I lifted the axe, and with one swift swoop, came down upon the awaiting target: a fresh, still fuzzy, filet mignon, and all its savoring glory.
That, my amigos... is a blatant lie.
But, let's be honest, you may not have listened to this story if not stated otherwise. And, it is important you hear this.
Sometimes, we buy shit. Most of the time we buy shit, we don't have any gosh-darn clue how in dios's name it came to be that way.
But I am here to tell you something. This stuff we make at By Happiness Org is for real. See this picture of Mirna below? She is a dear friend of mine. She called me last night. Mirna is upset. Her husband left her a few years ago because life was not working for them in El Salvador. They have two, beautiful and respectful children, also good friends of mine (Carlos & Evelin) who did not have a future in sight. Mirna's husband wanted more for them. Unfortunately, that meant that he thought the solution was hopping a few bus's and trains and making his was to los US. Mirna joined our jewelry group to make an income while she waited to hear from her husband and his safe arrival in the US. Many weeks she goes without hearing anything. She calls me wondering if she should stay with him. If she should wait for him. If the sporadic transfer of funds is worth his unpredictable behavior. If they have a future. If he has a new family. If she should return. Unfortunately, her situation often gets the best of her. She does not routinely come to group meetings...mostly, because she is sick... she often does not use her face mask when working with cow horn.... (keep reading)....
You see, our jewelry has a story behind it. Ok, so does the shirt you are wearing. Your jeans, your hair ties, your socks and your under armor.
We want you to know our story. We want you to know it, live it, embrace it, and share it.
Making our jewelry, is not easy.
This is the story about cow-horn-
If you read the last blog, you learned how By Happiness Org came about. So you know that we learned to work with cow horns to make jewelry...but do you know what that means...
Let me tell you, because I was quite surprise myself.
It starts simple and kinda sweet. A few ppl donated some cow horns they had lying around their mud huts. Then, we realized our supply was WAY too low. So our sponsor group, Fomilenio, suggested we get all dressed up and go speak to the local mayor. The idea was that we mention to him that we know that cows are slaughtered weekly in nearby community to sell meat. Why not pay a local farmer $5-10 to bag the leftover horns for us? Sounds easy enough, right?
I still remember the day like it was yesterday. I put on my nicest skirt, put on make-up and brushed my hair back all formal. Fomilenio, picked me up. That's right, no buses people.
I took deep breaths and thought calm. This was like a HUGE job interview people. We were going to cut a deal with the mayor. I had even tucked a few quarters in my back pocket just in case bribes were needed........jk.......
You would think I would have caught on when we started pulling onto a dirt road. But I didn't. I didn't quite catch on until the Fomilenio driver handed me a sack and told me to grab as much as I can. No mask, no gloves and oh my sweet lord how I would have killed for either.
That's right, for the next 20 minutes, in my nicest clothes, I went around and picked up cow horns that lie beside rib cages and rotting cow carcasses. No way to sugar coat it my friends.
That, in itself, should be enough to value your earrings.
After that, we have to boil the horns for 8+ hours to loosen the bone that is attached inside. Then we bang the daylights out of them until the bone falls out. Then, they dry the for 24 hours in the sun, we saw, cut, sandpaper, get pulmonary infections, etc, etc, etc.
Until, you finally get a nicely shaped and shiny pair of earrings.
Unfortunately, the failure to wear our masks results in many pulmonary infections. The dust that shaving cow horn gives off is infectious. We strive our best to make sure our workers take their preventative health seriously.
Also, sandpapering cow horn, well, it can be just plain boring. Even rocking in a hammock doesn't do the trick for Karen.
I often tried to bring music & activities to our group meetings to keep entertained. We played a lot of games, back in the day, like trivia, questionnaires & surveys. They loved when I tested their knowledge of english, US States & El Salvadoran trade marks.
Poor Leidy (featured above). It took me a good year and a half before I could recognize the difference between her and her sister Keiry. They look soooo much alike! Reminded me of me and my sisters...
This is where we worked mostly.... wherever space permitted! Usually, we united at Lili & Karyme's house. "Their" mom lives there and is the group leader. I say "their" because Karyme's mom is Lorena, aka "Nena". Nena also raised her niece, Lili, when she was abandoned by her parents. Nena is AWESOME and quickly became my best friend. Probably my best Peace Corps experience was when I won her as my Secret Santa and gave her the spanish version of "The Alchemist" and SHE LOVED IT. (Also, my favorite book). Remind me to send her another Paulo Coelho novel...
This is Corina hard at work shaving some recently cut cow horn. I met her a little later in her service, and am bummed I didn't meet her sooner. She lived quite a walk away from my house, so that is why it took so long for us to meet. She is so funny, cute and hard working... and originally met because she made me a hammock...
fyi... we also sell hammocks. The hammocks are made by hand. I will put up more photos and info of this asap...
Above is the jewelry group with some of their work exhibited. From left to right, Doris, Nena (Doris's daughter), Jose Felipe, Corina, Santana (Jose Felipe's Mom) and Leo. Leo is our group teacher and artist. He is THE BEST. He is my age, an unrivaled artist and activist. He donated his time and often resources, he inspires, he leads and he just plain rules.
But well love everyone of By Happiness Org equally... except, maybe the kids. We love them just a little bit more. Because, let's face it, they are the future... and they are a pretty damn good reason to live it.
And when I see their smiling faces, I forget about the rest of the BS. And, I kinda love that. Because they remind me to live it.
And to live it, by happiness.
Do it, by happiness...
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