Hand to Hand: The Back Story
by Judy Allen, Administrative Coordinator
Call it serendipity, fate, chance, opportunity, luck, or coincidence. As many WARP members have experienced, things just happen when you start making connections through WARP. Here is an account of how the Hand to Hand program came to be.
In October of 2009, Barbara Ancheta, a Canadian woman who has retired to Guatemala with her husband, contacted me. Barbara was working with a group of local weavers, Grupa de Tejedoras Teixchel. I explained about our sister membership program and said I would actively look for a sponsor. Barbara told me she could serve as translator and that I should include Berta Angela Navichoc Cotuc, the organization's president and coordinator, on all email correspondence.
Later that very week, I received an email from Anne Dunham in CA inquiring about renewal of WARP membership for the Glenna Harris Weavers Guild in San Jose, CA. I could not let the opportunity pass of a possible match between the two organizations, so I asked Anne if she thought the Guild would like to sponsor a sister membership for Tejedoras Teixchel. At the December meeting the answer was "yes" when the Guild voted to sponsor a sister membership.
The groups were introduced via email and then moved into the next phase - meeting each other by photo. Anne invited guild members to come to a meeting wearing something they had woven and prepared for a photo session. In Guatemala a picture was taken with Barbara, Berta, and Kati, Berta's sister.
I had been keeping the board informed of this story as I thought it might have potential to be repeated. During the business meeting Candy Meacham made a very good case for the need for a hands on program for WARP members. The WARP Board agreed that building upon the Sister Membership was a perfect way to stay in alignment with WARP's mission and to foster relationships with weavers, knitters, basket makers, in other countries for the mutual benefit of all. They chose the title Hand to Hand for the new program. As it stands now, Tejedoras Teixchel and Glenna Harris are just beginning a relationship and who knows what form it might take in the future or it might stay at the level it is now. Regardless it will give weavers from CA and from Guatemala the feeling that someone in another country is interested in their work and is there to offer suggestions and support.