OFF TO AFRICA

I'm leaving for Abuja, Nigeria today, to attend the Movement for African National Initiatives Consultation 2011. A thousand leaders have been invited, 850 of them from African nations.

I've been invited as a creative specialist to listen and offer out-of-the-box solutions, ideas to help them in the process of reaching their goals.

With that in mind, I'm bringing African fabrics cut precut into strips, ready to share how to make a story rope. The African leaders might find these helpful in their ministries of sharing the Gospel, discipleship & healing. May God open the doors for my sharing with humility. The story ropes are His idea & His to give away.

More about preparing for Africa. click: The Creative Process

(photo) In Rwanda where making the story ropes started, Marge surrounded by the World Relief staff holding the story ropes, each had just created. Marge showed the women how to create their own 'story rope' using local fabrics, ribbons & buttons. They took turns sharing their stories of suffering mixed with God's mercy.

"I was able to see my life right in front of me," said Josephine, a mother of five. 'I was amazed at the grace of God upon my life...reminded that I don't deserve God's love, yet He chose to love me before I knew him." From the World Relief article: Patchwork of Hope

THE RWANDA QUILTS

'Patchwork of Hope' is an article by Rose Busingye, writer on the World Relief Rwanda staff.

It's from a Rwandan's perspective. What did a white woman coming from the US know about the pain and trauma of genocide?

And when Rose heard that the contemporary fabric artist would be using art quilts to teach on the sensitive topic her doubts increased.

Read what happened when I came with my quilts & story rope materials to World Relief Rwanda. Article has photos, stories of the 4 Rwanda Quilts & breakthrough reactions. Here's the link: Patchwork of Hope

Photo: Final presentation was speaking at World Relief's the weekly chapel service. Marge in brown with Becca Smth (the WR country director's wife) in blue & my Rwandan translator.

STORY ROPE VIDEO short @ SOLACE

It was July 2007, Kigali, Rwanda. One of the venues that invited Becca and I, was SOLACE a ministry to the widows & orphans of the Rwandan Genocide. It was one of the sites where we trained women leaders, who would in turn train others. Multiplying.

Becca presented the story ropes. While making the ropes they broke out into spontaneous song. I took 2 video clips of the women working. Now yrs. later the clips are together & you are transported there! Click for video: MAKING STORY ROPES Kigali, Rwanda.

These women watched, endured & survived the most horrendous, incomprehensible acts to humanity. In their brokeness, they will be helping others who are broken. We were so humbled to help them process their stories through this simple thing called a storyrope™.

Photos of the tea break which was provided for by our home church.

Becca in top photo & Marge in lower, enjoying the break with the SOLACE trainers.

MAKING THE STORY ROPES™ IN RWANDA

The story rope is neither art nor craft but simply a colorful engaging hand made timeline of ones life, using the simplest of local materials. These instructions can be adapted to any culture.

Purchase materials locally

• honors their culture

• familiar - 'theirs' - cultural connection

• found in their markets - they can replicate teaching

What we used in Rwanda

• African fabrics - precut into long strips

• spools of ribbons - black, red, white, green, light blue, yellow

• buttons

• thread

• couple pairs of scissors

How each made their own story rope

• each selected a strip of African fabric

• cut lengths of ribbons, choosing colors identified with each segment of their story

• tied ribbons onto strip in the chronological order of their story

• with thread, tied buttons on to rope representing parts of their story.

Photos: top @ Solace; lower @ World Relief in Rwanda

THE SIMPLE STORYROPE™ FOR TELLING YOUR STORY

The simplest story telling method is the storyrope™, which I developed in Brookfield, CT on June 12,  2007. It requires no artistic ability by presenter or participant. I used the storyrope™ in Rwanda in July 2007, where I worked with the genocide survivors with my friend, Becca. Husband, Phil, was at that time the director of World Relief Rwanda & they lived in Kigali.

After sharing the Rwanda quilts (this story in another post), I used this simple hands on project by which each participant could process their own story in a limited time frame. It related to the quilts, using fabric, but did not involve time consuming sewing.

(top) Becca getting ready to teach the story ropes. Rwanda quilts in background with one of the orphans finding his story in the quilt designs.

(bottom) Our translator sharing her story rope.