The whole production was a waiting game, tense at times, a dance with lots of wonder...wonder if the Holiday Inn will cancel our free ballroom again because of a paying contract, wonder if the ministry will shut us down on the night of the show because fashion shows with mixed audiences are illegal, wonder if the girls will actually produce enough gowns for this gig in time or will the delay in the date mean too many of our original girls will have been endorsed and left the country?Four days before the show I was still rummaging through my drawers finding things the girls could recycle into gowns: mismatched socks, old men's ties donated to Operation Hope, a roll of gold foil brought from the recycle shop in London, an egg carton...anything I could get my hands on. I didn't need to worry; they had it under control and instead of the required 10 dresses, in all they produced about 30! Enough for one section of the show to be only black garbage bag dresses which were accented with big beautiful gemstone jewelry from one of our sponsors. The middle two sections consisted of Iszonica Tshirts with the models sashaying the rugs down the catwalk and of them wearing "real clothes" made by local designers. This was fun for the girls to see what they were chosen to model by the 3 eccentric designers who were backstage with their outfits. Some of these dresses were mighty short for a Kuwaiti audience; lucky they had leggings with them, and underwear in different colors, and tanks! The final trips down the catwalk was the competition and there were enough gowns for each model to wear two.
While ticket sales were a bit disappointing and many who bought didn't even show, the 100 or people who came were so enthusiastic and their enjoyment of the event was great. There were expats as well as locals which was really exciting. One woman in a head covering bought the pink rosebud rug for her daughter's room and said she wanted to print out the story behind the rug and post it on the wall where she would hang the rug! Reporters from 2 newspapers and the British Business Forum were there to get the story. Robert wisely suggested I give the reporters a copy of my speech (I had to write it out in advance and get it approved by the Kuwait sponsor for the event) so I would not so easily be misquoted as I was in the first story. They were both happy to get this and used excerpts from it quite nicely in the articles published today. I was quite nervous about what would be said when I knew everyone related to the embassy was probably a bit on edge after the Marine Ball had to be cancelled last night due to security issues just 3 hours before curtain time! The food was already on location. Good thing Robert & I didn't have tickets; we were planning to go the the British Remembrance Service & curry dinner instead. Fortunately, this was allowed to go on but with heightened security.
Having never been to a fashion show before, I didn't know what to expect. Iszonica Modelling School is run by a dear young Jamaican/English lady who is also a Christian. She really knows her stuff & made everything so professional down to the printed program; no detail left untended. Her partner is a Kuwaiti who provided the oversight, the money, and the WASTA! Without the wasta, there would have been no show. He was a charming, westernized man & very interesting. He is a dentist with a practice but also a businessman with many different ventures going at once. He runs events like this on a regular basis so it was no big deal to him. I was thankful to have him check my speech so I would not offend anyone unknowingly...even though at times that is precisely what needs to be done!
It was really fun for me to have Emily's participation. She was really too busy to undertake the modelling workshops & practices required to participate, but she was willing to do it and even recruited 3 friends to join her. This was definitely a step outside her comfort zone but she performed with beauty and grace; I am so proud of her. Some of the funniest things came from backstage happenings that she was able to observe. The girls gave back their payment to support the housmaids but they are able to get National Honor Society service hours for the time they spent. The girls calculated that they personally would have raised over 600 US dollars from their efforts...I know it was more. It looks like the total earnings will be around $3,000. I am so happy we get to share this with both the Philippine Embassy shelter AND the Nepalese women living at the Salvation Army guest house & training center. They made the 3rd prize dress and discovered by some accounting "error" there was actually 90 KD in their envelope instead of 50! Crown Relocations (the sponsor who gave all the prize money) said they didn't know how it happened but they should keep the difference! This was a huge blessing to them. They now house 27 girls without ANY government support. The ladies bake, sew, knot plastic bags, and anything else they are given to do with great enthusiasm. Many of them have been transformed while living in this transitional home.
In the aftermath of a frantic few days, we are urging the video man to rush with his editing, collecting pictures & Emily is editing them, finalizing the finances, all before we go to both shelters to share the evening with our girls who made the gowns. Seeing their pride will undoubtedly be the best reward of all.
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