Ti Men, Little Hands

I wrote this last night, in Word when we did not have electricity or internet, pasting and posting it about 24 hours after it was actually written.  

Krapo

As I write this, I can hear the pattering raindrops on the metal roof.   As the raindrops get quieter I will begin to hear a chorus of frogs.  It is inevitable.  The rainfall seems to bring them to life.  I find it amazing how there is no evidence that they even exist when it is dry and then suddenly they are numerous and boisterous after a storm.

 Ti Men

On Tuesday, my day off, I went to visit a ministry of the Sisters of Holy Cross called Petite Mains, (which is French for Ti Men, which is Creole for Little Hands.)  At 8:00 all who work there gathered for a brief prayer, welcomed me and then the work day began.  The workers were sewing school uniforms for local Catholic school children.  I told the two sisters who oversee the site to let me know if there was anything I could do to help since I would be there for the day.   I flattened newly sewn gym shorts into piles, tied tiny knots that will hopefully help to keep collars from falling off of school shirts (while doing this I was consciously trying not remember how as a child at Girl Scout camp knot tying was a least favorite and more difficulty activity for me), sorted, counted and boxed familiar looking shirts that will be worn during the next school year by children who attend the primary school here including most of the children at the orphanage.  Petite Mains is a small operation, which employs a hand full of people.  At 10:00 a woman rang a little hand bell and everyone stopped working to enjoy a 15 minute break.  There was a lunch break at noon, and the work day ended at 3:00. People were working very hard, concentrating on their tasks at the sewing machines, and yet there was a relaxed atmosphere as a pleasant breeze and blew through the big windows.  It was clearly a ministry and certainly not a sweatshop.   The workers and sisters were kind, seemed to appreciate the small tasks I assisted with and were patient with me, as I did not always tie perfect knots on my first try.  I had not given much thought to the number of steps involved in creating a simple garment, nor give any thought at all to how a shirt would come to have collar.  From now on I will probably look at clothing a bit differently, certainly with greater gratitude to all of the little hands whose hard work helped to make the things I wear, and I assume typically in conditions that are not comparable to what I experienced on Tuesday.   

Yes, now the rain is ending and I can hear the frogs singing.  It is time to go to bed.   Hopefully our electricity will be restored and we will have internet in the morning so I can post this and you can read it.