A new skill!

Last Monday I learned how to crochet! The newly formed women's group decided a few weeks ago that one of our first activities would be crocheting. The president and a few other women in the group already know how to crochet, so they said they would help teach the rest of us. I bought my needle and a small ball of yarn for a little over 1 dollar and I was set. At first everyone was going so fast that I thought I would never learn, but with a little individual attention I was slowly getting it. I crocheted while watching tv and waiting for meetings etc. and in a week I have finished my ball of yarn! Crocheting is a actually not as hard as it looks! So here is my first crocheted item (I don't actually know what its use is, but I am still proud of it!):

So, learning to crochet has so far been a fun, bonding activity for the women's group and a way to share skills. It looks like our first real project will be to help out with the community garden that we are growing on the school grounds. We decided to join the local 4-H or Club 4-S, which means that they will come give us training on organizational skills and more technical training, such as growing vegetables etc. It should be a great opportunity for us! We will also be growing an undetermined crop (we will choose at our next meeting) on a small plot of land that a member of the community is letting us use.

I am very impressed by the sense of unity that the members of the women's group already have. I really believe that they will be successful in whatever project they decide to embark upon. The group was successful in its first fundraising activity, raising over $60 in cold drink and ice cream sales at a local soccer game. It was a very simple idea raised by a few of the women and everyone else jumped on board and offered to donate a few items to sell, such as sugar cane juice, coconut water and iced chocolate milk, each with a value of 200 colones, or about 35 cents. Needless to say, everyone was very proud of the success of the activity.

I am really excited about working with the women, not just because I am learning new skills, but because of the opportunities that this group will bring to the many women in the community.