Interview with Celsa Cortez
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Celsa Cortez describes her childhood in India, Nairobi and Uganada. In 1972, the Ugandan government expelled all South Asians from the country, so Celsa had to return to her birth-state of Goa, India. She speaks about her and her husband's struggles to find work in Goa, and eventually finding employment as a seamstress. She describes how she created clothing and school uniforms for people in her village while her children were at school or studying. Her clients sourced the materials for their clothing and she would work on the design. Celsa speaks about how ready-made clothing was availble, but more expensive than making clothing yourself, or ordering it from her. She explains that sewing was both a way of providing for her family during a turbulent time and something that she enjoyed doing to pass the time. Celsa stopped sewing in 2001, when her husband became sick. At that time, she no longer sewed for her family, since her children had moved away and her grandchildren preferred ready-made clothing to hand-sewn.