Kenya
Ndumbinyi Women's Group
The Ndumbinyi Women's Group of Mwanda, Kenya, was founded by a group of hard-working women committed to taking care of their families as well as the growing number of orphans in their village. Mwanda sits at the top of the Taita Hills of Kenya, a lovely and remote location where trade is often difficult because of poor roads and distance from major trade centers. The women of this group have worked mostly as dairy farmers but have turned to their indigenous traditions of weaving, beading and doll making to supplement their income. At the present time there are 15 women in the group. They train young women and girls in the village in the arts of weaving, beading and doll making.
Soko Rafiki has invested in this group by providing seed money to purchase additional supplies to expand these endeavors and begin a training program. Soko Rafiki hopes to encourage future trade between the women of Mwanda and those in the other parts of the world by creating a market for their goods.
The Jua Kali Association of the Kariokor Sioindo Women's Group
The woven bags made by the women from the Jua Kali Association of the Kariokor Sionindo Women's Group are made of sisal and wool and take approximately 40 hours to weave.
Sisal is a natural fiber grown throughout East Africa. It used to be the primary material from which rope is made. However, cheaper synthetics replaced sisal in many applications and by the end of the 1960's demand for sisal started falling steadily. Kenya and Tanzania are once again promoting the sisal industry as a proven renewable and sustainable source for woven and other products.
Plastic and synthetic materials have created many problems in the environment, especially in developing countries. You can now find plastic bags littered along the highways of Africa. This is not only aesthetically unappealing, they also block drains, choke farm animals and marine wildlife and pollute the soil as they break down. Wangari Mathaai, assistant minister for the environment of Kenya and the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has linked plastic bag litter with malaria. The bags, when discarded, can fill with rainwater, offering an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.
By using woven sisal bags for your groceries and other marketing needs, you can help the women of Kariokor. In addition, you can help promote a cleaner, more pristine world.
Jikaze
"Jikaze" is a Swahili word, which simply means, "press on". A group of women in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya, unanimously agreed to name their organization Jikaze as a reminder to them that hand work not only rewards them, but liberates them from the vicious cycle of poverty.
The group was founded in 2001 and initially consisted of 43 women who decided to venture in micro enterprise initiatives in their community. The group lost 2/3 of its members after a two year period of no significant growth - attributed to lack of structures necessary to strengthen and nurture their cooperative management capacity.
In 2003 the remaining members asked Global Alliance for Africa to partner with them to help design and develop a long term and self-reliant integrated program. Their goals were to access food security for their families, improve their health, provide basic education to their children and the orphans in their care, and to gain economic prosperity.
So far the program has fostered 20 sustainable family businesses, helped families to earn in excess of $1.00 per a day, helped parents and guardians to provide 3 meals a day for their families, as well as to achieve many of their other goals.
The program has allowed approximately 100 street children to come under their care.
Soko Rafiki purchases woven rugs and other goods from this group.
The Mariara Self Help Project
The Mariara Self Help Project defines itself as "Families Empowering Families." There are 113 members of the group and all are part of the Meru Tribe. Living in the village of Meru, near the rain forests of Mount Kenya in the central part of Kenya, the group is involved in a number of income generating activities. These activities include weaving, knitting, carving, beading and painting soapstone. The group then collectively finds markets where their goods can be sold.
The purchase of their work helps support the families of the Mariara Self Help Project. Soko Rafiki's initial purchases from the group funded a new goat program.
Vision Mothers
Saturday afternoons are a very exciting time at the Good Samaritan Children's Home in the Mathare Slums of Nairobi, Kenya. All of the children are home from school and they perform gymnastics and traditional dancing for residents of Mathare. This is why Vision Mothers, a cooperative of women from the Mathare slums, have decided to hold their weekly meetings at the Good Samaritan Children's Home. The primary goal of Vision Mothers is to support families and children living in poverty in the heart of Nairobi.
Vision Mothers is a group of 40 women who have come together in a traditional cooperative relationship. The group is made up of seamstresses, farmers, cooks, craftspeople and trades people, all of whom live in the Mathare slums of Nairobi, Kenya. In April 2006, Soko Rafiki offered Vision Mothers a micro financing grant to begin a weaving program in Mathare, a relationship which Vision Mothers was delighted to accept. This grant is being used to develop a weaving business in Mathare and will also serve to teach the children of Mathare the indigenous tradition of weaving. Additionally, Soko Rafiki has agreed to purchase woven products from Vision Mothers on an ongoing basis. Soko Rafiki is delighted to offer the goods made by Vision Mothers to our market of friends around the world.