About a month ago Amanda and I met up with a small group of
women here from one of Kampala’s slums. These women were formerly part of a paper
bead jewelry-making project designed to help them generate income and set up small
businesses. Unfortunately, as is often the case with many projects here due to
a wide array of complications, all of the women’s businesses fell through (with
the exception of one woman who is rearing chickens). They also lost their
foreign market for their jewelry. The
women now feel more skeptical than ever about being vulnerable and sharing
their stories/photos/ struggles because they are scared of being exploited.
Having arrived on the
scene in the wake of such skepticism, we didn’t want to be more people that
would bring these women false hope. We explained that at the moment we don’t
have any of the answers for them, but that we would love to accompany them in
weekly meetings if they were willing. They agreed and we have been meeting once
a week for the past month. I start by leading with team building activities,
stretching, and aerobic exercises and Amanda ends with a reflection/Bible study
session. I’m hoping to come up with yoga mats, small hand weights, and jump
ropes soon so as to give them some more tools to encourage them (and myself!) to keep exercising as a means
of tension and stress relief.
These weekly meetings have been such a source of joy in my
life here and I laugh so hard with these women every week. I introduced them to
walking lunges and the following week they were all complaining that they had
not been able to walk for days following our first exercise session. However,
they’ve all begun doing exercise in their homes and now don’t get so sore. Many
of them say they’ve had less back pain since we started exercising together. Whether
we are hopping around in circles, struggling to figure out how exactly to do
arm stretches (that are second nature to me after years of cross country), or sharing
our challenges in the reflection space, we enjoy each other’s company
immensely.
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| Women in our weekly meeting space. |
Thanks to friends in the US who are willing to buy the
women’s jewelry at a fair price and sell it to fund-raise for the boys’ home, we
have been able to place two small orders with the women. While this helps them
momentarily, this is not a sustainable solution for them either, since it is
not a consistent market. Due to the Kampala City Police crackdowns and “city
cleanliness” agenda, it is impossible for these women to sell their wares on
the street in the informal market without the constant fear of being picked up
and arrested by Kampala’s City Council Police. Since most are single mothers,
they don’t want to take this risk.
Should you know of any fair trade cooperatives/markets
willing to sell Ugandan jewelry/hand crafts (or if you’d be interested in
selling in any small shops, break rooms, or living rooms near you) please let
me know! We also sell their items online at www.etsy.com/shop/lot2545 (I hear it's giving Tuesday... I had never heard of that in my life...?!)
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| One of the reed baskets that the women make. |
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| Bracelets made from recycled magazines-- one of the many styles the women make. |
Yay!
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