Open for business | Handmade In Albania

It's November!  It's almost Thanksgiving!! The mandarins are ripe, the lemons are ready and the grape leaves have almost completely fallen.  For me, though, this time of year also means the Handmade in Albania store is open for business.

This project has been near and dear to my heart since launching the project my first winter here, five years ago.  I love connecting my neighbors in Albania with my friends in America.  I get a thrill every time I find a notification in my e-mail box that something has sold.  I hold my breath until the day the shop closes, praying for new customers (because surely all my friends and family have so many scarves from years' past that they can't possibly have room for another), that our sales will be good, and that the women will get a decent compensation for their hard work.  You could say my faith grows with theirs as we see God's provision for their families.

These women do whatever they can throughout the year to help make ends meet.  The profits from these Christmas sales have helped them pay down debts, purchase rugs for their floors, pay for medicine for sick kids, heating oil for their homes.... and the list goes on.

This year God's provision has come in another form than 'just' sales... this year we have a new colleague, Tiffany, who has joined the project!  She has been invaluable to helping manage the inventory, posting it to the website, and helping in marketing.  That means that a project that used to consume ALL my time this month has been made much less burdensome.  It also means the women have another "ambassador" on their behalf.  Already Tiffany has connected us to a new Christmas market in Tirana next month.  We LOVE any opportunity we have to sell more here in Albania.

Tiffany and Linda numbering product after I photograph it on the model, Linda's daughter, Ami

Not only do the women find it a creative outlet to make these products, but I get to flex my creativity too through photography and marketing.  Their work is truly beautiful and I hope the images I take do it justice through the images captured and the promotions we send out.

For two of the knitters, we use their daughters as models... I love that it their daughters have involvement too (and it helps us remember which products were made by whom :-) )

Tiffany also got roped into modeling :-)  since Roshi's daughters are now married and living out of town.

We also have a number of baby items.  This piece is modeled by Arjana's 7-month old grandson, Noel.  He was as photogenic as his mama, my most experienced model.

It's gratifying when we get messages from clients in the States who tell us that they pray for Albania or they pray for the woman who made their piece whenever they wear it.  It also means so much too when others share the project with their friends and neighbors.  The only way we will be able to grow it to include more knitters is if we can 'expand our market.'

This year we had several pieces made from one of three different yarns.  We chose to put them in collections inspired by different regions in Albania.  The yarns are incredibly soft and wildly popular at the local craft fairs where we have shown them.  I made three brief Instagram-style promo videos highlighting the pieces... Give them a watch and do a bit of 'armchair' traveling to Albania!







If you have seen something you like, for yourself or someone else, we have a delivery going to the States in early December.  Just place your order by December 6!  Thanks for your support of HIA (Handmade In Albania!).  We hope that your purchase keeps you warm, inside and out, as you wear something cozy that has helped someone else.

www.HandmadeinAlbania.org

Happy Birthday, Dad... and a link

Today Dad would have been 68.

It's kind of surreal that for the first time since I can remember I am not calling my Dad or celebrating with him on October 27.

Today Mom sent me some photos from the cemetery.  At Hannah's request they have placed a fall wreath until his permanent marker arrives, sometime later this winter. 

This morning I snapped some photos of Reni (at his request, surprise, surprise!) astride a neighbor's donkey.  In the middle of snapping pics, I thought to myself how much Dad would have enjoyed such a photo op.  If it had been of himself, he would have printed it on postcards and sent it to all his friends.

Though Reni didn't know it, just asking me to take his photo was a special gift to me on this day.

As much as Reni wanted the photo, apparently he was a bit terrified the animal would take off with him on top, so Reni insisted Luli remain by his side.

Finally, as much for my own reference later, I'm posting here a link here to Dad's memorial service.  We tried streaming it on Facebook live but ran into a number of technical difficulties with many interruptions.  Thankfully, we had asked our friend, Steve B, to make a real HD recording for posterity.  Nathan posted it to YouTube for me this week.  He broke it up into 11 separate videos (to easily skip to various points in the service) in one playlist.  If you're interested in viewing the service, click here.

In watching it again, I am so grateful to my brother-in-law, Stephen, for facilitating such a wonderful, God-honoring service, and to everyone else who contributed.  It was a real comfort to us personally at the time, and even more so now.

Summer Rewind | July Highlights

 The summer re-cap continues...

July started with our family together -- albeit briefly -- in the US. 

For the kids, the highlight by far was more 'cousin time.'

Uncle Seth and Reni checking out some kind of rally race in Vermont on You Tube...

We continued our tradition of the 'farewell family photos' before the Vermont crew departed.  It was extremely poignant to take this first photo without Dad.  Pretty indescribable.

After the Vermont cousins left, we were treated to breakfast at Bob Evans by our friends who had just seen us in Albania.  I think you can see Reni's joy below.  And it wasn't just from eating pancakes and bacon.

The whole crew below.

Then more cousin and friend time in Delavan

Just missing Rebecca (below)

The time together was pretty short and before we knew it, it was time to put them on the bus to O'Hare...

This traveler can sleep anywhere

Apparently, Reni can negotiate anything, including getting an upgrade to first class on their flight from Chicago to New York.

Aaaand another sleeping Reni pic (this one back home in Albania) because this is what your body wants to do when you've skipped 7 time zones twice in seven days...

Ellie and I stayed in the States with Mom.  When we had purchased our tickets, we didn't know how long Dad would linger, so we wanted to be sure we had ample time.  In total, we would be gone exactly four weeks.  The extra time in America was a blessing.  For one, Mom didn't have an empty house immediately following the funeral.  Secondarily, we were able to help process all the thank you cards for memorial gifts, food and flowers that were showered upon us.  We also took to culling through Dad's belongings, which was no small task...

For Ellie, the days ebbed and flowed.  To give her something to do we frequently visited the library and I fell in love all over again with America's perfectly climate-controlled public library system.  I could visit several times a week.  I would set up my laptop in a corner and Ellie would peruse the shelves for treasures and we never stayed long enough. 

One day a dear friend set up an art class which Ellie adored...

...while next door I volunteered at my sister-in-law's bakery and deli.  I had a lot of fun taking orders and swiping credit cards!  

And extra time meant extra visits with family -- something that is more precious with each return trip home.

One evening we were invited to dinner at the home of our friends, the Bachmans.  They also invited the Shrocks to join us.  Linda (below right) writes me regularly in Albania and is such a source of encouragement.  Supper that night was probably one of my favorite meals in the world:  iced tea, grilled hamburgers, potato salad, corn on the cob, and baked beans. My mouth is watering...

Another day we were out and I ran into a dear high school friend.  She wouldn't be the first... I ran into another I hadn't seen since our high school graduation 25 years ago!

While we had plenty to keep us busy, we also had the luxury to spend a few weekends down on the farm, windows and doors open to listen to the cicadas, feel the breezes, and watch the sun rise and set.

It was extremely therapeutic, giving us the space and quiet to process the loss of Dad.  I wrote, we watched Dad's memorial service on video, we cooked, and took rides on the Gator...

Nathan, on the other hand, had his hands full back in Albania...

World Cup fever was running high as the finals approached.  A crowd gathered at the center each night for the matches.  Nathan even made a cake (I just discovered this pic below on his phone)...

Our friends, the Burkes, came to provide some training on orality/story telling (I was so disappointed to miss this!!)  Reni found an instant friend in their son, Judah.  He is all I heard about for weeks afterwards.  

 Nathan and Reni spent three days up in Kosovo for more studies and a time of debriefing.  They stayed with our friends, the George family, who run a large guest house.  Nathan said he didn't see Reni hardly at all the entire duration of the visit -- he was having so much fun with his buddies!

Back in Albania again... if you are a friend of Nathan in the summer time, chances are you will likely be treated to ice cream.  A new bakery in Maminas makes their own ice cream for a very reasonable price.  I think Nathan and Reni and friends were loyal customers!

Our backyard neighbors have twins who celebrated a birthday.  Reni was invited to their party and as you can tell, wasn't so sure what to do as he was the oldest by about four years and they were girls. :-)

Nathan's sister Rebecca then came for a visit!  Below, they took her to Cape of Rodon National Park for some hiking and beautiful vistas...

Meanwhile, back in the USA....  Ellie and I did some shopping for goodies to bring back.  Shopping is truly mind boggling in the land o' plenty.

We also had a special treat of a visit from our friend Charisse and her sister, Chantal. They drove all the way from Indiana for a day visit.

Then, the cousins returned from Vermont! They had a previously scheduled visit to Illinois from months earlier, so we were able to see them again!

The cherry on top of it all, was the opportunity to see a lot of my first cousins at an informal lunch hosted by Mom and her sisters the day I flew out.  Because our flight wasn't until after 10PM in Chicago, Ellie and I were able to attend the cookout at the Farm.  Below, a little after lunch 'talent show' with a rap by the youngest generation from Hamilton.

Big thanks to our friend, Kristi, who graciously drove Ellie and I all the way up to O'Hare so we could linger longer (the bus would have required we leave earlier in the day).  As for my outfit below, I know.  I look like condiments.  I blame it on packing light and having few layering option. :-)

with my sister, Jenny

 

Before I knew it, we were in Istanbul, where we ran into some friends waiting at the gate for the flight to Tirana.  It helped the time pass much more quickly.  Sadly, they had returned to the States for the same reason as us...

Departing Istanbul

The first 48 hours home were a blur.  Thanks to my cell phone, I see that I got to meet this cutie... his mother teaches English at our center.

This, sadly, appears to by my only photo of Rebecca on my cell phone from the few days she had remaining in her visit after I got home.  I vaguely remember her helping me unpack our four suitcases.  That always earns bonus stars in my book.  I can't unpack quickly enough after traveling.

Then it was to the airport to say 'goodbye!'  I was so sorry our visit together didn't turn out how we expected!

Then the very next day we were back at the airport on the 27th to pick up our friends from Georgia! 

And I will wrap up this post here.  Their visit deserves its own post. :-)

Until next time...