What is an Oaxaca Wahine? A Mexican hula dancer?! Not quite.
An Oaxaca Wahine is a woman with a brave and generous heart who travels to Oaxaca to share, affirm, and work together with women (and men and children) in the Oaxaca program of Plant With Purpose called Misión Integral. She might know how to knit or crochet, she might play an instrument, she might love to play games with children or hold babies, but she goes ready to share whatever special gifts she has.
Our trips to Oaxaca began in Tanzania. Not literally, but conceptually. In November 2010, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel as a board member to Tanzania for the Plant With Purpose International Meeting where the leaders of all of the Plant With Purpose country programs came together for fellowship, sharing, and enrichment. One evening I had the chance to brainstorm together with Evelin, the Business Manager and Holistic Ministry Facilitator in the Mexico program which is called Misión Integral. We wondered if there was a way to create opportunities for visitors and local people to interact more directly with each other on a trip—without falling into the common pattern of visitors doing something for local people, but instead doing something together. We also thought a trip with all women could reach out in a special way to the women in one of our partner countries.
Our first trip took place in 2011. I invited many people and ten women, most of whom were attending a Bible study with me called Belongings, came on our first trip to Oaxaca. We were very blessed to have several very crafty women who suggested that we teach knitting and crocheting to women in Oaxaca. We asked all of our friends to donate knitting needles, crochet hooks, and yarn, and we went down with suitcases stuffed with yarn.
Over the years our trips ranged from six to twelve people. There were always a few women who had been on past trips and some new women. Each year we visited a few new communities as well as one or two communities where we had been before. These visits created a very special dynamic of continuity.
During our visits, first the people from the local community would share what they learned from Misión Integral. We admired tree seedlings started by school children, greenhouses bursting with tomatoes, water cisterns providing clean water, and fuel-efficient stoves that conserved wood, reduced smoke, and protected women from burns. We witnessed the power of affirmation. We did not do anything for the community members except admire their work. They did the work to improve their lives and were incredibly proud to show it to people who came from very far away to visit them. Sometimes they shared their knowledge with us and taught us to plant seedlings or vegetables.
We would offer a reflection—sometimes in English that was translated and other times in Spanish by our Wahines who knew Spanish—and we would offer to pray for what communities or individuals needed. Then it was time for our handicraft exchange where we lay bags of yarn with knitting needles, crochet hooks, and scissors on tables and the women came by to carefully choose which color yarn they wanted. We would break up into small groups and teach knitting or crocheting to all the women, and often the men as well! Each woman added different things that were needed on the trip. Those who did not knit played cards, games, and jump rope with the children outside to let the moms have time to sit and knit.
One of our favorite activities was holding a baby for a young mother so she could sit and relax and knit with her friends. Our afternoons were a special time of fellowship as we sat shoulder to shoulder mixed all together knitting, crocheting, talking in Spanish, English, and pantomime when necessary, smiling and laughing together. This might not seem like much, but over and over on our later trips, we would have a woman come up and show us a large purse, a baby sweater, a hat, or a scarf that she made after learning to knit or crochet at one of our past workshops. We would feel so touched that women would walk an hour or more to come to our handicraft workshops when we were near their area.
We participated in the ministry of shopping when women in communities would set out their handicrafts of woven pine baskets and embroidered tortilla holders. One year a good friend of mine felt moved to buy a beautiful large tablecloth embroidered with lavender flowers for $300. Later, during a time of prayer, we learned that the woman who made it had a son losing his vision and needed money to take him to Mexico City for treatment. The purchase of the tablecloth would help make his treatment possible.
So many experiences touched us: visiting a community whose people lost everything when their houses all slid into a sinkhole, and gathering around the bed of a pastor who started the first church in his area while one of our Wahines who was a gifted violinist played hymns to him shortly before he died. What did this do for Plant With Purpose? In some ways, we were arms that could hug the people. We learned that women valued the craft skills and this helped new people feel comfortable with joining a Misión Integral/Plant With Purpose group.
We have now taken ten trips to Oaxaca with a total of 39 women. Some have gone once, and some four or five times. We have had four sets of mothers and daughters, two sets of sisters, old friends who came together, and people who became new friends on the trip. Over and over we saw transformation: of lives, of land, and of ourselves. We all have left a little bit of our hearts in Oaxaca, and they will always be there.
