Age and bodily shortcomings aren’t getting in the way of Ruby Ratterree and her labor of love.
Ratterree is 97 years old, and in her room at Houston House Nursing Home is a sewing machine. The lifelong Texas County resident deftly uses it to make dresses for little girls who live in Haiti, a poverty-stricken Caribbean country where most little girls have little or nothing to their names, let alone a colorful handmade dress.
The clothing fashioned by Ratterree makes it to Haiti via “Love A Child, Inc.,” a non-profit Christian humanitarian organization with headquarters in Fort Myers, Fla. that serves the needs of children in one of the poorest nations on Earth.
“This gives me a real purpose in life,” Ratterree said. “Now I pray every day that God will give me the strength to keep doing this.”
Using the sewing machine requires a little ingenuity by Ratteree. Without full use of her hands and with no use of her feet, she manages to – by herself – position the fabric where the needle can properly move through it, and operates the foot pedal with her right hand.
Ratteree’s connection with Love A Child began though her friend, Stephanie Douglas.
Her connection with Douglas began when Douglas’ late father-in-law lived in a room across the hall from Ratteree’s.
“I would see this cute little woman smiling and waving,” Douglas said. “We eventually started talking; she’s such a sweetheart and always has the brightest smile. Even if you didn’t feel like it, she’ll make you grin.”
After the passing of Douglas’ father-in-law, Ratterree was prepared to say farewell to her friend.
“I said, ‘no way; I’m still going to visit you,'” Douglas said.
Love A Child founders Bobby and Sherry Burnette made their first trip to Haiti in 1971 and permanently moved there in 1991. According to information on the organization’s website, about 77-percent of Haiti’s people live in abject poverty, and about 90-percent are unemployed. There are numerous organizations that attempt to relieve some of the pressure of poverty there, and when a Haitian child receives something like a pretty dress, it might be the nicest possession they have.
“I do this for them,” Ratterree said, “not for me.”
On the walls of her room are several images depicting Ratterree’s strong Christian faith, and she considers her work for the Haitian children a ministry to the Lord.
“I sure do,” she said. “This is my gift.”
“I think it’s amazing that someone her age with her handicaps and disabilities would have the heart and desire to do that,” Douglas said.
Fabric Ratterree uses comes her way via donation by several local citizens. A box of about 60 dresses she made was recently shipped to Port au Prince, Haiti.
“We prayed over it before we sent it,” Douglas said, “and Ruby prayed that the girls’ hearts would be warmed by the dresses when the got them.”
Ratterree has lived in nursing homes for about the past 40 years, spending the past four or so at Houston House, and residing in Licking before that. After sewing various things all her life, she couldn’t have a sewing machine in her room at Licking and turned to making Barbie dresses by hand.
Her move to Houston allowed Ratterree to get back to her favorite pastime. Houston House administrator Kyra Huff provided her a sewing machine and she hasn’t looked back.
Ratterree has been providing dresses to Love A Child since she was 95, and has made more than 100.
She has no plans of stopping soon.
“I want to keep doing it until I’m 100,” she said.