Where He leads...: Earring Making 101

Earring Making 101

4 Comments

I've always thought it would be fun to teach the kids in Haiti how to make earrings. Especially since making jewelry is how I spend a large chunk of my time when I'm in the States. God dropped this talent into my lap during the summer of 2005, after my friend Tiffany gave me a pair of earrings she had made. That turned into me, her, and Jenny immediately going to Hobby Lobby to buy more earring making supplies, and that day has since evolved into my little jewelry making business--well, more like a support raising venture for missions. Since I moved to Haiti for a whole year, I've had to take down my website and put my jewelry making and sales on hold, but bringing some supplies to Haiti for the kids is a great way for me to continue my hobby and share it with others.

Last Sunday I asked Pastor Jean Marc if he and the kids would be interested in me teaching them how to make earrings. They have a little wall under the pavilion with simple beaded necklaces and braided bracelets. The kids make them and they are on display for any volunteer teams that come through and may want to buy them. So I assumed they enjoyed doing this sort of thing. And my assumption was correct. There was no hesitation, they wanted to learn.

So today was our first class. I've been anticipating it all week. I had a basic plan, knowing which beads and supplies we'd be using, but I didn't have many expectations for how it would go. I think that had I had expectations, they would have been met and exceeded. The kids did such a great job! They didn't grab, argue, or complain. They were patient to wait for each other and follow each step. I think what warmed my heart the most was when we were getting started, Pastor Jean Marc was the first to pull his chair up to the table beside me. He had a big smile on his face and said, "I'm ready to learn!"

I taught them how to do a basic earring design with a headpin. The beads were all mostly the same, just different colors. I showed them how to check the hole of their big bead to see whether it would slide off the headpin and if it did, to add a small bead below it. The finishing of the earring was the most difficult part as I expected. I had brought a couple of each tool but I really need more for it to be a more productive experience. But we made it work. Some of the kids got the hang of cutting, bending, and securing the hook. I told them that if they didn't want to do that part, to bring their nearly finished earrings to me and I'd put the hook on. Thankfully I had brought a piece of styrofoam from buying cucumbers at the grocery store and it served as a great mid-process earring holder. Several took me up on the offer to finish theirs up and that helped speed things along a bit. There were only a couple I went behind and fixed, all the rest were good enough.

It's interesting what we observe about ourselves during times like these. That description I just used... "good enough"... that's a difficult one for me sometimes. I tend to be a perfectionist. Good enough is never as good as it could be. And I typically prefer the "good as it can be" category. I had a few private discussions with myself today, telling myself that these earrings did not have to be perfect. They didn't have to go through Hannah's quality control. They'll all hold up, be fine, and make someone's ears look extra fabulous one day... regardless of whether they have the perfect twist or closure. The point of today was to show these kids something new and to spend time with them. Although I was careful we didn't waste supplies or things got dropped on the ground, I reminded myself to relax when 3 tiny and eager hands were in my bead box at the same time. The kids were having a great time and taking such pride in their work and that's what matters!

All in all they made 38 pairs of earrings today! A wonderful success! I'm so proud of them and I made sure they knew it. I had brought along earring cards I'd made for them to hang the finished earrings on. One design has a photo of one of the little girls on it and the others are more plain in a variety of colors. I called them "Hope Designs" and each card says that the earrings are made by the kids at Children of Hope Orphanage. Pastor Jean Marc said they'll make a little shelf or display under the pavilion where volunteer teams can see them when they come. I hope they'll be a hit, because it will be a great way for the orphanage to bring in some much needed income. Their two biggest needs right now are for food and paying the teachers at the school. I'm worried about the health of some of the kids. I am happy to report that Children's Nutrition Program sent two of our staff on Wednesday to do a basic nutrition check for each of the children. The good news is that none of the kids met the criteria for our Outpatient Therapeutic Care program (for severely malnourished children), but I suppose the flip-side of that is because they didn't meet criteria, there's not much CNP can do to help them. If they had met criteria, we could have given those particular children a peanut-butter like food supplement. A couple of the children would have met criteria for our Supplementary Food Program (for moderately malnourished children) except it's only for children 5 and under. So... it's back to square one with the nutrition issue. Yay, they are not severely malnourished, but they definitely aren't getting all the nutrients they need and you can tell that just by looking at some of them. We may at least be able to provide them with a multi-vitamin they can add to their food or drinks.

But back to the earrings... Lesly helped take pictures while we were busy working, so I'll share them with you now. I look forward to our next jewelry making session and I hope to hear a good report from Pastor Jean Marc that some are being purchased. I'll have to send some back to the States as well to sell for them. And I hope to have some more tools and supplies brought down as well as these won't last the year. But for now, we'll keep having fun with it! Who knows, maybe one day one of these kids will want to do this as their little "ti-business". :)

Picking out which beads they want to use

Mari-France learning how to finish the earrings and put the hook on

Jackenson was a very focused worker today and is always helping the younger ones

Rosevelt (in the black shirt) was my assistant. He kept taking my stash of tools, so finally I decided to do the cutting and bending and he could do the fastening. It was a great system. :)

Pastor Jean Marc probably wins the best student award. He had as much fun as anyone, though we joked that some reading glasses may have helped.

Esther showing off her nearly completed pair.

I'm sure the little ones wanted so badly to participate. They behaved well though and just stood by the table and observed.

The photo earring card has Minourah's picture on it. She got a kick out of that.

A good day's work!

The kids wrote their names on the backs of the cards after their earrings were finished. Pastor Jean Marc went back through to make sure every kid was represented. He even wrote the little ones' names on some of them so they wouldn't feel left out. :)

Vania is proud of her design!

Great day, wonderful students! I couldn't feel more blessed to get to spend time with these precious kids!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Thank you so much for posting this. You are right, when working with others on something we are so "good" at - we tend to forget to relax and extend grace while they learn. I am sure the children felt so proud of themselves! Keep the posts coming!; February 3, 2013 at 5:08 AM
Nicole said...: I still cherish the pair you gave me XOXO; February 4, 2013 at 11:38 AM
Sherry said...: Oh Hannah,
What a blessing to hear how our Lord is using you. I so enjoyed your Earring Making 101 blog. Just to think of those precious little hands holding beads of beauty reminds me of how our Creator was holding each of you, His beauty =) He alone knows what HIs final Masterpiece of work will become but we all know it will say "Glory"! Know that we are lifting you up at Maryville Christian School in TN and praying for your strength to be renewed daily.
With love,
Sherry; February 11, 2013 at 5:12 PM
Barbara Cross said...: Hello! I was searching for "shoes for orphans in Haiti" and stumbled onto your blog. I am the mission team leader for a church in Indianapolis (www.worshipfortoday.com). A young man in our church, a seventh grader named Jalen, has challenged us to provide shoes and Bibles for orphans in Haiti. Jalen's father is from Haiti, though Jalen has never been there himself. We hope to collect shoes, buy Bibles and put together a short-term mission team to bring them to Haiti. I see that you did some work with AIM. Some members of our church are now AIM missionaries. God bless you! Love the blog.; February 12, 2013 at 12:30 PM