Samburu widow who made ‘hat’ Pope Francis wore at city mass
Pope Francis at the University of Nairobi on November 26 wearing a hat (mitre) made by Samburu County’s Lydia Letipila. It was handed to him as a gift by Maralal bishop Virgilio Pante. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
She used goat skin, beads and red linen to make the hat.
Ms Lydia Letipila, a resident of Bendera Village in Baragoi, Samburu North Sub-county, is the talented woman who knit the hat for Bishop Pante some years back.
When asked why he chose his own hat as a gift for the Pope he said, “During the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, the Pope said a pastor must bear ‘the smell of sheep.”
When asked about how she felt after learning that the Pope wore the mitre she made, she said: “I was happy. I just laughed and said ‘it is a favour from God.”
Catholic Diocese of Maralal Bishop Virgilio Pante presented a unique gift to Pope Francis that left many, including Kenyan Bishops laughing during ad limina apostolorum (a visit of Kenyan Bishops to the Pope) on April 16, 2015.
It was a beautiful hat (mitre), made by a Kenyan woman from Samburu County. She used goat skin, beads and red linen to make the hat.
To the surprise of many, Pope Francis wore the same hat on November 26 during Mass at the University of Nairobi when he visited Kenya.
“The Pope sniffed the hat upon receiving it and said, ‘this is not a sheep but goat, is it true?’ And I replied ‘but goats are also part of the flock,’’ Bishop Pante recalled when he presented the gift to the Pope.
Bishop Pante had expected to see the Pope celebrate Mass in Nairobi while wearing his gift mitre after he greeted him on November 25 at the airport when he arrived in Kenya.
“I greeted and asked the Pope if he had brought with him the gift mitre I gave him in Rome. He responded, ‘you will see it tomorrow at Mass’,” Bishop Pante said in an interview with Nation, soon after Pope Francis left the country.
Ms Lydia Letipila, a resident of Bendera Village in Baragoi, Samburu North Sub-county, is the talented woman who knit the hat for Bishop Pante some years back.
She was requested to make the hat by a group of Catholic women who wanted to present it as a gift to their bishop.
“I sold the hat at a small price to recover the money I had used in buying materials after I was told it would be presented as a gift to the man of God. I couldn’t have charged them anything were it not for the challenges I face,” she said, referring to lack of money to buy the beads.
Bishop Pante said he wore the mitre for close to five years before giving it out to the Pope as his best gift.
“The hat was old. I took it to a woman in Maralal town for a repair. I asked her to clean it and replace worn out beads before I presented it as a gift to the Pope in Rome,” he said.
BEAR THE SMELL OF SHEEP
When asked why he chose his own hat as a gift for the Pope he said, “During the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, the Pope said a pastor must bear ‘the smell of sheep.”
Ms Letipila, a 63-year-old widow, whose husband was killed in 1997 during a livestock conflict between Turkana and Samburu communities as he went to look for pasture, never expected that the hat she made would be worn by the world’s top man one day.
She says she learned the knitting skill from other women when she was newly married to supplement her husband’s income.
Ms Letipila knits belts, bangles, traditional wedding gowns and hats to earn an income that enabled her support her nine children including three orphans.
She has made six more hats for Bishop Pante, and ACK Diocese of Maralal Rtd Rev Bishop Jacob Lesuuda among others.
She has trained one of daughters who used to help her before she got married.
“Others have not inherited knitting skills from their mother because they are in school most of the time and sons don’t show any interest in this work,” she said.
When asked about how she felt after learning that the Pope wore the mitre she made, she said: “I was happy. I just laughed and said ‘it is a favour from God.”
Fortune seems to be falling Ms Letipila’s way after she received world recognition for knitting a hat that was worn by the Pope.
“About three to four bishops have already requested me to place an order for the woman to knit them mitres like the ones she made for me,” said Bishop Pante.
The widow said she is already working on another hat she was requested to knit for another bishop a week after the Pope left the country.
The jovial Bishop said it is important for the world to recognize Baragoi as a source of great talent other than a battle zone for cattle rustlers.
“While at the airport during his departure I asked him (Pope) two things: look at your health and the mitre, use it not only in Kenya but in other places you visit,” Bishop Pante remembered.
The widow encourages other women wanting to excel in the art to form groups and learn from each other including herself.
