This led to our literacy project, in which our production assistant and one of our interns have been visiting two artisan groups weekly to help them get to this goal and perhaps a little bit further.  Today I sat in on the class for the first time, and I have to say it was a pretty amazing experience.

It was the final day of the 12 week session (except for the exam, which will be next week).  As usual, the class was held in the group’s production center, which in this case is an open air shelter with a thatch roof.  Inside the small structure are two benches, 26 pieces of cardboard with each of the letters of the alphabet pasted on them strung across one wall, and a make-shift blackboard (piece of plywood painted black) leaning up against another wall.

The class began with each of the 11 students reading off the letters of the alphabet one by one while the rest of the class repeated them.  The class is in Kiswahili, so the letters have slightly different names (say: “ah,” “bay,” “chay” instead of “ay,” “bee,” “see”).  In this particular group of artisans, however, about half of the students don’t really speak Kiswahili, because they are former refugees from Burundi, where the official languages are Kirundi and French.  So for many, they are learning a new skill and a new language at the same time.

It was awe-inspiring to say the least, to see the progress the women had made over the past several weeks.  People who did not recognize one single letter of the alphabet could now recognize full words, like “baba” (father).  They could also write their names, recognize names of other group members, and sound out words.  The women in the group seem to have gained a huge amount of confidence throughout the process.  Since they were all at roughly the same level to begin with, no one is shy about learning to read and write, and instead they work as a team to support each other and teach each other.

This is an example of why development projects succeed when the beneficiaries are the ones to come up with the project idea.  Looking at the needs of a community like this, I would never have picked adult literacy as the most urgent need.  Yet, because these women wanted to learn basic literacy skills, and because they spoke up about it, they have now empowered themselves in a way that a huge, donor-funded water or electricity project never could  have.

Pictures from the project can be found on our new Facebook page.

The only thing keeping our entire staff from jumping for joy all day every day at the office is that fact that one of our artisans was brutally killed last week, her body found burnt and decapitated in the bush days after her disappearance. While the motives behind her murder are unknown, police have arrested 4 suspects, and it is likely that land ownership issues are behind the crime. She was one of the best weavers in the group and also had an extremely warm personality and strong leadership skills. She will be missed.

Luckily a local kid with a bike was willing to sell us one of his spokes at  a very low price, which Edson then used to pick the lock.  Another great moment occured at the airport when a German Shepherd came running up to sniff our boxes and Edson’s eyes just about popped out of his head.  First, he had never seen a dog that large, and secondly he’d never heard of dogs who could sniff out drugs.

The products were shipped off to Chicago without a hitch, where they were then picked up by volunteers who will be selling them at the Ethnic Arts Festival in Evanston, Illionois this July.  Those lucky Illinoisers!

First Burundi. I traveled with two of our interns to Bujumbura, the capital of tiny Burundi.  A direct bus travels from Dar es Salaam to Bujumbura, passing through Ngara.  We hopped on thinking that we would arrive in 4 or 5 hours as we had been told at the bus station.  However, it took closer to 9 hours.  However, the winding roads passed through beautiful hills, making the trip more enjoyable.  Once we arrived we managed to find a convenience store still open for a meager yet sufficient dinner of bread, water, and Laughing Cow cheese.

Although we did participate in one drum circle and visit a “museum,” (which had a few different animals including a chimpanzee who lets you fill his water bottle only to start spraying you with water), we spent most of the next two days relaxing at the beach of Lake Tanganyika, the 2nd largest body of freshwater in the world. You wouldn’t know it wasn’t the ocean if someone didn’t tell you – it’s huge.  I also hope there is not bilharzia in the water as there is in Lake Victoria, because we did swim in it.

Our second day at the beach happened to be Easter Sunday, and the locals all came to the beach in their finest to snap photographs of eachother.  It was interesting that the beach was segregated (unofficially) into the foreign, hotel-going tourists and the local section.  Of course, we got tired of the tourist section quickly and migrated down to the local beachfront, where we found an oasis built on stilts that sat over the water.  The staircase was a bit sketchy, but once atop, we were rewarded with a more integrated setting and a nice “sea” breeze.  I got quite burned on that second day as well by foolishly lying on my stomach in the sun with my bathing suit on and no sunscreen, so the next day’s bus trip was a bit uncomfortable on the ol back.

I have now visited the 3 largest freshwater lakes in the world (Superior, Tanganyika, and Victoria) so apparently I’m on a roll.  I’ve also visited the world’s largest salt-water lake or smallest ocean depending on how you look at it – the Great Salt Lake.  Therefore, I’ve considered making this lake touring a new hobby – similar to my hobby of living at high elevations – by continuing to visit the world’s largest freshwater lakes in descending order, although I’m not sure how far this world ranking is extended.

French is the official language in Burundi, but Kiswahili is also spoken (along with Kirundi), so we used a mix of languages to get by.  Not long ago, Burundi was a war-torn country, and Ngara hosted thousands of Burundian refugees.  It was during that time that WC began – as a means of increasing income for Burundian refugees and incorporating them into the local community.  Now, Burundi is peaceful, but there does seem to be tension under the surface, and people on the street warned us not to walk around after dark.

Advice for would-be travelers: the 3 day visa fee has increased to $40.  Also, don’t forget your yellow fever card!

I had a fleeting glimpse of a major East African city then (outside of Africa, Kigali is best known as the epicenter of the horrific genocide of the late 90′s, but today it is a peaceful, bustling, and rather prosperous city), but since then I had not left the remote region of Ngara, Tanzania (nestling the border of Burundi and Rwanda, Ngara is the former site of a large UNHCR refugee camp) for 3 months. In the past month, however, I have finally had the chance to experience two more East African cities – first Nairobi, the capital of bordering Kenya, and then Dar es Salaam, the economic capital of Tanzania.

Nairobi
Traveling to Nairobi by bus with our Production Assistant, Edron was a somewhat tiring but overall very positive experience. On the first day, we took a 5 hour bus ride to Mwanza, Tanzania, the nearest city to Ngara. The most direct route from Ngara to Mwanza is through a narrow finger of Lake Victoria – the  third largest freshwater body of water in the world (after Lake Superior and Lake Tanganyika) – and so our bus drove onto a ferry while we sat on the deck and looked North to see what we could of the giant lake for our short ferry ride.

The following day, we boarded another bus, this time an overnight bus that would travel directly to Nairobi. Edron had bought herself a Chinese smart phone in Mwanza, a relatively cheap device which could take pictures, record audio files, and connect to the internet, so she spent much of the trip taking funny pictures and making recordings – all of which, incidentally, were later erased by Edron’s mischievous nephews. I passed my time by reading Dave Eggars’ What is the What – very appropriate with its mention of an overland trip to the big city of Nairobi from the UNHCR refugee camp in Ethiopia.

The scenery was not particularly interesting for someone already familiar with Africa, although at one travel stop there were giant pelicans roaming the parking lot, and at another we spotted baboons. When we crossed the border, I knew we would need Kenyan Shillings before having a chance to get to a bank the next day, so I managed to exchange some money but got completely ripped off with the exchange rate (due, Edron and I are quite sure, to appearing as a rich foreigner who wouldn’t know any better) and had to fight with the manager just to get back half of what I was owed. I should have asked Edron to exchange it for me.

The bus was quite comfortable (compared to some things I’ve traveled in) during the day, as it was not too hot outside, and a breeze was available by opening the window. As night arrived, however, it became quite cold outside. Streams of rain sometimes poured through the window as the bus shifted, and since I was sitting next to the window this was not a good thing. Luckily I had my rain jacket with me. Even this did not keep me warm, however, since the window had a tendency to open on its own accord – just as I would be nodding off, it had a habit of opening just enough to let a slice of frigid air stream in that would immediately wake me up. I would close the window again, but after what seemed to be a few moments, the cycle would repeat itself. Eventually, I managed to close the window without emerging completely from my state of rapid eye movement, I think, because I did manage to get some sleep somehow. And the few times when the bus stopped during the night, I thankfully shut the window snugly and curled up for a few minutes of bonafide deep sleep.

We had begun our trip at 1pm in Mwanza and arrived in Nairobi at 4am the next morning. Just in time to get a taxi to the hotel, take a shower and short nap, and join SERRV’s week-long East African Partners Workshop.

Having worked with SERRV on the volunteer end in the U.S. since my days as an undergrad at American University (about a decade ago now, hrrmph), it was sort of a dream come true to be participating in a workshop of theirs while representing a producer group. The people responsible for making those cute magnets from recycled Coke cans (Bombolulu) and those striking Ugandan baskets (NAWOU) were now sitting next to me and across from me in a humble conference room at the Methodist Guest House in Nairobi, Kenya. This was cool.

I had thought that my days of listening to lectures about “continuous improvement” and “production bottlenecks” were over, but I was wrong. Our chief facilitator, Mike Machulwa, brought up all of these things, but put them in a practical and useful context, and the other participants added practical examples as well. Mike is a successful social entrepreneur and an excellent presenter, and the other participants were mostly very experienced fair trade producers, some of whom had been working with SERRV for more than 30 years.

As excited as I was to be taking in the information presented and meeting these producer groups, Edron was probably 10 times more excited. This was her first time outside of Tanzania, and less than 1 year ago her position was office cleaner, however she has been working her way up the ladder quickly due to her zeal for learning new things, her outstanding people skills, and her solid work ethic. Despite Mike’s promise that we would be getting all of the Powerpoint slides on a CD after the workshop and her tenuous grasp of the English language, she constantly scribbled notes in English and whispered excited comments to me, asking if certain questions or contributions would be appropriate to the current discussion.

After the first day of sessions, SERRV’s producer liason met with Edron and I to discuss our organization and look at the product samples we had brought. She was very pleased with what she saw, and with the development initiatives in which WC is involved. From her comments, it seemed very likely that SERRV would begin a partnership with WC in the near future, however she will first need to convince the Product Development Team.

I really didn’t have time to see much of Nairobi beyond the Methodist Guest House.  However, in general, Nairobi seemed to be a cross between Africa and the West. Signs of the West included shopping complexes with mega-grocery stores, and one that I saw even had a bungee ride that I’ve seen in Europe, which is essentially an adult version of those baby jumper devices that people hang in their doorways. Most people spoke good English as well, unlike in Tanzania. They also seemed to be in more of a hurry, and more focused on money than socializing – again, unlike Tanzanians.

Before leaving, we also had the chance to go to the COFTA office – COFTA being the network for African fair trade producer groups.  We learned that we need to join our Tanzanian network – TANFAT – before we can join COFTA, and need to join COFTA before joining WFTO – the World Fair Trade Organization (formerly IFAT).  It’s a rather lengthy and somewhat expensive process, but we think it will be very worthwhile, and if we manage to become members by May, we can attend the bi-annual WFTO conference in Mombassa, Kenya next year.

Plus, Mama Mpinzile made a connection in Ghana with a customer from Nairobi whose products we’ll be delivering as luggage.  Plus, I get to hang out with Edron and see Nairobi!  Woooohooooo!

Just a friendly reminder – if you’d like to order a package of 50 prepackaged ornaments for a host party, please let me know by October 10th so we can get your package ready and shipped in time for the holidays. Ordering requires no cash upfront, and is as easy as sending me an email at info@womencraft.org

For those who have already placed an order, thanks so much for your support – the artisans and all of WomenCraft appreciate it!

If you’re interested in WomenCraft, and want to support our work there’s a fun and easy way for you and your community to get involved.  This holiday season, volunteer for a Christmas Host Party, and you can help WomenCraft improve the livelihoods of our artisans as well as the appearance of your Christmas tree!

New Products for Christmas!
Our new selection of handmade Christmas ornaments direct from the tri-border region of Tanzania combines traditional designs with a modern sense of style, featuring a range of ornaments in colorful African fabrics. For a complete price list, email info@womencraft.org.

How it Works
If you would like to be a Host, please email info@womencraft.org indicating your interest and include your full name and shipping address. WomenCraft will email our Host Party Information Packet to you, which contains all the necessary materials for conducting a successful party at your home, school, church, or other organization.  A standard pre-selected package of 50 ornaments and 3 product samples from our current line will then arrive between mid-October and early November (please let us know if you would like to alter the standard package to better suit your needs). After your sale, we ask that profits be returned to WomenCraft via bank transfer, and unsold products may be returned to the address listed in the information packet.

Connecting in Gratitude
We realize this time of year is often a busy one, but we also believe in the potential of communities to connect for the common good. WomenCraft would like to thank the many of you who have faithfully supported this enterprise thus far. We feel a deep gratitude for your contributions over these many years, and look forward to even greater successes in the years to come. Asante!

Sincerely,

Megan and the WomenCraft Team