The Story of a Stole
May 13, 2021
- Tom Albinson with Lucy Bruno
The story of this stole highlights the highly relational nature of our ministry among refugees and asylum seekers. The creation of the stole was initiated by Lucy and Joe, two interns from Wheaton College that served with our ministry in northern Colorado.
Stitching a Story Together
The inspiration for the design was to tell a story about the history of migration in a small town in northern Colorado.
The Stole
The top part of the stole contains fabric from Latin America, denoting the decades-long Hispanic presence in the town. The lower part is made of striped fabric from a Somali shop in town, showing how the presence of East African migrants is being woven into the on-going migration story of Colorado.
Its design displays the skilled artisanry of a local Colombian seamstress.
The story of the stole itself illustrates the highly relational nature of IAFR's work and presence among refugees and asylum seekers.
The project began when Lucy was visiting with her Somali friends Maryan and Hibo, in Maryan’s cafe. She told them that she wanted to make a stole. They loved the idea. Lucy asked where she could find some Somali fabric. Hibo called several Somali shops in Denver to see if they had any. Maryan unwrapped her headscarf to show Lucy the normal size bolts for Somali fabric, calculating how many hijabs she would need for the project.
When none of the shops in Denver seemed to have what they needed, Maryan offered to give Lucy her hijab, but it wasn't nearly enough fabric for all the stoles. So she took Lucy across town to a Somali clothing shop owned by a woman named Khadijah. All of the fabric Khadijah had was already made into baati dresses, so Lucy bought several of them to use for the stoles. The orange-red and black stripes are the most traditional Somali fabric.
Meanwhile, a Mexican seamstress in town introduced Lucy to her friend Lucia, from Colombia. Lucia cleans houses and also does a lot of sewing, especially wedding dress alterations. Lucia told Lucy there were no shops that sold Latin American style fabric in town, so they ordered fabric online that matched the Somali dresses from Khadijah’s shop and that Lucia agreed looked true to the Mexican style.
And so, the stole is the product of a community effort that tapped directly into local stories of displacement and migration. It is a tangible expression of what a rural Colorado town can become as its people embrace its rich cultural diversity and pursue integration together.
Joe's going to northern France!
We're happy to say that soon after Joe Saperstein completed his internship, he applied to join IAFR to serve with us in northern France. He's an answer to prayer as the Lille ministry is growing and in need of reinforcements!
Click on the link above to support Joe so he can get to France sooner than later!
