Calling All Knitters!

A while back a group of women in the village asked me to teach them how to knit. While, I do know how to knit and crochet, my greatest accomplishments have been scarves, which any knitter knows are the most basic. However, I do know a few students at our school who know how to knit and crochet (one being our worker), so we are starting a knitting club. I am modeling it after what a couple other volunteers are already doing in their villages. I recruited the reverend's wife to help me as well because she is interested in business and a leader in the community and she can help with language because her English is pretty good. We held our first meeting and 30 women showed up. It was a lot more than I expected, but after talking to another volunteer who has 55 women in her group I think it can work. At the first meeting we just discussed how the group would work and elected officials. Every Malawian club has to have officials, so we have a chairperson, an assistant chair person, a secretary, a treasurer and committee members. Right now I am buying yarn in Lilongwe at wholesale price. Each woman in the club will get their first skein free. After that they will be charged the wholesale price which they can pay for after their item is sold at a profit. Some of the profit they will keep, and some of it will go into the group fund. As the group fund grows the women will be able to take out loans from it. Ideally this will help empower the women who do most of the work in the family, but may have little control over the money and decision making.
I brought about 10 crochet hooks and 4 sets of knitting needles with me, but we are going to need more. We will probably make some from bicycle hooks. If anybody has yarn, needles or hooks they are willing to donate we will gladly accept them!