Traditional

MmaDiapo has been sewing every free minute she's found since the beginning of September last year. I hear the whir of the sewing machine on the back stoop early in the morning, late into the night, and all day some days. First she was trying to make matching dresses for a group of women going to a wedding in November. Then she was trying to finish up new orders that began pouring in when women in the village saw all the new dresses. And THEN, when I thought she had some time, I bought some material for her to make me a few traditional skirts. She can knock out a beautifully sewn and designed traditional skirt in a day... made to fit me. (If you look right behind her on the wall there's the peg bag she made out of scraps from all the dresses)
Today I wore her latest creation and got so many compliments. People were really impressed and everyone at Kodumela kept saying that I looked African. The skirt is sebotse (beautiful). By coincidence, Cedric, the Development Coordinator for Kodumela, and Rejoice were also wearing their traditional clothes, so we all had to take a photo.