Sunday 29 June 2014

Animo Manoli!

I am not going to lie. the last six months have been some of the busiest time in a while. Not full on working mode, a lot of traveling both for professional and personal reasons. In six months, I have been to 8 different countries and flown to 12 different destinations. While I have enjoyed them very much, now I am contemplating the next couple of months without taking airplanes, and the prospect is looking good.

But today I want to share something else, something that it is not about me. Something that it is about our craft community, albeit the spanish craft community.


I met Manoli Picatua early this year in one of my trips to Portugal. I went there to demonstrate and teach Sizzix at Tubo d'Ensaio, the Portuguese distributor of Sizzix, Teresa Collins, Basic Grey and Stix2 among other fantastic brands. Manoli is a "tallerista de scrap", a fulltime workshop teacher of all things related to paper and scrap. I loved her. She is so sweet and talented that you can not not love her.


I met her again on my second trip to Portugal this year, where I took this pictures of her between workshops, and again I felt she is one really sweet girl. Manoli talked a bit about her youngest daughter's illness, one of those rare conditions that is so rare that there is no funding or clear treatment for it.


Spanish free health care is the best I have first hand knowledge of, and with a family and close friends that are or have been spread across Canada, USA, UK, France, Switzerland, Germany... that is saying something. But as much as it is free, rare conditions are that, rare, and, not only funding is nearly impossible, specialists are non existent. That means that when there is an acute situation the stays in hospital are long just because doctors do not know what to do or how to do it. Trial and error is needed, which is not only devastating for the patient and for the family, but it also means an extra lengthy stay in hospital, which is exhausting in more ways than one.


Manoli is her family's sole provider and as much she is one very hardworking person, being full time freelance, as she is, means that she can either make a living to provide for her family or be by the side of her very ill daughter. While she is making the best she can, it is extremely hard on her own. 

Patricia Villa Boas (Tubo de Ensaio's owner and all round Superwoman) and I were chatting about what could be done to help. Patricia had already in mind doing an event fundraiser for Manoli but soon developed the idea of setting an online fundraiser was mentioned, as another friend of mine in need did recently,  as well as a Workshops for Manoli, which means that all the money people pay to attend and materials goes to Manoli.

You can read more about it herehere and here.


In less than 24hrs many shops and "talleristas" have organised their own "Talleres para Manoli" and donations have started. Considering how much Spanish people are struggling with money, this has warmed my heart. I am grateful to be part of this wonderful close knit community that is scrapbooking in Spain. I am proud.

This is not an abstract donation to find a cure for some rare disease. This is to help, here and now, someone who needs it here and now.


Ánimo Manoli!

1 comment:

Yolanda Garrido said...

I don´t know her but I have read about this lately in different groups!! You wrote a warm and nice post! I hope she can find a solution!!!

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