Search Results for: mawulidi

We were overwhelmed (happily)  a bit at the response to Mawulidi’s four carvings. His work sold almost instantly, and there is a growing waiting list for his carvings. There are hundreds of messages praising his work and congratulating him – and us – and wanting to buy his art works.

I’ve gotten hundreds of messages and e-mails so has Maria. Mawulidi is a hit, and a well-deserved one.

So I have the happy task of answering some of the most frequently asked questions and laying forth some boundaries and guidelines to make the process saner and, as always open. And to represent his best interests.

First off, we can’t (and shouldn’t) accept special orders for his work at this point.

Mawulidi does not speak English, text or do e-mail. He is a shy, quiet and formal person, devoted to his wife and children. There may come a time when he wishes to grow, that will be up to him. But now now.

When I communicate with him, it is in pre-arranged meetings with an interpreter present, I can’t just call or message him, nor do I want to. America is still quite strange to him.

Given the volume of traffic and requests, we can’t do a lot of back-and-forth with prospective buyers. If you want a carving, I’d suggest considering it and then deciding.

Maria and I are both very busy, and this is not our primary work, nor do we wish to be paid for the hours of work involved. So if you want a carving, message Maria – [email protected] – and then order it or not.

Lots of people agonize or aren’t sure, and that is understandable, but in this case, I’m afraid we just can’t accommodate that kind of back and forth. The waiting list is long and eager.

Many – many – people are sending me ideas, advice and plans for Mawulidi’s future and marketing. you know how much I love unwanted advice.

Let’s take it slow. Mawulidi cannot do a webpage or blog now, or platform on Etsy or Pinterest or Instagram or Amazon, or open a shop. He has a full-time job in a bakery, and helps raise four children with his wife. What precious minutes he has go to his carving, not his marketing.

He doesn’t have the tools to do it, and it would make him crazy. He is not drawn to technology. At the moment, we are his only outlet, that will change soon I hope.

Nor can Mawulidi take special orders, that’s not fair to the people waiting in line, and is confusing to him, as he can’t communicate with the buyers. It’s just not a good idea now. He does not need more pressure. He will never read these posts about him.

Our advice to him is to make what he wants – not what people ask for – and at his own pace,  not to scramble to sell a lot of things. He should work at his own comfortable and familiar way, be true to his own art.

We are meeting with him next week, and probably every week after for a while.

We hope to find the best way for him to be independent – we are not in the business of selling other people’s art and work. We ail also stay with him until he figures it out. i hope he goes all the way one day, but that is not up to me.

I hate to say this, but I need to: Maria and I are both swamped with work and we are not accepting any payment for this, so we have to manage our time. I don’t wish this to take away from the other refugee work or Mansion work, and I am committed to my blog and my books. This can’t be a full-time job for us.

It is today.

I’ve learned this selling photos and watching Maria, there is a tremendous amount of work involved in taking orders, processing, storing and printing them, making labels, finding safe packaging, wrapping the art, taping boxes,  pricing shipping, and trekking to the Post Office several times a day.

It is not simple. Boundaries are important.

So every week or so, Mawulidi will sell a few carvings and I will put them up on my blog, and Maria will handle the sales end of things – she is eager to do this. We won’t be doing any more than that, nor will Mawulidi, at least not for now.

If you want a carving, let Maria know – and she will let you know when they become available and  how much they cost. You will of course, have the option of saying yes or no. She will then move down the list.

There is an instinct online to always do more, be bigger, move faster. For Mawulidi’s sake, that is not a good instinct now. We’ll take it slow, do it right.

I hope this helps. I believe in boundaries and openness, and I appreciate your enthusiasm for his work. It seems a miracle to me, I am soaring over this wonderful experience.  I will stay with him as long as it takes.

Happy news. I am pleased to tell you that Mawulidii Majaliwa’s wood carvings – all in single pieces from the wood of Bedlam and Pompanuck Farm – sold out in minutes Thursday night.

The crane sold for $200 – more than the asking price, and the Guinea Hen sold for $150. That does not include shipping.The two blue pigeons  sold for $100 each plus shipping.

Maria has offered to process the sales without any commission. She says there is a considerable waiting list for the pieces Mawulidi is working on now. If you wish to be added to the list, please e-mail her at [email protected].

Please don’t e-mail me, your names will be lost.

Twenty-five per cent of the carving sales will go to RISSE, the refugee and immigrant support center in Albany. The rest – every penny – will go to Mawulidi.

I received hundreds of messages and requests (and advice of course) about Mawulidi’s work, it touched a deep chord in many people. This is partly because of Mawulidi’s story – his family did not survive the Congo Civil Wars.

He was in a refugee camp in Tanzania for 20 years. But mostly, I think,  because the pieces are beautiful and unusual.

I have rarely seen this kind of craftsmanship, that kind of carving takes an enormous amount of skill.

I should mention that Mawulidi almost certainly would not be admitted into the United States today.

That is a tragic thought. He belongs here, he is a brilliant artist and a gentle, humble man. I bow my head once again to the Army of Good, who rushed to help this worthy person. He is what America is about to me and to others.

Mawulidi was denied permission to take his carving tools – given him by his grandfather –  with him to the United Staes. He had to leave them behind.

The Army Of Good send him donations for new tools, I found some online and bought them for him. He is a bread baker, he has a wife and four children.

Mawulidi is new to America, he  speaks little English and has never used a computer. He is not yet able to manage to do his own marketing. I am happy to help him for now, we will help him get there.

Obviously, there is a great market for his work.

So I’ve decided to sell his work on my blog until a permanent solution can be worked out. Fascinating to see where all of this goes. I never imagined selling wood carvings on bedlamfarm.com. Somehow, it fits.

Maria will keep track of the money and the shipping, something I would surely mess up. She is eager to do this, and I am, as always, grateful for her. Mawulidi is very special and we are honored to support him. And he is certainly a creative in need of encouragement. He had given up the thought of ever carving wood again.

RISSE will continue to get 25 per cent of the sales, they have been helping Mawullidi since he came to America, He will get the rest. We are not taking any money from these sales.

We’ll sort it out after the holidays. Mawulidi is working on more carvings, I will hopefully get them in Albany next week, he has invited met to meet his family and have dinner. I look forward to that.

Many people wrote to tell me the price for these carvings was too low, but we all feel they should remain low for now.

Mawulidi, a humble man who respects poverty,  wants his work to be available to everyone, not just wealthy people. Money is not the only reward for him. Given the demand, we will raise the prices slowly.

If you are interested in buying one of his wood carving’s or getting on a waiting list to buy one, contact Maria at [email protected].  Thanks so much.

“Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.”  – Thomas Paine.

 

I took this photograph nearly two months ago, it was the moment I gave Mawulidi’s the first of the carving tools needed to start his wood carving again. I have to say, there are fewer feelings in my life that are greater than seeing a profoundly creative person like this find their creative spark once again, and live the life they were meant to life.

Mawulidi was both disbelieving and grateful, but watching him near tears – he very rarely smiles – I was reminded of the selfishness of giving.

I am fully aware of the fact that when I do good for someone else, it is a selfish thing, because for some reason it makes me feel good about myself.

When I first was introduced to Mawulidi, I wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t asking for anything, didn’t seem to want anything. I think Francis Sengabo, the RISSE official who introduced us, simply wanted me to hear, Mawulidi’s remarkable story of tragedy and survival.

When I heard he lost his tools, something shifted inside of me, in my heart. To be honest, I didn’t have a sense of how talented Mawulidi was, when he talked about carving wood, I thought of small pieces of wood with designs and symbols whittled in.

When Mawulidi showed me of pigeons, I was startled by the simplicity and beauty of it, I see he was just scratching the surface then.

I am very happy about this, he just lifted my heart right up into the sky. In the morning, I will put up a photo of each carving and they will go on sale. It is already abundantly clear these will all be sold in seconds.

When I do good, I always know it is for me as much as them. It just feels better than almost anything else. I am sad for those who can’t feel it or won’t.

This is the beginning of something, not the end. Also in the morning I will launch a new campaign,my choice for the next task of me and the Army Of Good: our RISSE Winter Clothing campaign.

The Risse students and their families  – young and old – are in urgent need of winter clothing. The thing about refugees is that they come here with little more than the clothing on their backs, immigrants come not because they have to but because they want to. They usually bring some things with them.

I know some of the soccer kids own only flip-flops and sneakers. They and their families are facing a severe upstate New York winter, the first exposure of many of them to bitter cold, snow and ice. Many have no sweaters or jackets.

So I am planning to launch a clothing campaign for them here on the blog.  You’ve done if for the refuge warehouse, for the Mansion residents, this need is great. I’m going to be asking for us to do it again, for the refugees and immigrants. The government is cutting almost all of the aid the refugees have traditionally received. I am seeing and  hearing that it is going to be a hard winter for them..

They need smallish jackets, sweaters, winter boots, snowpants for children, warm socks, scarves, mittens and gloves. The children need everything, the adults tend to be smaller and slender – medium sizes.

You can send new clothing or used clothing if it is in good condition. These winter clothes will go to RISSE directly: RISSE Winter Clothing, 715 Morris Street, Albany, N.Y., 12208. I will be writing about this all winter, it is a program of the Army Of Good.

I’ll launch it officially in the morning, this is just an alert, thanks for thinking about it. There are more than 100 young students at RISSE, and many more adults in the education programs. I spent some time today asking them what they need for winter in terms of clothing – everything, they said.

I’ll write more about it in the morning.

I am very proud and excited to offer the first of Mawulidi Diodone Majaliwa’s carvings for sale, they astonished me with their grace and beauty.

Mawulidi fled the Congo during the awful civil war there, his entire family except for his brother was killed during the conflict, his brother died in the same refugee camp where Mawulidi lived for more than 20 years ( I said yesterday it was 10 years, I was wrong) until he got a visa to come to America  a year ago.

In the Congo, he was a wood-carver, he was taught by his grandfather, who left him his carving tools when he died. When Mawulidi tried to take them with him on the plane to America, he was told to discard them, they couldn’t come on the plane.

It seemed as if he was throwing his life away. He came to Albany and signed up for classes and assistance with RISSE, the refugee and immigrant center there. Francis Sengabo, the Operations Director of RISSE, asked me to meet with him, he sensed his talent.

Meeting this wonderful and simple man, I knew I had to help him. Getting carving tools was not a big task.

I asked the Army Of Good for help in replacing his tools, and we raised hundreds of dollars to replace all of the equipment that he lost. He was dumbfounded that strangers would help him. He came here to Bedlam Farm to choose wood, and also to Pompanuck Farm, where he filled an SUV with chunks of wood.

Today, I went to Albany to see his first four carvings – he couldn’t be present, he had to get to his job baking bread, we must missed each other. But he left the carvings behind and asked me to sell them for him.

He said he wanted to give 25 percent of any profits to RISSE (I declined to take any money).

He said he had no idea what to charge, he asked if I could set a price for him. I was honored to be trusted to do that, but I said I ought to consult with my wife, who sells are all of the time.

I told him Maria and I would discuss it and set a price. We would sell them off of our blogs. If this is successful, we will eventually (his English is still poor, he’s never touched a computer) help him start a blog of his own.

But that will take some time. In the meantime, we will be proud to sell his work. Maria and I were both dazzled by the quality of this work. All the pieces are carved from a single piece of wood, all come from Bedlam or Pompanuck Farms, where he wants to get all of his wood, in honor of my support of him.

Maria will handle the sales, she says will take no commission or any money from the sales.

These carvings will go on sale Friday morning, here on my blog and also heres. We think we are underselling these works, they are authentic folk art, but Mawulidi is very humble and would rather start out low than high, he said. So we will honor that.

The larger items – the crane and the Guinea Hen – will be $150 plus shipping. The two birds will be $100 each plus shipping. (Warning, the price may change a bit in the morning, as we think and talk about it.) People who are interested should e-mail Maria at [email protected]. Please don’t e-mail me, I have no say in who buys these works.

We want to photograph each of these works separately in good light and post them tomorrowt so people can see exactly what they are buying.  There should be enough time to ship these carvings for Christmas, if that matters. We will need to find sturdy and safe packaging.

We are very honored to be helping with this.

It is gratifying and exciting to see Mawiludi, a quiet, proud artist has suffered enough for a dozen lifetimes, get his tools back and return to his artistry.

He never complaints or laments his suffering. Twenty years is an almost unimaginable time in a refugee camp.

I think he can go as far as he wants with his carving, and I told him we would support as much as we can. He says he has a wife and four children to care for, he is not sure people will pay for his work.

I made no promises to him, but I imagine they will. If that white crane hangs around, it will end up on my desk.

Thanks once more to the Army Of Good. For roughly $500 we have transformed a life and saved the soul of an artist. It is better to do good than argue about what good is.

[email protected]

Note, an earlier version of this post said the two smaller pigeon carvings would cost $50, that was my error. They will be $100. As of this writing, all of the carvings are sold.

Mawulidi Diodone Majaliwa came to America last year from the Congo Kinshasa. He had been living in a refugee camp after fleeing the civil war in the Congo when he learned he could come to America.

A wood carver who learned his trade from his grandfather, he worked with his grandfather’s tools. As he boarded the plane to America, he was told he could not take his grandfathers tools with him, so he had to leave them behind on the ground.

Mawulidi was in the camps for more than a decade before he was chosen by the U.N. to come to America, his family perished in the brutal fighting, his brother died in the camps.

It broke his heart. Mawulidi has been working in a bakery in Albany, N.Y. making bread. I met him two months ago at RISSE, the refugee and immigrant  center in Albany, and hearing his story, I asked the Army of Good for help in buying him new carving tools.

The response was immediate, we raised $500 over night for him and got him some tools online. RISSE officials took him to Home Depot for the rest. Then Mawullidi came to see me at the farm and we went to Pompanuck Farm nearby – it’s a 90 acre farm – to get the wood he wanted.

Mawulidi hoped to carve some birds and other objects to sell for Christmas, but he had to go to the hospital for some surgery and was unable to work for six weeks. He has recovered and I am meeting him this afternoon at RISSE. I’m told he is bring some carvings with him.

If that is so, I will bring them home and Maria and I will offer them for sale on the blog, all proceeds going to Mawulidi (he may donate some of the money to RISSE). Maria has volunteered to handle the sales and forego any commission.

I will never forget the look on Mawulidi’s face when I told him he would get his carving tools replaced, he simply didn’t believe it at first. That look has lifted me up almost every day. Mawulidi has suffered great in his life, it is such a gift for him to be able to honor his grandfather’s teachings and return to his craft.

He has four children and I don’t know if he can ever be a full-time carver again.

I guess that’s up to him. But he is  working hard on his new life here, beginning to see the true soul of America. He can begin working as an artist again, practicing the craft his grandfather taught him. I’m excited to be seeing him again.  I’m eager to see what he has made, and hopefully, sell the first carvings he has made in America.