Early Thursday morning six of the embroiderers from the Stitch Sainte Luce Association met at the Azafady office in Fort Dauphin to sell their products to Peace Boat. It was the first time the Stitch intern had met any of the embroiderers, or the Project Assistant Paula. There were lots of smiles over coffee and tea and hysterical laughter whenever attempts to converse in Malagasy were made.
Guerceline and Esterline arranging purses to sell
Everyone then piled off to the Hotel Dauphin to set up the stall in anticipation of the Peace Boat passengers who were arriving that afternoon. The set-up was interrupted by frequent laughter as the hatafa tree directly above the stall threw fruit missiles every few seconds. Roughly the size of a passion fruit but hard as a rock, the hatafa proved to be a significant, yet unavoidable danger.
The purses lined up
Peace Boat is an NGO based in Japan with one of their main activities being a chartered ship that takes passengers around the world on peace voyages. Azafady’s Head of Volunteering Tsina Endor has been travelling with Peace Boat, giving lectures on Azafady and Stitch Sainte Luce.
The passengers begin to arrive
Paula being photographed with a woman who bought a chameleon wall hanging
The passengers wandered around our marketplace admiring the products and the handicraft. We look forward to another day of selling today with a smaller group from Peace Boat. Other passengers from Peace Boat will be attending a talk from Azafady today at Manambaro School. They are meeting the director of the school, meeting Azafady volunteers, helping with bench construction and participating in a cultural exchange.
Admiring the products
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