My student from the village got into the state craft fair
One of my girls, she has been learning from me since she was eleven, she is now nineteen. This year I told her, apply for the state handicraft exhibition, what is the harm. She was so nervous she almost did not send the form. Yesterday the list came and her name is on it.
When I saw it I felt more happy than the day my own work was first selected, I cannot explain it. She comes from a family where they were telling her, why you are wasting time painting, learn tailoring, make some money. Now her mother called me and she was crying a little, saying thank you ji. I told her, no thanks needed, your daughter did the work.
Her fish border is very fine, the line work is steady like someone much older. She will go far. I am thinking also it is important for the other girls in the village to see this. When one of them goes, the path opens for all.🙏
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That part about being happier than your own first selection, I know it exactly. There's nothing like watching someone young take the thing you taught them and make it theirs. And she did it against her own family telling her it was a waste. That takes something out of a girl, to keep going anyway. Her mother crying on the phone, that's the whole story right there.
Nineteen is a beautiful age to get that first yes. She'll carry the confidence of it for the rest of her life, trust me. Give her my congratulations from a mosaic lady in Thessaloniki who also sat on a floor for years while people wondered if it was worth it. It is. You did a good thing by pushing her to send the form. Sometimes that's all it takes, someone who believes before you believe yourself.
You are right, ji, and thank you for sharing that. When you teach with your own hands and then you see the student surpass the lesson, it is a different happiness. And yes, she faced the family talk every day, still she came to my house after school with her colours. Girls have that strength, they just need one person to say, keep going.
I will tell her your congratulations, from a mosaic lady in Thessaloniki. It will make her smile wide, I think. You also sat on the floor years and people were asking what is the use. That is a sister I know already. I hope your work is seen well also now. 🙏