The Women of Mfuwe, Zambia

          

My husband, Keith, my sister, Mary, her husband, Gill, and our friend, Pam, had the opportunity to work with these amazing women when we traveled to Zambia in July. They are the members of the Mfuwe Aids Support Awareness Tailoring Project. This project was started by a wonderful man named Evans Graff. The project is made up of 9 women, who are all HIV positive, and a professional tailor named James. The purpose is to teach the women to sew and sell a variety of products. Their products, which include bags, bibs, pillow cases, shirts, skirts, headbands, etc are made from their local fabric called Chitenje. The profit from the sales of these items is shared among the women to help support themselves and their children. 

Meeting with Evans

We all started out making flowers that could be used on everything from headbands to bags or to pin on a top as pictured on Margarita.

We had so much fun working together.

The irons and some of the electric sewing machines were purchased with money raised in a raffle and by donations made  here in Tucson and from other places as friends and even strangers heard about the project.

Mary is showing James, the tailor, how to use one of the new machines.

Pam is looking at Chitenje material for a sewing project. 

Even baby was a wonderful member of  the group.

Colorful bibs made from Chitenje material

We were so impressed with the dedication of everyone involved in this project. All the people were so welcoming and took good care of us as you will see in my next blog post.

Early Morning Walk in the Desert

                         
Some mornings the light and clouds are just right for a breathtaking view of the desert. It is often a surprise to see the 3 dimensional art nature creates for us to enjoy.

There is beauty in the delicate branches of a silhouetted tree.

Cactus spines backlit by the sun rising over the mountains.

Long shadows stretch out across the trail. This is a wonderful time to experience the beauty and serenity of the desert.

In the Desert It Either Pokes, Stings, or Bites!

There is a saying I have heard expressed in various ways about the desert, and that is - Everything either pokes, stings or bites. I have hiked in the desert enough to know that this is basically true. However, you learn to be careful and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.

Our Sonoran Desert can be found in southeastern California, southwestern and southern Arizona and northwest Mexico and it is full of plants that poke.

Desert creatures find ways to survive using their prickly surrounding.

New life waiting to emerge from a well protected home.

           In the springtime there are always beautiful surprises surrounded by all those needles!

The Beauty of the Cactus Flower

Today I visited the Tucson Botanical Gardens with my plein air painting group. We came on a perfect day to see cactus blooms. Before I could sit down to paint, I wandered around looking at and photographing some of the beautiful flowers.

Even the cactus buds are beautiful!

The flowers in these last two photos and the first photo are about the size of an adult's hand.
They were breathtaking!

The Sandhill Cranes of Whitewater Draw, Arizona

 It is very exciting to come to Whitewater Draw, southeast of Tucson, Arizona, to see the Sandhill Cranes fly in for a landing. We actually made this visit in late January. In the photo below you can barely make out waves of Sandhill Cranes. In the early morning they fly out to the farmers fields to feed and then start returning in the late morning.
They begin collecting in small groups. These gradually flow into other groups until there is a huge gathering of birds. It is a unique experience to close your eyes and listen to them.

There are other wonderful birds to be seen at Whitewater Draw. Besides the ones pictured below we saw Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, and Northern Pintail. 

Small flock of Snow Geese

Northern Shoveler

Great Egret

American Bittern