Filles de Faso

For the past month I've been visiting les Filles du Faso two or three times a week. I've been using my leisure time to re-learn how to knit, and was also trying unsuccessfully to teach myself how to crochet by the power of the internet and HEMA's big hobby book circa 1978.

When we visited the International Womens day event, the group were represented, and I grabbed the opportunity to ask if I could come and learn to crochet.

My teacher Nabou

So I sit on the floor and watch as Nabou tries to explain in French about the different stitches (a very specific vocabulary), and watch as the ladies hands fly as they chat in Moore.

As far as I can make out there are about 30 women in the association, some are handicapped, and they sell their products at a few local souvenir shops, at fairs in Burkina, and also to a French retailer. I've only seen about 12 ladies on a packed day - many work mostly from home, but there are regulars, and they bring some pretty cute kids with them, who have got used to me by now.

The black and white bags the ladies are working on are part of an order.

I love the wine and cheese cloth she is wearing

What perhaps is not immediately apparent is that the bags etc are made out of plastic bags. The bags are sorted and cut into strips to make a kind of yarn.

The bags are collected from the dump by a few women who receive a few hundred francs for lots of them. Plastic bags are really a problem in Burkina, and are given out for free with any and all purchases. The recycling the ladies do, cannot even make a dent in this.

The finished bags and baskets