Janet lives in a small hut in rural Uganda, forty minutes
down the road from Kampala. When she was younger, she had 10 children. “God
took 8,” she tells me. When she was a child, her grandmother taught her how to
take banana leaves and dry them; separate them into long strong strips; weave
them into shapes that hold fast. She had forgotten all about weaving baskets
until she was left with 11 grandchildren to take care of. Spending the mornings
and afternoons farming wouldn’t be enough. She would have to spend her evenings
making baskets; teaching her own grandchildren how to dry, separate, and weave.
When I visit Janet, she is sitting inside a dimly lit hut.
Her knees are wrapped in cloth, swollen, I can tell. She is glad to see
Patrick, and he makes her laugh. She is desperately poor, probably hungry, has
two broken knees (from a fall I learn about), has 11 grandchildren to care for
and yet she laughs. Patrick has this effect on people-the indescribable ability
to make people laugh who have no business laughing. But Janet too, she has the
ability to laugh when I cannot find any reason.
We have 5 of her baskets that we are selling on her behalf.
I paid for them on the spot, and so she has the money already. She has probably paid for tuition payments for her two grandkids that
are behind on their school fees. Or on food for 12. Or for a clinic bill for
her knees. Buying one of those baskets will recoup our money. But mainly,
buying one of those baskets, or supporting Beautiful Response in general,
really does two things. First, it sends Patrick into more dimly lit huts to
make tired grandmothers laugh and rediscover their sharp senses of humor. Second, it makes
you a part of a bigger story. Those baskets, made by Janet and her grandkids, carry
their story.
If you’d like to order one of those 5 baskets, check out
our Etsy page and make it happen. If you’d just like to support Patrick and
send him into more dimly lit huts…you can be a part of that story here. Thanks.
