Limerick groups, The Ukeladies and Zion feature in charity concert at Abington Church at 8pm on this Friday April 6, to raise funds for a Limerick textile teacher’s workshops in deprived neighbourhood of Sao Paulo in Brazil
Supporting local women to make tote bags and embroider cushions improves their self-esteem and independence and ultimately the whole neighbourhood,” said teacher Rose Little.
Two local groups headline at the fund-raising concert to raise funds for the Eldorado Textile Project in one of the most deprived areas of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city.
The project was launched just one year ago by Rose, a retired Limerick University lecturer from Lisnagry, well-known locally and in London for her textile skills, notably quilting and embroidery . The idea came when she visited Eldorado on the outskirts of Sao Paulo in 2016.
“It’s an area of high density makeshift housing with a history of poverty, cocaine and violence. I wanted to make a difference. I thought, rightly as it turned out, that practical textile workshops might be popular with local women as a means of generating income, improving self-esteem and becoming more independent”.
Back in Ireland, Rose has singlehandedly fund-raised to support the workshops, run by a local textile teacher. The project’s main source of income has come from sewing workshops that she runs in Limerick, London and Germany. ‘It’s pleasing to have this vibrant connection between stitchers in Limerick and Eldorado that can help to transform this disadvantaged area,” she says.
Rose also sells cushions from the project at Christmas fairs. She is now returning to Eldorado to revisit the workshops and hopes to move to phase two, starting to set up a cooperative that will enable Eldorado’s stitchers to sell their products in Europe.
Rose can be contacted at: roseslittle@gmail.com. Her JustGiving Page is: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rosemary-little
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