The origin of Mothers Day

Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870

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Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

 

Letters from Children to Rancheritas

In 2011 I sent the rugs to Ginny Hamilton in Boston Mass. She sold a bunch of rugs which was great. And her sister, an elementary school teacher, brought the rug she purchased to her class. These letters are their responses. Enjoy their sweet responses.

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Help transporting wool

Martha Reynolds, our great supporter from the Yellow Rose Rugs Camp, received this huge donation of wool for Las Rancheritas. 85 lbs of wool!!!  However we need to get it from Dallas to Austin.It would be very expensive to mail.  Anyone heading this way in the future that could bring the wool to Austin? We can make it easy for pick up and drop off. Please let me know so I can bring it to Mexico in July. Thanks. Give me a call. 512 447 2150

Fund Raising help

One thing that I have always appreciated is the project has never needed money. It is a self perpetuating endeavor. Of course part of this is due to the generous donations of wool from many of you. That certainly constitutes an immense savings. But in terms of cash they manage to pay for the base fabrics, entrance into art shows and any other expenses themselves. 

However the store is a onetime need. Luckily it was kicked off with a donation from Mujeres en Cambio and Judy Christofferson and friends. They also had accumulated enough savings from sales to contribute $900 themselves. They have proved that they will work hard and product great results with little money. 

Now to finish the project we need about $1000 more, actually only around $900. A friend gave me 100 check this morning.

Of course if any of you would like to make a personal donation that would be splendid. But another way to help would be to research small grants that we could apply for. Or maybe you could ask at your church or at other groups you are invloved with. I can send you some materials describing the project and stating that 100% of the money will go directly to the store remodeling.

I will be heading to Mexico for the summer at the end of June and will be doing whatever I can to get the store/restaurant up and running. My hope is that my fall we will be open. 

Any other creative ideas are welcome.

By the way. This will be an eco store too. There will be water collection, small lights that work with bleach and water, dry eco toilets and more. 

 

Progress on the store/restaurant

Last fall I wrote about the building that was given to the group. Mujeres en Cambio www.mujeresencambio.org give the group $1000 and Judy Christopherson raised an additional $600. When we left Mexico at the beginning of Feb I thought that I would return at the end of March and see things pretty much as they were. Wrong. They are working hard. Here are the before and after shoots. They are so proud of the progress. Here is the group along with Judy, Becky and myself in front of the building.

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Isabel Cazares is also shown with her husband Hipolito, he is Boni's brother. Isabel is the book keeper for the remodeling project and she is showing me how carefully she has kept track of all the money.

I thought is would be fun to show where the village and the store are located. You can find this on Google maps or earth. Agustin Gonzales is on the map!

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The plan for this store is varied. They of course will be selling their rugs. They will also be serving authentic country food which they grow themselves; fresh tortillas cooked over fire, beans also fire cooked, nopalito salad, fresh goat cheese, salsa mild and hot. These are just a few of the authentic dishes which be served. 

There is a local pyramid about 4 miles from the village that was restored in 2011.

To get to the pyramid you must pass through Agustin Gonzales. There are no stores or restaurants in the area. The pyramid was build around 1100 by the Otomi. Many of the villagers of Agustin Gonzales are Otomi. Here is Dona Maria, Boni's mother, who speaks Otomi, preparing tortillas from fresh ground corn.

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The dream is for adventure groups going to the pyramid or just generally exploring the area to visit the store/restaurant view and purchase crafts, have some food and maybe take a burro ride or just walk in the area. There will be many ecological additions: rain water collection, alternative lighting from sun sources and dry toilets.

Please join us in helping make the progress continue. Any amount is welcome. 
Make checks out to The Rug Hook Project and send to: Charlotte Bell, 1403 Kenwood Ave. Austin, TX 78704. 

 

Yellow Rose Rug Camp

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Yellow Rose Rug Camp

I visted the Yellow Rose Rug Camp again this year. Martha and Susan have turned out to be our great  friends. We really appreciate this opportunity to show and sell the rugs. What a fun camp this is and we are invited back next year!!

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