by June Vogltance I never imagined that my lifelong passion for sewing and quilting would one day take me half way around the world to Africa. When Rosemary Wissink (WI) & Shelly Stokes (MN) were drawn into our booth by our display of African baskets, cloth and church banners at the MN. 2006 Quilt Show, little did I know that I would join them on their next mission trip to Africa. Rosemary had previously made 4 trips to teach quilting and sewing at the Amani ya Juu center in Nairobi, Kenya. Shelly was a member of her team in 2005. Seeds for a 2007 trip were sewn that day in our booth. Amani Ya Juu (which means “higher peace in Swahili) is a sewing and marketing project for refugee and marginalized women in Africa. The project, started by Becky Chinchon, an American missionary in 1996, services about 80 women who are taught sewing, quilting, communication and marketing skills so that they will be able to provide for their families. At the Amani ya Juu center, the women also participate in daily Bible study, singing and prayer sessions designed to encourage peace, friendship and reconciliation. The women participating in the project are from many different tribes and ethnic groups who have suffered through the horrors of war, the hardships of poverty & minimal employment opportunities. In addition to being paid a fair wage for their work, they find a sense of peace, hope, acceptance, friendship and support at the Amani ya Juu center. The women also gain self confidence and a sense of independence through the program which empowers them to endure and try and overcome the many difficulties of African life. (Over the years, two sister centers have been set up in Rwanda and Burundi.) A few months after fate brought Rosemary, Shelly, & I together in MN., we were joined by Bonnie Bosma, a professional machine quilter, also from MN. We spent 18 months planning and preparing for the trip. In addition to working on new designs, developing new patterns and projects to teach the women, we also spent a great deal of time preparing emotionally and spiritually for the trip. We read many recommended books and watched a variety of films to help familiarize us with the culture, history and current events of Kenya and other areas in Africa that the women came from. Our team ’s mission was to share our sewing and quilting skills with the Amani women and to teach them to make marketable products such as bags, totes, purses, wallhangings, quilts, tablerunners, quilted postcards & beaded bookmarks. (The products they are taught to make are sold in Amani ’s gift shop and online to sustain the non-profit Amani Ya Juu project.) Our main focus for the trip, however, in addition to teaching was to acquire a longarm quilting machine, get it to Africa, set it up and teach the women to use it and maintain it. To accomplish this seemingly monumental task, Rosemary, Shelly and Bonnie focused on fundraising for the machine. (My task was to raise funds for trip expenses and sewing and quilting supplies.