“You know, when I embroider, I feel good, I don’t think about difficulties.” Iveta, embroiderer from Rankovce
In January 2020, when we wrote the Romani SUV Project – Tailoring Workshop for the ACF program, we had no idea what we would go through as a society, but also as a community and our team of Romani women, in the coming months. The planning of the project was a continuation of our long-term activities aimed at supporting hand embroidery, which is a tradition in the Roma community in Rankovce. We wanted to expand our activity, to professionalize a small tailoring workshop. We have been producing embroidered pillows, bags, bags and table cloths in it for 5 years.
In February, there was news about the insidious and rapidly spreading coronavirus. Along with the start of the project, the first wave of the pandemic came, and we internally felt that our activity would no longer be just about embroidering bags. It sounds incredible today, but buying a respirator during this period was impossible for most people, one respirator cost 20 Euros. People from the neighbourhood as well as organizations started turning to us with a request for help in the production of cotton cloths. We got down to it. We tried to supply families in Roma communities with masks as quickly as possible. Despite the difficult period and the feeling of great uncertainty about the future, we paradoxically also experienced positive emotions. It was mainly about a sense of belonging. We saw that man wants to be there for man.
In the summer, we started again with our “embroidered hemp bags”. We perfected embroidery techniques under the guidance of an experienced lecturer. The easing of measures allowed us to participate in various presentation events. Volunteers helped us with the distribution of products.
With the second pandemic wave in autumn 2020, we also experienced how important it is to have good friends in the work team. When one of us got sick and the whole family with her, the rest of us helped her. Covid gradually served us, and we knew that we had to stand together. It was the pre-Christmas period, orders were coming in, and our team, moving from quarantine to quarantine, finally managed it. Shortly before Christmas, we ran off to visit the National Museum in Martin, especially the exhibition of Roma culture in Slovakia. The most beautiful moment was seeing our embroideries on display in the museum. The women began to talk to each other with appropriate pride. “Look, I sewed this…”
Yes, they have something to be proud of. They take care of their families and embroider in the dark in the evenings to supplement their meagre family budget. They are excellent at it, and the most beautiful thing is that they pass this original skill on to their daughters and granddaughters.
