Crochet for a Cause
Crochet for a Cause are fun one-day workshops where you can learn the art of the crocheted granny square.
Get some friends together for a fun day at one of these Sydney, Melbourne or Newcastle workshops. There is one every month between now and November. You will be helping a very worthy cause while learning something new, having fun and creating new friendships. Cost is just $60 and all you bring is a ball of acrylic yarn, a crochet hook and a little pair of scissors. How easy is that? But book your place now as they fill up early. Workshops are being set up in other cities as well, so check their website regularly!
The fees go to Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (Australia), a registered charity helping raise awareness and provide services, treatment and support for Ethiopian women who suffer from the horrors of obstetric fistula. The Craft & Quilt Fair has supported this worthy cause in the past and it’s wonderful to hear about the ongoing work they are doing in their hospitals and in the field.
Ethiopian women play an active role in all aspects of their community’s life, including being producers and procreators in their teens. When giving birth at such a young age, they often experience complications with the delivery. Many babies are stillborn and the women sustain obstetric fistulas – a hole in the birth canal. It is directly linked to one of the major causes of maternal mortality: obstructed labour. Survivors suffer incontinence, shame, segregation and health & hygene problems. Due to the lack of hospitals and the distance between them, they are forced to trek days on their own to find health facilities. Along the way they are forced to suffer humiliation and ridicule for their condition, stuffing rags into their clothes to prevent leakage caused by the fistula.
Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia supports the notion that many maternal and newborn deaths can be prevented if competent midwives are made available to assist women before, during and after childbirth and are able to refer them to emergency obstetric care when severe complications arise.
Book on the hamlin.org.au website.
Now … which colour for my yarn?
If you have already been to one of these workshops, let us know what you thought in our comments field below.
Top image courtesy Creative Commons Wikimedia