She’s brought with her a box of spools of thread and some packets of needles, and has also promised to donate the batting to pad the quilt once each woman has sewn her block and we’re ready to assemble it.
She’s a natural organiser, and she and Madame Habib get on well as soon as they meet. I think they share a sense of community spirit, despite being from such different backgrounds, and I can see she’s genuinely interested in how the centre has been set up to meet the immediate needs of the women and children.
Kate has prepared squares of unbleached cotton, marked with a seam allowance, which the women can use as the basis for their blocks so that each will be the same size. As she hands them out, there’s much excited discussion about their ideas. The women show us the scraps of fabric they’ve collected, and tell us of the significance of the patterns and colours. Kate encourages them to be as creative as they like when making their blocks. They can use whatever materials and techniques they choose. She’s very knowledgeable, too, about the different cultural backgrounds the materials represent. ‘Look,’ she tells them, ‘this Igbo lady from Nigeria will use her pieces of ukara cloth, with their designs of the crocodile, the serpent and the hand of God, while you’ – she points to another woman – ‘will use your mud cloth from Mali with its diamonds and crosses. And this lady here, from Benin, will know how to do some beautiful, bright Abomey appliqué, n’est-ce pas? So every square will be unique and represent your own culture. But when we bring them all together to make the quilt, we will have shown how our different backgrounds can sit side by side, in harmony, and how something truly beautiful can come out of the difficulties that have brought you all here.’
She gets the children involved, too, making colourful felt flowers, which the women will be able to appliqué in place on the sashing stones and cornerstones when they come to assemble the quilt.
Madame Habib smiles her approval. ‘You know, Zoe, it is so good to hear this place filled with noise and laughter. That was missing before. It took a storyteller to come and open all our eyes to other possibilities. I’ve been talking to the other volunteers and we are all thinking that perhaps we can do more in the way of arts and crafts here, make it a sort of collective where the women can express themselves in their own traditional ways. I’ve discussed it with my husband, too, and he has agreed that he could sell some of the items in his shop to raise more money for the centre. In this way we’ll be able to help many more women and children.’
‘You already do a great job of helping them,’ I tell her. ‘But, yes, imagine how much more we could do. It would be a good way of raising some more funds.’
‘I like your friend Kate very much,’ she says. ‘Do you think she might be prepared to come and help out on a more regular basis?’
‘Why don’t you ask her,’ I reply. But it appears Kate is already well and truly immersed in this new project, as she helps the women look through a book of block designs for inspiration.
I know none of this is a solution to the underlying problems the refugees face. And I know they will still either attempt the hazardous journey northwards or return to uncertain and arduous futures in their own countries. But, while we find ourselves in Casablanca, just for a few hours a week we will all gather here and forget the fears and the grief that overshadow our lives, shutting out the cruelty of the world and the pain that it can inflict, as we talk and laugh together and sew a patchwork quilt.
Josie’s Journal – Tuesday 9th December, 1941
Something very terrible has happened and we’re not sure yet how it’s going to affect our chances of getting out of Casablanca. Yesterday the news came through on the wireless that the Japanese attacked an American port called Pearl Harbor early on Sunday morning and they sank battleships, cruisers and destroyers that were anchored there, killing more than two thousand men and injuring over a thousand more. This means that President Franklin D. Roosevelt has announced that America has decided to join in the war.
Papa says it’s a good thing as now the Americans will not only fight Japan but also Hitler’s Germany and this will surely help the war to end more quickly. Maman said, ‘But what about us getting across the Atlantic? Does this mean there won’t be any ships to take us now?’ Papa looked a little bit worried, but he tried to reassure her by saying he was sure it would all be fine. He said he’d speak to his friend Mr Reid in the American consulate and try to find out a bit more about what was going to happen. Of course, it will take a while because everyone else will also go back to queue there now and the Americans will be very busy with this new turn of events. So it looks as if we are going to be celebrating Christmas in Casablanca once again this year.