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Here in Naqada district, we belong to Qena governorate
the town is made up of approximately 35,000 residents
the majority of residents work in the craft of handwoven textile
during the period of the 1970s and before
Naqada was known for this handwoven textile, but the form was different
it was a form of silk, and it was called "ferka"
it was like a long scarf with all kinds of colors; red, green, yellow, white, black, and it was exported to Sudan
there were trading relationship between Egypt and Sudan and in Naqada, it was the exporting of all these products
the handwoven textile craft is a craft since the beginning of time we have inherited it from our grand grand fathers
The loom raised our kids and raised me, and raised our grandparents
since thousands of years ago, since Pharaonic times, it is the gift from God to us
it taught all of these generations, that's what the loom did
everyone works in textile; the kids, fathers, girls and mothers
the good thing about this craft is that all members of the family works in it; the mother and kids, everybody works.
yes, this is a small town, but it is known for being educated, even high educations too, they go to school, but they also work in the craft
When we were young, we learned how to do this
we were young and we learned to spin, we saw our parents spin and we did like them
we spin
sometimes we stay from morning until noon, we spin until all the yarn is finished
It has been what 50 years
I love the work, but when I got old, my body can't take it anymore
we got old, not like before
Om Michael now is the one who does the work instead of sitting and doing nothing, she can learn something
she is not older than 22 years less or more, she must learn something
This is the design we make, for example we want this design
we read it, Om Michael and I, and we figure out how it will look
so these are not just random colors, these are the colors we want
after I set the design, first she puts it through these hoops
because the thread is very thin, if there is no hoop, she won't feel it
so she inserts one two three four threads, without the hoops it won't work
so the hoops are protecting the threads and it keeps the design intact because if we put it without them, the threads will mingle and the design will not come out how we want
this cycle is an average of 120 or 95 rounds depending on the length of scarf
she makes rounds, not just random amounts of rounds depending on the width of the scarf she makes the rounds
we measure the round, each round is 2.5cm
the round that she just made, right Om Michael? equals 2.5cm in the width of the scarf
so she keeps making these rounds until i get the amount of cm I want in the scarf
so if I want 50cm wide scarf then she makes 68 rounds for that scarf
I have to have measured how many rounds make one cm in the scarf and then she designs
Here everyone plays a role, from the producer to all members of the family we are all producers too in the family
the producers who we work with are only responsible for the work we give the design and they just work
but here in the family as a team, my brother, sisters, my passed father, my mother also and sister-in-law, my niece, with high education, she also works part time in the craft
there is a group who is responsible for the colors and designs
when we know it is a season to start preparing the colors, etc
we will do this color not this color, this is just the first group and first step. First it is just a team work altogether.
then after completing the wanted number of rounds
she then braids it like a hair braid until she can hold like a ball of it, then she spins the yarn around it like a ball, but tight so it doesn't slip right here
It is as if she sitting at the loom and she is setting up everything
this is exactly how it will go on in the loom setting it all up
Because if the yarn doesn't close this way, it will slip away, it won't be a scarf then
it won't be woven, it will be just threads in only,
but if it is not like this, it won't be woven
she hands her thread by thread as she passes it through each one of these
they do it 3 times, twice like this, and another through the comb like a hair comb
they enter it here first, then they reverse and pass it again
They didn't make us go to school
they taught us this work
we love it, isn' this what we eat from?
this is how we make a living
I have a girl and a boy and their father passed away
the girl is in 2nd grade and the boy is in 6th grade
she counted the combs and she marked the middle
it has to be the middle exactly because if it is not, it won't work
the artisan after her won't be able to work, then she would have to undo it all and do it again
To make enough for my family, I used to spin, then if I have a yarn ball I would do this stage too to step up
after that I spin again, so I feed my kids
this is the craft that we eat and drink from
we use to also do the loom, but the tourism and the textile industry was hit
God taught us this craft so we work and eat from it, me and my sister with her kids.
I hit with my right foot, then with my left while the bobbin goes back and forth
after the yarn ball is fully done and set up, she brings it here and start inserting it into the loom
in the first day, she spends half a day to just set up the threads into the loom
before she even starts, she just spends time to set it up into the loom
there is something called Matwaa, it is open in the middle, and she inserts the comb with the threads into it
she makes sure if it is in the middle or not, it could be tilted a bit
if it is titled then there is a problem in the setup of the threads if she is able to fix it, she does
if not she has to undo it and send it back
or when she is setting up she could see that the lady before her inserted few threads together
she found that the lady inserted instead of one she inserted four, then the scarf will be ruined, it won't work
if one can imagine the hard work that goes into this craft, you will say no it is very difficult
when the scarf is 10cm extra in length, we then have take out each thread one by one
imagine we take it out one thread at a time, we measure again and take it out thread by thread
it is tough
this is to separate the threads from one another
It make the threads loose from one another
People in all of my street used to work in textile, now only me remaining and my sister in another street
and another neighbor working someone else, that's it
the remaining people are either government workers or constructer workers or people who work by the day etc,
one works as a blacksmith and such, etc..
the young ones don't want to work in textile
they say the loom work won't pay enough for the food, rent and cigarettes it won't be enough for their expenses
but for people like us, we have to work in the loom, we were raised with it
for this scarf, it will end when i hit this mark, then this is one scarf
then we make a divider and we start into a new scarf
After she is done with this step, she gives it to another family member her daughter or daughter-in-law to finish the ends of the scarf
Then we wash it, iron it and pack it.
The Principles of Fair Trade