St. Mary’s Villa weaves together international friendships with quilt
The children at St. Mary’s Villa made some new friends with children in Africa this summer, one stitch at a time.
As part of a missionary trip by members of the Keystone Community FelORZVKLS FKurFK Ln 0RnWJRPHryvLOOH, the St. Mary’s community came together to help make a quilt as a gift to Esther’s House orphanage community in Malawi, Africa. Afterward, another quilt was made by the children in Malawi as a way of saying thanks and ZDV JLvHn WR SW. 0Dry’V Rn WKH rHWurn home.
The idea came from Amanda Schaefer, one of 27 missionaries who headed to Malawi July 29 through Aug. 10, ZKR VDLG VKH ZDnWHG WR finG D ZDy to open the gated community of St. Mary’s to the whole world and knew that the quilt would be a great start.
The mission helped spread awareness about malaria, HIV and the storLHV RI WKH BLEOH WKrRuJK WKH uVH RI EvDnJHFuEHV, VHvHn-SDnHO SLFWurH FuEHV WKDW unIROG DnG KHOS HxSODLn GLIfiFuOW concepts. Additionally, the missionaries capped their trip by putting a fresh coat of paint on the community’s compound as a farewell gift.
The quilts were put together by Pat Galloway, of Roslyn, Schaefer said, ZKR VSHnW DSSrRxLPDWHOy IRur WR fivH hours a day for a week-and-a-half working on each one. Fabrics purchased at a local market in Malawi ZHrH LnFRrSRrDWHG LnWR WKH TuLOW JLvHn to St. Mary’s. Schaefer said Galloway KDV D vLVLRn WR PDNH PRrH TuLOWV Ln WKH IuWurH VR WKDW HvHry FKLOG Ln EVWKHr’V HRuVH FDn KDvH KLV Rr KHr RZn. CKLOdren as young as 4 and as old as 15 KDvH D KRPH WKHrH, SFKDHIHr VDLG.
The children at St. Mary’s were each JLvHn VTuDrHV RI WKH TuLOW Ln ZKLFK WR ZrLWH Rr GrDZ ZKDWHvHr WKHy’G OLNH DV a message to the Malawian children, and after being sewn together, the quilt ZDV WDNHn RvHrVHDV WR WKH WLny VRuWKeastern African country that borders Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique.
Carolyn Johnson, community resource coordinator at St. Mary’s, said ZKHn VKH firVW KHDrG DERuW WKH LGHD for the two quilts that “it was huge” for the community. It allowed the St. Mary’s children to write inspirational quotes on their squares like “shape your dreams” and “God’s on your side” to help the children in Malawi.
“There’s a wall around this property, but there’s a wall around this property,” Schaefer said, emphasizing the perception of the closed-off nature of St. Mary’s to the rest of the community.
Johnson said St. Mary’s plans to hang its quilt in the community’s cafeteria, while Schaefer said the quilt in Malawi hangs inside the community’s school building.
Johnson and Schaefer said the quilts are the start of a beautiful friendship with plans in the works to further connect with the African community. Schaefer said she plans to go back to Malawi next year for the entire summer.
In the end for Schaefer, the work she is doing is a deeply personal matter of faith.
“God is the star of the story,” she said.