Yao Crochet – Niassa’s dolls

 Groups of women and courses to learn Japanese Amigurumi crochet techniques are mushrooming in the villages of the Niassa Reserve. This is a smooth and silent revolution: with thread and crochet they are changing their view of nature and their own life. They reproduce the animals that gave them headaches the most in their fields and in their homes. They are lions, elephants, monkeys, crocodiles crocheted under trees, talking and laughing, which are sold in shops in Maputo and even abroad.

It all came about because of depression. Paula Ferro, a biologist specialising in human-animal conflict working in the Reserve for many years, saw the projects going sour when international funds began to dwindle. All the work that she was developing with the communities was at risk of becoming forgotten past.

“Animals are a nightmare for people here, the biologist comments. In addition, the Reserve does not offer many opportunities to generate income and poaching ends up being their only source of sustenance.”

To overcome her depression, Paula started doing crochet, following the old Japanese technique of amigurumi, creating characters and imitating real life objects, but with a soft and gentle touch.

This technique aroused the curiosity of Aquila Mpetela, a gentleman in a village in Block L7, who wanted to learn it. Paula asked him to make a lion. “A kind of little monster came out. And not because he hadn’t learned to crochet, but because the idea he had of a lion was a monster that killed people and destroyed everything,” she explains.

That’s when she started thinking about the many words that had been used to convince people of the importance of nature, of animals… Gandhi said that it is the actions that count. Our thoughts, good as they are, are false pearls until they are transformed into actions. To be the change we want to see in the world, sometimes a little is enough: crochet hook and thread…

Nobody wanted to follow in Paula and Aquila’s footsteps. Only when the biologist had the idea of organizing Yao Crochet did things change. It became a community project within the Niassa Special Reserve, with the aim of empowering women and communities through crochet knitting toys, promoting creativity and love for nature.

“Through the animals made of coloured thread, we raise awareness of the importance of conservation and of their environment, Paula comments. The cute animals that come out of their hands are no longer monsters that kill and destroy everything.”

With the money they earn from the sale of the dolls, the women strenghten their financial autonomy and can now buy what they need for their homes. In practice, a revolution…

Issue 69 Sept/Oct | Download.