Making Memories with Ron Smith Care Centre: BACK TO NATURE PAPERMAKING WORKSHOP

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

BACK TO NATURE PAPERMAKING WORKSHOP

Do you know how to make paper by hand? Did you know that one of the ingredients for making paper is…………..elephant dung?

On the afternoon of Friday, 19th February, there was a buzz of excitement in the OT Activity Centre at Ron Smith Care Centre as 20 Care Centre staff donned their aprons and prepared to learn the art of making paper from scratch.

Sylvia Birkhead, Senior Occupational Therapist, presented this workshop to care workers, domestic, nursing, OT and management staff, as an Eden Alternative team building activity, designed to link certain Eden principles with the actual art of papermaking. Sylvia said that the idea was to use the Eden concepts and images of nature, trees, gardens and planting of seeds for growth, to introduce this activity which involves the use of natural materials to create a product totally made from nature. She made a small card from homemade paper into which the seed of a tree was embedded, for each participant to plant in soil to remind them of the origins of paper, and to give them the opportunity of growing and nurturing their own tree which symbolises the growth they have promoted when nurturing the residents.

The paper-making process began by creating pulp mixtures from recycled/shredded paper, plant fibres such as mealie skins, bulrushes, dandelions, elephant dung (!) and water. Batches of differently coloured paper were made by adding onion skins, tea leaves, dyes or coloured serviettes to the pulp mixtures.

The pulp was then added to large tubs of water, into which additional material, plant and other fibres were added, before papermaking frames were dipped in and pulled up.

The water then drained off to leave a layer of pulp on the frames, and it is this pulp which eventually transformed into a sheet of paper! The layer of pulp was inverted onto a sheet of Vilene fabric and the frame was lifted to reveal a sheet of paper which was then ironed dry and flat.

What a magical moment it was for each staff person, when a beautiful piece of handmade paper was revealed from the messy mixture of pulp! The natural transformation process from something that is seemingly unattractive and useless into something beautiful and useful is quite amazing to behold and the staff were very proud of the fact that they achieved this with their own hands!

Besides learning a brand new skill, the staff had a lot of fun and enjoyed the spontaneous nature of the activity. Sylvia says that the objective of the workshop was “to move the staff one step further along on their Eden journey, by reinforcing the Eden concepts of nature, nurturing, and working together on a fun activity that has no limits or rules and which brings people back to nature.”