July 7, 2018
It has been really cold—turtle necks, camisole, vest, jacket kind of cold. So we decided to have scarf day early this year. For my new readers, scarf day began with Anita Dippery, one of the founding members of the Kenya Help board, knitting scarves for a number of the children at Mji. That was so successful, she proposed making scarves for all form 4 girls at SFG. She gathered her knitter friends, known as the Knitting Elves, and together (I’m one) they’ve made at least 80 scarves every year. Hmmm, now that I think of it, the first graduating class (2010) had only 17 girls, compared to 73 this year.
Kathleen helped me arrange all the scarves on tables in the library. In the meantime, the form 4 prefects prepared slips of paper, numbered 1-73, put them in a hat and as each girl entered, she chose a slip. It always begins in a fairly orderly manner, only to develop into chaos as the choosing moves on. The girls love the fact that the Knitting Elves care enough to make them scarves, AND this year they were doubly grateful because of the cold.
New staff members get a scarf too and there were many of them. They’re always put off by my permitting the student to choose first. “What?” “The scarves were meant for the girls. There will be some left, not to worry. “ It makes the girls very loved, as well they should.
One scarf is very light-weight and takes very little space. Eighty scarves filled a whole suitcase even with vacuum packing bags and were heavy. However, my visitors each packed only 1 bag for herself. One brought a second bag for me, full of small gifts, and medical supplies and ½ the scarves.
My one worry is what happens to scarf day when I stop coming here?
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