Did you know that Hakuna Matata, the phrase from the lion king that has a whole song dedicated to it, actually means no worries or no problem in Swahili. I was shocked to learn that this actually meant something and was not just a phrase made up by Disney. An interesting fact for the day.
Unfortunately the interesting facts that emerged from the rest of my day were not so cute. The first and third week of every month the production team at WomenCraft drives to the villages to pick up products and make payments for previously picked up baskets. Wednesdays are the days that we drive along the Tanzanian – Burundian border, looping in and out of the two countries as we take the necessary turnoffs to the villages. The main road pretty much zigzags across the border with only a small stone sign to mark entry into the countries. I can now say that despite the fact I have no stamp to prove it, I have been in Burundi. As some of you may or may not know, Burundi is the country to the south of Rwanda and like Rwanda it has been plagued with its own genocidal turmoil. However, unlike Rwanda, the Burundian conflict is far less publicized and has been going on for years. This resulted in a stream of refugees into Ngara and Tanzania in general throughout the last fifty years. Another interesting fact, Tanzania hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa.
The WomenCraft project was originally started as a means of providing the families living in refugee camps with an income as Tanzanian Law prohibits refugees from working (considering the unemployment problem that Tanzania has, I think this is understandable.) Womencraft was also a means of bringing the Refugee communities and Tanzanian locals together, forging friendships rather than animosity. In 2008 UNHCR made a huge push to repatriate Burundian refugees into the now peaceful (although who knows for how long) Burundi. Last June they closed the Ngara camp and with it revoked the funding for WomenCraft. Although the Burundian women have returned to their home country after sometimes as long as twenty years in Tanzania, they do not have a means of earning an income or even farming their own land as they lost title to any property that they owned prior to fleeing the country. WomenCraft is trying to help these women by providing them with the opportunity to earn an income through weaving. Another fact, WomenCraft has over 40 Burundian refugee artisans mixed into 8 artisan groups with Tanzanian women.
Another interesting fact for you, weaving baskets (or tablemats, trivets and Christmas ornaments as is the case with WomenCraft artisans) is not an easy task. In fact, I have no idea why they call easy classes basket weaving classes. At our first stop today we met two artisan groups, both with Tanzanian and Burundian women. We had to reject about 7 baskets (out of about 40) that were not the right size, shape or quality. It was really sad because you see these women that have invested time into these baskets and now there is no way to sell them. On the other hand, quality control is important for the longevity of the business and ultimately the longevity of their income, so low quality needs to be rejected to create incentive for higher quality. This one woman had the cutest little boy and she was one of the women who had a lower quality basket. I really liked the Kitenge (the cloth that is woven into the baskets) that was used in it so I bought hers and another lady’s basket for a discount. It was a win-win because I got a discount and they got money for a basket that would otherwise have been unsellable. Unfortunately this cannot be the case every time.
The whole experience was both shocking and inspiring. Again in the first group there was a young girl, 15 years old, who had recently lost her mother during childbirth. She wanted to start weaving baskets to maintain the income for the family. I am so shocked at how common it is for women to die during childbirth here. I hear at least one story each day about another woman who died during childbirth. I know one staff member who lost their mother this way. We are also right beside a hospital where women have access to C-sections if necessary (and many times it is here) and yet there are so many stories about deaths coming from the people on the compound who work there. Today the social worker who is here from England told me about this really young father who came in yesterday and had this really tiny baby. He was in shock. He had just lost his wife and was brought to the social work organization by one of his relatives to get assistance. The social worker said he was so young that this was likely his first child and if this is the case then he had likely just been married in the last year. I cannot imagine being so excited to have my first child, being a newlywed, starting my life and then have my whole world turned upside down by my wife’s death. The really sad thing is that he can’t look after the baby by himself so he will either have to have family support, and if he is from a family of orphans then this will be almost impossible, or give his baby to the orphanage. These are the types of stories I am hearing all of the time. Another fact, I don’t know anyone in Canada who lost their mother during childbirth, but I have personally met three people here who have (not to mention the people I may not yet know that well.)
Despite the sad stories that plague the reality of peoples’ lives I have found the experience to be very inspirational and motivating. In the villages I was introduced to the women and I told them about the projects that I will be working on. I told them that I was going to be helping them find a market for their products and in several of the villages the women responded with cheers and clapping. Many of the leaders thanked me for helping them to simply have a means of earning an income for their families. As I looked around at the women involved and their young children I realized that these women are depending on WomenCraft to pull through what is a relatively tough time for the organization. On a more personal basis, they are depending on me to figure out how to market their products. It is very motivating to have all of these women looking to me for help, not for charity or handouts but the ability to connect with the larger market. Meanwhile I am screaming inside “how am I going to pull this off?” So I am a little nervous to say the least but if you have any suggestions please let me know as all creative input is welcome!!! (you can send me an email at cclemky@gmail.com)
Another inspirational story is this one group that is located in a really poor area but has a group of 22 women who are all working together on the complicated flower design baskets. They have drastically improved their standard of living. They have opened a bank account as a group and have starting to save their money for future investment in microcredit for the group’s members. They now have a source of income, they have a savings account, and they are a very good candidate for the micro loans that WomenCraft is going to start. (We recently had someone donate $500 USD for a revolving loan fund) Another interesting fact, the majority of the world’s poor have no access to financial services, which start with savings account but are more commonly linked with microcredit. It was found by ICICI bank in India that real financial success had to start with understanding the concept of saving and money management before microcredit was really effective. (This info is from the book ‘Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid, I read it last weekend) These women are well on their way to pulling themselves out of poverty, as long as I can find a market for their basketsJ (I feel no pressure at all, lol) Here is my last fact for the day (or at least I think it is fact), the billions of people living in poverty around our world generally do not want a handout but simply an opportunity to work hard for a fair wage.
Have a fantastic week!!
