OK, first of all, there's one little man in Kansas City who's in line for a major Time Out.
Dearth of posting is not due to lack of material, believe me, but to the recent residence I seem to have taken up in Eternal Computer Hell. Neither all the king's horses (with their hopelessly clumsy hooves) nor the other guys seem to have the rx for my laptop. Considering ways I can fling it into the air like a clay pigeon and pepper it with birdshot, but on second thought that's a little too Dick Cheney. So we're winging this from a cafe.
As many know, one of the central efforts of the MBRP this year is to print the fundamental scriptures of the Nyingmapa Buddhist lineage and reintroduce them to that lineage's monasteries. Customarily, these oblong books are wrapped in colorful cloth to help distinguish collections as well as, obviously, to keep them clean. To create these, we've engaged FPMT's Women's Development Project. A part of their Community Center is dedicated to training economically disadvantaged women from the local 'hood in sewing skills they can then use to earn a living. Four women began last week, and are delighted that their first project is Buddhism-related. One morning I took a ride out there to meet them and snap some pics.
Three of the four women were there, clickety-clacking away at their spanking new Chinese machines under the kind eye of expert seamstress Migmarmaa. I'd tell you their names, but I'm at a cafe and can't find the dadblasted paper I wrote them on. Anyway, it'll be enough to see their lovely faces and ever-more-nimble hands:
They provide them with a uniform shirt while they're working; gives it a sense of formality. Here is Migmarmaa with one of the sewers...
...and the new Community Center Manager, Doogie, with the two others:
And here are some of the finished products, along with supplies and snacks:
The whole first collection -- 262 printed texts and covers -- should be completed by the end of this month! I'd share more, but it'll have to wait. Dutch Computer Repair Guy ("Fred") finally called and I gotta scoot and meet him at Chez Konchog.
Personally, I covet one of those sweet vintage sewing machines.
Posted by: kmkat | May 25, 2007 at 01:49 PM