At Kentucky Refugee Ministries (KRM), our affiliate in the Diocese of Lexington, Nepali refugee women recently had the opportunity to teach staff and volunteers how to card and spin wool. “I was asking several refugee women about their work experience,” said Luella Pavey, job developer at KRM, “and they were responding that they did not have jobs in Nepal. I learned that most of the Nepali women had been spinning wool in the refugee camps. I assured them that was work and that they had had jobs!” With the help of a local wool artisan, who donated a 55-pound bag of raw wool, a Nepali carpenter who made spinning tools, and Robyn Wade, owner of local business ReBelle, Luella organized KRM Lexington’s first spinning circle.

“The ladies seem so pleased to have this skill to present to us here. Having done this for so many years and then coming to such a new and different place where everything seems so strange and difficult, they have something that is so comfortable and easy for them that gives them confidence and self-esteem. I want this group of wool artisans from Nepal to show us and teach us. I want this to be something they offer us after feeling that most of what they do here is learn and receive from us day after day.”