Weavers

On the same grounds of the After School Club, Meketa, the UK nonprofit dedicated to helping the Jewish community of Gondar, Ethiopia, has set up a workshop so weavers are able to practice their craft. Jews have been noted craftsmen for centuries. We may have mentioned already that when the king made Gondar the capital of Ethiopia 200 years ago, he brought the Jewish craftspeople from the rural communities to be involved in building his palace. 

The weavers' workshop is located just yards, or meters, from the classrooms.

A weaver prepares the yarns in order to begin a new batch of scarves or talitot. 

The workshop has about 6 or 7 looms. Each day, it seems, a rotating team of weavers is there working as music is played in the background.

One weaver is offering a completed talis for sale.

The weaver controls one operation of the loom 

with his feet from a hole dug into the ground.

A few women in the community crochet kippot. I met

this woman several times at the synagogue, and each 

time she was busy crocheting with her head bent 

over her needles and yarn. She did take a break from her 

crocheting once when she searched my bag and 

patted me down, the first time I went into the synagogue.