a hand-made gift

During these last days in my community, I have been showered with gifts. Of course, I appreciate the sentiments, but am rather burdened by the amount of "things" that have been coming my way in the midst of trying to get RID of everything in my house. I had too much to begin with and this has multiplied the problem. Many of the gifts have been "re-gifted" (and I know are more appreciated by their new owners). However, some of the gifts are too sentimental and meaningful to re-gift, and thus, I shall lug and ship them home.

One such example is the home-made grass mat that I received from one of my student's grandmothers. This student, Watcharaporn, is by far one of the most talented in English. I have a special relationship with her and plan to stay in contact with her via letters. She comes from a poor family and her parents live and work in Bangkok to try and support them. Thus, she is being raised by her grandmother (a very common story among rural children in her generation in Thailand).

Watcharaporn came to help us paint the world map last week. I was working with her elementary school and she is very close to the English teacher there. After finishing the map, she asked me to come to her house to learn how to make a grass mat. I agreed, seeing that it was important to her.

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, her grandmother had already finished the mat. It is made on a loom that sits entirely on the ground.

The parts of the loom are not movable. Instead, the pieces of dried grass and woven between the strings and then pushed into place with the wooden board in grandmother's hands int he picture above. They squat like this on a board above the loom for hours as they make the mat. (This is a pose that people in most developing countries are very comfortable holding for long periods of time.)

Watcharaporn also knows how to make the mats and often helps her grandmother.

Since the mat had already been woven when we arrived, it was time to trim the edges and tie off the ends.

Grandmother cut the end of the grass off to make a nice clean edge for the mat.

Then Watcharaporn and grandmother cut the strings at the head of the mat and tied them off, two by two, to hold the weaving in place.

The mat was finished and grandmother was so excited to give it to me. She even put on a "pretty shirt" to have her picture taken given to me. (Unfortunately, I had on my paint clothes from the map painting session.) I have since given her a copy of the picture. Watcharaporn assures me that she loves it!

This is one gift that I will find someway of shipping home (though it is certainly not an easy thing to ship!)