Muslim women in Vaughan weave mats and community

Milk bag mats bring comfort to locals and third world countries

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 15, 2015
By Teresa Latchford

Mats 4 Humanity is helping weave a stronger community in York Region.

Organized by the Richmond Hill and Vaughan East chapters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Auxiliary, the event brought more than 60 women to the Tahir Hall Community Centre in Vaughan Saturday afternoon to weave mats from milk bags. The seven, double-size mats created will provide a buffer for those who don’t have beds from the cold, damp ground locally and in third-world countries, according to Mats 4 Humanity event co-organizer Sara Jamil.

“It’s not about saying look what we are doing, but more about what we can do together,” she added. “When you see those mats completed and the people you have gotten to know while weaving, it is very empowering.”

The journey began when Jamil read an article in The Liberal about the MILKBAGSunlimited initiative. The article inspired her and she decided to take action in her own community. She began collecting the plastic outer shells of milk sold in 4-litre formats in November of 2014. The first event she held in July of this year, attracted 68 people and 4,000 milk bags were used to weave mats.

“I am not a crafty person at all and my daughter had to show me how to do it,” she laughed. “But it was something we could do together and a way we could get to know others in the community.”

The founder of MILKBAGSunlimited, Angela Kesthely, also attended both events, explaining that not only were those in attendance diverting the used milk bags from landfill, but also helping to provide comfort to those who have no choice but to sleep on the ground or on a piece of cardboard.

After the success of the first event, Jamil received a suggestion to host another event and open it up to the entire community, not just members of the auxiliary.

“We used a very personal approach and invited women we meet at the bus stop, when dropping off our children or even see at the grocery store every day,” she explained. “We wanted to focus on the social aspect during the event, getting to know one another in our own communities.”

After a brief welcome, those gathered at the Vaughan community centre yesterday were given a tutorial on how to weave a mat and then visited stations set up around the room.

The bags had to be cut and looped before the weaving could begin. Once prepared, the women got to work creating the milk bag mattresses on large wooden frames.

 Some 40 members of the auxiliary, plus 38 guests, worked together to weave seven mats.

While Jamil is pleased with the success of two events, there is no sign of her slowing down. She hopes the experience will inspire others to host events in their own communities and she plans to introduce the initiative to local schools, as well.

“It is not only about the cause, but about building our own community in the process,” she said.