A team of volunteer sewers is hard at work inside Folklorama’s Ghana Pavilion, scrambling to recreate dozens of stolen cultural outfits. Pavilion coordinator Abigail Larson said on Thursday a volunteer’s car was broken into and three bins were taken. Inside were 75 sets of the pavilion’s cultural attire and 25 Ghana Black Stars soccer jerseys. “It’s priceless,” Larson said, noting it has taken several years to put the collection of outfits together. “We can’t really put a cost on the cultural attire.” The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed it had received a report about the theft and said its property crime unit will be doing a follow-up investigation. The pavilion said the outfits had been made for over 30 dancers who have been practising for months to perform at Folklorama. So, with just days left before the pavilion is set to open, Larson put out an urgent call for help. Within hours, that call was answered. Larson said members of the Scottish, Indian, Italian and Chinese pavilions reached out to help. Then, Virgin Radio’s Ace Burpee Show caught wind of what happened and rallied more support, raising $1,500 and footing the bill for nearly 50 shirts to replace the stolen jerseys. The India Pavilion jumped in to cover the cost of printing them, promising to get it all ready by Sunday. “We have to watch each other’s back,” said Amit Bindra, president of the India Association of Manitoba. “We have to be there for when somebody needs us, and that’s important.” On top of that, hundreds of metres of African fabric were donated to the pavilion, with community members showing up to the Notre Dame Recreational Centre Friday to help sew. “I was on Instagram last night, and I saw the PSA that the Ghana Pavilion needed volunteers to help with the sewing… I just knew that I needed to help,” said Taylor Rehirchuk, who showed up with her sewing machine Friday afternoon. “I have always loved Folklorama and I know that it’s very important to our community.” While the community support has been overwhelming, Larson said the work is not done yet. The sewing effort is expected to continue at the Notre Dame Recreational Centre Saturday afternoon. Larson said she is confident it will all be ready in time for the first performance on Sunday. “The show will go on, and it’ll be better than ever,” she said.
