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Of Sewing Kits, Soap Powder and Baobab Juice

When 50 women in the West African village of Pirang (The Gambia) met Pennsylvanian Ethel Clugston for the first time in January, they already knew her as a Mennonite sister.

They became sisters through Sister Link, a partnership sponsored by Mennonite Women USA. The partnership seeks to help structure mutually beneficial relationships in which both groups are givers and receivers.

The seed of this partnership was planted when Ethel and her husband Dale of Cedar Street Mennonite Church in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (USA), became part of the Missionary Support Team for Denise Williamson and her husband, Gary. The Williamsons co-direct the Mennonite Educational and Horticultural Development Associates (MEHDA) in Pirang.

In September 2005, with a $200 loan through Sister Link, the Williamsons helped more than 100 African women buy oil, caustic soda, perfume and Dettol ™ to make powdered laundry soap to generate income for other projects.

After several months of making a profit from soap, the group invested in doing tie-dye and batik fabric. They sold these products to visitors from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada who came to MEHDA. Within the year, they had paid back the Sister Link loan.

The same amount of money was then loaned out to a group of Balanta women in Pirang who are ready to return the loan in full to MEHDA. They plan to use the original loan for a third time to form a new Balanta soap-making group associated with a Mennonite fellowship in the nearby village of Kitti.

“I marvel at how one Sister Link project sparked this extraordinary friendship between Mennonite women and Muslim women in two very different cultures,” Denise says.

Sister Link is also creating new international friendships and a larger network for creating saleable products. In January, three Christian women from London came to MEHDA to do textile workshops. The leader of the London group purchased some fabric from local women to make handbags and clothing.

“If it had not been for Sister Link, the women from London would not have seen the potential in women here to partner with them in creating new fair-trade products,” Denise says.

“When Ethel came, she brought sewing kits made by the Pennsylvania women. A week later, the London partners donated two treadle sewing machines. We are now coordinating the ongoing support of these two groups to create a sustainable program of training, employment and product development,” she added.

The African women pounded the dried pods of the native baobab tree to make a refreshing powdered drink mix containing its own calcium, Vitamin C and iron. Ethel took this mix home to share with sisters in her church as a gift from their partners in Africa.

— From a Mennonite Church USA report by Denise Williamson with Laurie Oswald Robinson

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Photo available on request: Women from the West African village of Pirang (The Gambia) gather pods from the Baobob tree and pound it into powder for a drink. The powder was a gift to their Sister-Link friends in Pennsylvania (USA).