December 2015 Update

Things that are happening.....................it's been a while since we provided an update.

Our LosTambos school sewing group: Currently they are meeting once a month. Some of the ladies are sewing while others crochet and do needle point. This has developed into a great fellowship group. They always have a devotion when they meet and continue to reach out to one another when there is a need. Sewing brought the ladies together God has formed the bond.

 

 

Our LosTambos/ Miranda family sewing group: The last count we have 8 that sew together several times a week. If you remember Mrs. Miranda is the lady that was so enthusiastic about learning to sew. She is also the person who received the first sewing machine as an experiment. It looks like the experiment was a success! All of the girls are getting experience with the machines and cutting fabric. They are working hard to be able to sell the clothes they make. Last visit we worked with Ada, Maria's daughter, to keep the machines clean and do minor maintenance.

Our Buena Vista sewing group: We have 5 ladies in this group. This group just started last year. They meet but not on a regular basis. They have a beautiful building with electric but no hook up. We have resolved the problem. We will be able to run power from the school to the building. Right now they have no machines but we are working on that. They are excited to get started and so are we. There is a lot of enthusiasm in this group. One lady does ALL her sewing by hand and is teaching the others. That is a good start.

Our plans are to return to Belize in September of 2016, instead of January. Things are in motion to rearrange our living and work schedule that would allow us to spend 3 months instead of 3 weeks in Belize.
We feel God's call on our lives is to spend more time working with the sewing ministry. It is the perfect way to share Jesus and teach them something useful at the same time. We look forward to your prayerful support as we work toward these changes.

If you have any questions regarding Threads of Hope please contact us at 865-382-7582 or
 865-591-5032. Linda and Joe

On to the Miranda's ............................

Ottillia and her son showing off the quilt that she banded.

Ottillia is Felix Miranda's wife. They live next door to Maria & Manfredo Miranda.

Ottillia has helped me out many times as an interpreter and has a great deal of sewing talent.

She is very excited to have a machine, battery and inverter at the house. In the past she has used Maria's machine.

This entire family starting with Maria is so enthusiastic about sewing. When we stopped on Tuesday there were 5 women sewing and 3 different projects going. It is so good to see that happening.

They love it! AND they are helping each other by sharing what they know and the use of the machines that we have provided.

Maria Miranda was the first lady that we taught how to hand sew and that year we made a quilt.

The next year we came back to her house and she had sewn skirts and several other

projects.......all by hand. We purchased a battery and inverter acquired a sewing machine from InHisWill and set it up at her house. The next year as we pulled up in the yard she was sitting on the porch at the sewing machine.  That was two years ago..................now there are 5 ladies that are involved in sharing her machine and talent ...............AND so this continues to grow

 

 

 

This is the view from the window at Ottillia's house. Beautiful view, wonderful breeze......I would like a sewing room like that.

Ottillia's sewing machine set up and read to go. 

At the end of the day on Tuesday February 10th.  We had dinner with Carmen and Faye before heading back to the mission house to pack. 

 

 

It was an awesome trip! God moved in many ways! We are so blessed to be able to be

a small part of lives of our friends in Belize.

 

 

 

I just realized in all the blogs I never mentioned the roads......................there is nothing good to say about them they are worse then we have ever seen.  Some of the holes are about a foot deep.

I really wouldn't call it a road any more..............it's more like just a bunch of holes side by side that are strung out in a line.

 

All in all - another very successful trip.  We would like to thank everyone who helped make this Threads of Hope Mission possible. All the materials, monetary contributions and prayerful support is certainly appreciated

On to Fatima's house

Fatima is interested in making quilts. Her

grandmother taught her how to quilt when she was very young. Fatima has many good memories of her grandmother and her aunts working together on quilts.

She is looking forward to getting the sewing group together to quilt. Joe is putting up the quilt rack that he built earlier in the week.

 

 

We delivered a sewing machine, battery and inverter.

So she will be able to make lots of quilts.

Fatima also helps her husband farm. The day we delivered the sewing machine and quilt rack she and her sons were helping pick 6 acres of red beans. This is not an easy process.

 

Monday February 9th a visit to Rosanna's house

 

We stopped at Rosanna's house to take her sewing machine, battery and inverter.

Hanging on the wall in the kitchen was one of the back packs that Pat and her Grandma's PJs

group made for the small children in Los Tambos.

 

 

 

 

Rosanna and Daisy with their sewing machine. Rosanna has made a lot of clothes by hand for her

three daughters and she is really looking forward to having a sewing machine in the house so she can work on many sewing projects.

 

Outside Rosanna's house. This beautiful flower is taller than me.

 

 

Mr. Joe and Daisy. Daisy was in the front yard showing Mr. Joe how to feed the calves.

We are back!!!  Home without any incidents!!  Ready to start making plans for next year.
Tomorrow we will post pictures from Tuesday in LosTambos. We need to find the camera.

Our furry little friend....................NOT

Friday after working in Buena Vista we returned home parked the car in the grass. It seems

we had a tarantula kicking tires or chewing them.............whatever he is a VERY big spider.

Mark took the pictures.................thank you Mark.

 

 

Saturday evening meal with Ms Juane and the kids. BBQ chicken, rice and beans and slaw.

Mark made pineapple cobbler.....................very good!!!

The rest of the evening was spent doing needle work. It seems that JR is really getting in to this.

JR had a little mishap with his wrist but that

didn't stop him. Sunday he was at the house again needing more embroidery floss. We will show the finished product soon.

 

 

TODAY IS MONDAY ....................................................................IT SEEMS LIKE WE JUST ARRIVED.

An exciting day for Berta she now has a sewing machine with battery and inverter in her home.

Over the past year and a half she has been making clothes all by hand. She is a very talented lady.

 Berta is also one of the women who has sent some beautiful needle work back to the US

 

 

 

 

TODAY IS CLEAN UP DAY.

Clean up day for the machines....................lessons on how to care for the machines on a monthly and weekly basis. Very important for machines that are in such a humid climate.

 

One very tired little Daisy. She has been going all day, it's nap time now.

 

 

 

Here is the preview of the quilt rack Joe built. Tomorrow it will be delivered and hopefully in the next year it will get a lot of use.

 

Tomorrow will be finish up all open projects, make a few more deliveries and back to the house to pack. Out to dinner with Carmen and Faye and then ice cream with the kids.

Back in the USA soon. 

 

We started the class at Buena Vista yesterday on faith alone.

I had no interpreter. We quickly found that sewing is a universal language in itself.

My limited Spanish and their limited English we made it happen! We had a great time!

 We had 5 students, Norma, Enna, Livette, Esperanza and Mommee.

All had sewing machine experience and was quick to catch on the machines we were using.

REALLY nice to have electric power available.

We worked in the principals office and made ourselves at home.

 

 Above is Enna and Livette discussing the beautiful job they did.

 This is Mommee who makes all her clothes by hand. VERY talented seamstress. The little guy beside her is being punished. He was sent to the principal's office and found that their were 6 ladies there that made SURE he sat in his chair.

The ladies are..............left to right Ms Norma, Ms Enna and Ms Livette.

They send a very special thank you to Dorothy for their quilts. They were so excited!  



Thursday - Embroidery class

 

 

Embroidery class on Thursday evening.

This lady is Althea, she is well known to the team. She is from Unitedville and she cares for the children of two of her siblings who passed away from diabetes and heart issues.

Althea has also found the time to start a group for the girls who have dropped out of school.

This group now has about 11 girls and they meet once a week. Althea and her friends fix

a meal and have Bible study and group discussions on how the girls can get back on track.

This group is self funded by Althea and her friends.

Through the next year Althea will teach embroidery using some of the supplies that we were able to

provide because of the generosity of our church family.

 Embroidery on Thursday night was a small class. We had a storm blow through

so attendance was down. But we did have some little ones who were interested in

learning.

 This little one is name LaSandra she attended class with her grandmother Ms Juana.

She is 3 years old and had very good coordination and motor skills. She was

interested in making some beads for her hair.

 This is grandma Juana working on her own project.

Erra is working on her project with some difficulty. Threading needles isn't as easy as it looks especially with three strands of thread.



Good Morning!

A busy day in LosTambos yesterday! We were in the process of finishing our uniform shirts.

We have all 18 finished except for the buttons and button holes. That requires practice...lots of practice.

All did a pretty good job. The biggest stumbling block for them was to get the sleeves put on.

Needless to say anyone who has sewn understands. As for me I became proficient at putting

in sleeves.

We had another beautiful day about 86 degrees and last evening a cold front went through. Rain came with the cold front and brought much needed water. Much to the happiness of the Howler monkeys.

They have been howling all week wanting rain. Now they might be quiet for a while.

Today's temperature will only be in the 70's, cloudy but looks like it will clear.

 

 

 

 

This is Rosanna and her daughter Daisy. Rosanna has come to our classes in the

past. She sews all her daughter's clothes by hand.  She is a very talented lady. Now she is learning to use the machines.

Hopefully some of the young daughters in the pictures will be able to learn from their mothers.

 

Dorothy this one is for you! Here are all the little roosters at work.

They all say thank you so much for bringing the materials and helping them.

The roosters were also made by hand, no electric power for the machines. What is so nice

is that didn't stop Dorothy and didn't stop the ladies from making what they wanted.

 

Last evening we had a great group for embroidery! We even had some children that worked with us.

That class and ice cream completed our day.

Laundry is on the line and machines are packed............off to Buena Vista for the sewing class. Then on to embroidery class tonight at 5:30.

 

 



Monday...............Wednesday............ SEWING

Hi to everyone!

We started sewing classes Monday morning! What a great group of women.

We had a total of 18 women attending, 10 in the morning and 8 in the afternoon. Lots

of young mothers. We had many return from last year and a few new ones. Norma and

her mother Elita came to classes for the first time. Also their first time using a machine.

Dividing into two classes a day helped with the use of sewing machines and personal  attention.

We started Monday's class with cutting out patterns for the uniform shirts. That went well

and we began to put the pieces together on Tuesday. Today we worked on the hardest part!!

SLEEVES..........................NOT FUN AT ALL!!!!! We seemed to get through that part and have

moved on to collars and facing. TOMORROW......................buttons and button holes. I think I

might be absent????  I think they will have to have scrap fabric and PRACTICE!!!

 

 

Monday evening at the mission house.

Monday evening we had to clean out the totes from a day of sewing. I was happy to

have two really good helpers. D'Andra and Era and of course Ms. Juanita. Mark has

been around to help Joe out too.

 

 

Thursday we are will wrap up the sewing in Los Tambos and spend the evening

with the Unitedville embroidery group. They are coming by the mission house at 5:30 for ice cream

and embroidery.

 

Friday we will be going to Buena Vista to work with a new group of women. Excited

to see how all of this works out. We will let you know on Friday night. We are taking

some machines, a sewing project and an interpreter.

 

Joe has been busy working on the quilt racks and numerous other projects

 to keep him out of trouble.

 



Back to work.......................

We're back to work tomorrow................starting with pattern cutting from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The class from 1:00pm to 3:30pm we will teach how to sew everything together.  We are working on the uniform shirts. We have a tailor from San Ignacio coming to help when we begin sewing for the boy's pants.

I will be meeting with the ladies of Buena Vista tomorrow at 2:00. We are hoping to find out their skill level. We will also begin plans for next year, we need electrical power to the building first.

We are also looking for women in Spanish Look Out that might be interested in teaching sewing classes throughout the year in Los Tambos.

Tomorrow Joe will be getting materials for a quilting rack and working on some issues with the bathrooms.

Busy once again!

Tomorrow we are at the one week mark...........

Greetings from Belize ...................Tuesday! WOW how time flies!!!!
Today we had a class in Unitedville in the morning and went to Buena Vista in the afternoon to visit Mefi Martinez. We toured a new building at the school that will become home for another
Threads of Hope sewing group. It was a building provided by a grant from Japan. . Right now they are waiting for electrical hook ups and things will be ready to go. Mefi Martinez is helping coordinate this effort. We will meet with some of the ladies on Monday and see who we have interested. We are
estimating 20 ladies. New and exciting things happening.

Dottie's comments and pictures from Belize.................

 



The Ladies at LosTombos enjoying the sewing class held on Monday! Linda and Dottie really liked watching the ladies take it all in! We had 13 women and 7 children, all thankful for our help and coming to visit with them!





This is Mrs. T gathering all the children who want a ride home from school! I think she had
17 kids when she left the school! She had a "BUS" load!!

This is Linda passing out blankets and dresses to the IN HIS WILL Pre-school in Unitedville on Tuesday! The children were really excited to receive gifts from friends back in the states! 
This morning we had an embroidery class attended by 9 ladies. They began working on projects and
were off to a beautiful start!!

Hi there!! Greetings from Belize..................this is Dottie. I just wanted to share a few pictures and comments.

 

Another picture of the sewing group at LosTombos, they were

so interested in their projects that they wouldn't smile for the camera!!!

A good time was had by all!!



                   Good Friday Morning!!! Look who we found working at the Farmer's Trading center in Spanish Lookout!!  Our Jessica! We are looking forward to her

coming to the sewing class on Monday.

 

Shopping and errands in Spanish Lookout first thing then on to Chapel at the school.

After Chapel the next stop is Miranda's. We have four ladies at the Miranda house

awaiting our arrival and Dorothy giving a sewing lesson. We had a great time working

 with the ladies and they too are looking forward to sewing class on Monday.

 

 

Joe and Monty spent their time repairing some electrical issues and

plumbing in the Palapa hut.

 

Saturday was spent at church with the Gonzales family then off to market to buy

supplies for the week.

 

Sunday was spent at church with Carmen and Faye and an afternoon of relaxation.

 

Looking forward to tomorrow and beginning the sewing classes. It looks like

we will have about 20 students.

Tomorrow should be a great day! We will get to see all the ladies that have

been attending classes throughout the year and they can show us what they

have learned.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, today the high here was 77 degrees, tomorrow to be a little

warmer. It has been great sleeping weather.

More tomorrow!!!!!!

 

 Here we are!!! Beautiful day! 86 degrees and a wonderful breeze.

 

 One of our neighbors - Ms Juanita

Our neighbors in the front - We haven't met them yet.

 Monty took the pictures of the birds................anybody tell me what kind they are?

 Oranges on the way to market

 LOOK a new clinic in Spanish Lookout!!!

 Brahma cattle on the hillside going into LosTambos 

 Meeting some of the new little ones.

 

 This little one ran up and gave me a big hug. I couldn't believe she is in school already.
This is Alicia's daughter Elizabeth and her

Uncle Samuel

 

Dorothy enjoying all the children. In the background is

Hannah Gonzales. Mrs. Tomasita's daughter.

 Story time at the new library. Dottie and Monty are entertaining the children.

 AND Joe's turn at entertaining.

 Dottie enjoying the story telling as much as the children

 Shoes off in the library for those who wear shoes.

LosTambos government school looking really nice.

Children are taking very good care of the school grounds.

 

 

 





Do we think Monty can eat ALL of these in one sitting???

 

 



 

Joe getting lessons on how to pick out a pineapple.

 

The end of a busy day.

Time to go back to the house and clean and eat some of the fruit we

bought today.

Time to start planning for tomorrow.