By Robert Tornu | Friends of Adaklu Policy & Program Advisor
True Vision Comes from Within
John Keh, a Visually Impaired doormat weaving instructor, lost his sight years ago but he never lost his craft. John has never seen a single mat he has made but only feels it.
Every day, John sits at Friends of Adaklu -The Weaving Hut at Nunya Village pulling dyed straw through a wooden frame row after row by entirely feel and touches. Every afternoon, he guides and teaches fifteen (15) children drawn from basic schools from communities around the Adaklu Mountain in Adaklu District of Ghana in Doormat weaving by taking their hands in his and take them through each strand. The children he teaches can see perfectly fine, yet many find it just as difficult to match his pace and precision. True Vision Comes from Within!!!
Through this hands-on instruction, children are introduced to dyeing straw, setting up a frame, and weaving consistently, a skill that, once mastered, can be turned into income through the production and sale of handwoven doormats.
Out of these engagements, John currently teaches fifteen (15) children, a number determined entirely by the availability of straw, dye, and frames. Several more children in the Adaklu communities have expressed interest in joining but cannot be accommodated due to limited resources,
The primary concern now at The Weaving Hut has been the limited supply of raw material. Straw must be sourced, dyed, and dried before it can be woven, and the current supply restricts the number of children John can take on at a time.
To help John to train more children, support is needed to purchase raw materials which includes straw, dye and wooden frames for doormat weaving.
Links:
By Robert Tornu | Nunya Village Director
By Christina Randazzo | Friends of Adaklu Volunteer
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