Day 5: Shop Till You Drop

  

  Even though VBS is on pause until Monday, today may have been even more full, which I don’t think any of us were expecting. Today was packed full of shopping and tours!! We started our morning gall together diving into the first half of James 2 before loading up on the bus to head off to to visit two different fair trade businesses that are working to transform lives while producing beautiful products!

Sabahar (located in Addis Ababa) was our first stop, and it was SO COOL! It is a fair trade weaving business specializing in Ethiopian Silk. They work hard to create these textiles sustainably and traditionally, and they are proud to be zero waste! We got to take a behind-the-scenes tour, walking through the whole process of how the products are made: silk worms munching on castor leaves, women spinning thread by hand, natural dyes producing gorgeous colors, and weavers creating beautiful textiles on traditional looms. Silk was not something Ethiopia was known for, as cotton had been their main woven product. Sabahar was what helped bring silk production back to the country around 22 years ago with the introduction of a type of silkworm from India, called the Eri worm. 

The silk worms we are most familiar with are the Mulberry worms that originated from China. The main difference between these two worms (beside their diet) is the type of silk produced, and how it is harvested. To harvest silk from the Mulberry worm you must boil the cocoon to get one long thread of silk. Eri silk on the other hand is cruelty free. The caterpillar can emerge from the cocoon as a moth without damaging the silk. I was surprised, as Eri silk resembles unspun wool more than any type of silk. Traditionally in this area, women spin the thread while men do the weaving. It was fascinating to see how much time, patience, and skill goes into a single scarf or table runner. Some of us even got to try spinning the cocoon into thread, and then weaving the thread. It was incredibly humbling. It takes a lot of practice to do it as fast and skillfully as the women we watched.

 
 Sabahar provides meaningful work for local families while helping preserve and grow Ethiopia’s weaving tradition. They use only natural fibers like cotton, silk, and linen, and natural dyes for their silk. Our guide explained that Sabahar aims to make products that people would buy because they’re genuinely beautiful and exceptionally well made—not just because they have a good story. And that’s what we saw in the shop afterwards where a lot of us purchased beautiful products. Now every time we use those towels or wear the scarves, we’ll remember not just where they came from, but the hands—and the lives—behind them. Our Sabahar visit was by far my favorite stop of the day!

Stop number 2 was Entoto Jewelry, our second fair trade business of the day. Entonto employs women who are either HIV-impacted or widowed, providing them a stable source of income, while also creating beautiful products. Much of the copper used in creating the jewelry is repurposed bullet casings!

While there we got to experience a traditional coffee ceremony, and it was many people’s first taste of Ethiopian coffee! We all walked away loaded up with beautiful gold and silver jewelry.

If anyone is a little jealous of the souvenirs we’re returning with, there will be plenty of Entoto Jewelry and Sabahar Textiles at the next Hope for the Fatherless Event — Rooted and Restored: Growing in Hope in September!

We capped off our long shopping day with an exciting experience at the Ethiopian Cultural Dinner! We walked in to traditional music being sung and performed on stage by a live band. As we ate a delicious assortment of traditional Ethiopian food (Injera, beef, lentils, potatoes, and a lot of spicy sauces) we watched dance after dance after dance, each one displaying a different region of Ethiopia. At one point they got off the stage and made some of us dance with them, which was another humbling experience. Even though we were all absolutely wiped at the end of the day, it was such a great day of learning and experiences, and was a nice weekend break as we close out our first full week in Ethiopia!

- Greta