Summer is coming to an end: I will be flying out of Phnom Penh on Monday, Hadijah, Women of Kireka‘s Kampala based business consultant, has started a new fellowship program in the United States, and Women of Kireka’s wonderful intern, Katie Gleason, is heading back to Harvard. Katie has posted a lovely set of photos from the summer on our website and Facebook. Despite all these departures, we’re expecting a busy fall: our partnership with Touch Jewelry is leading to some beautiful new mixed paper bead designs, Women of Kireka’s new intern and recent Yale graduate, Stacey Diaz, will be joining us in September, and I will be hosting a small Women of Kireka event in Montreal in a few weeks.
I penned these “Seven Lessons Learned” with my co-workers at Women of Kireka and posted them a few days ago. What was meant to be a cathartic exercise has left me deeply unsatisfied. I think it’s really because they are only half the story. And, at the same time, transparency in the process of running the cooperative has always been one of our core values. So here goes:
This past week has been full of additional growing pains for Women of Kireka. We have been struggling to maintain a steady income stream off jewelry sales alone these past few months, and naturally, justifiably this has trickled down into the overall health of the cooperative. We have sworn off fundraisers (aside from the yearly marathon fundraiser, which is more an excuse for me to write about running in obscure places), pity stories, and other non-sale income streams. After all, we are a business, not a charity. We want to succeed – or fail – as a business.
Yesterday we had one of those impressive Cambodia-Uganda-United States Skype calls. The aim was to talk with Women of Kireka members directly to hear their grievances and exchange our points of view (we often communicate through our consultant or interns for the sake of efficiency, though this is a habit that I would put on the list of ‘things not to do’ and which we hope to change).
After a long conversation, it became clear that there is a lot of frustration. Frustration, of course, is not new in itself. Indeed, frustration can be a great motivating tool and we have collectively used such moments to learn and strengthen Women of Kireka’s foundations. But the frustration from this particular phone call was marked by a deeper disconnect in the “we” behind Women of Kireka. More specifically, what kind of a partnership we have (or failed to) establish(ed).
I think that’s the main point I missed in the “Seven Lessons Learned.” If you’re trying to co-run a business cooperative as a cross-border initiative, finding and maintaining a respectful “we” – i.e. building a conscious, fair partnership – is really challenging. A lot is lost in translation, the nuances of language and the difficulties caused by long distance communication. A promise to one party is simply an idea the other would like to consider, but is not sure will work. Soliciting new ideas to diversify the cooperative’s income stream and overcome funding issues does not sound like an equitable partnership to everyone. It’s really hard finding that balance.
Of course – in a stroke of luck – the international team made an important sale today. Cathy at Touch Jewelry continues to make absolutely stunning pieces with Women of Kireka beads and we’ll soon have Marie-Louise over in Montreal doing the same. A friend of mine just bought another necklace and commented that they were incredibly original and that even her brother, totally oblivious to jewelry, thought her purchases were pretty fantastic. Visitors to the workshop think Women of Kireka jewelry is so well made that they are interested in having some of the members train other groups outside Uganda. Hopefully these small successes will add up and push us through rough waters.
With the launch of our new website, there has been a lot of new activity over at Women of Kireka. We are planning on starting training in using metal and paper in our jewelry this week with Peter Corry, a Ugandan jeweller. We’ve been blogging a lot as well: profiling our new ambassadors and volunteers, featuring other Ugandan companies, design and colour inspirations, and telling more of the stories behind the Women of Kireka brand. Katie, our intern this summer, has been fantastic, but will soon be leaving and Stacey Diaz, a recent graduate of Yale, will be joining us in mid-September. Ronah, a Ugandan intern, also joined the Kampala team this summer and is bringing new energy. Finally, I continue to get up at 5 am to beat the heat in Phnom Penh (and more recently, in Indonesia) and train for the Montreal Marathon/WOK Fundraiser!
Training for the Marathon de Montréal continues. After spending several days running on a treadmill in a selection of hotels in Jakarta – the bustling city is even hard for avid outside runners like myself to figure out – I am now in Ubud, Bali for a short break from Phnom Penh. While packed with tourists, I managed to escape the unexpected crowds this morning with an hour long run. If you keep going down Jalan Kajeng, the car-wide stone road narrows into a small footpath/motorcycle path and juts into the rice fields. A formidable irrigation system and a short passage next to the rush of man made rivers under a blanket of jungle foliage. At 6:15 am the sun is rising and on your right hand side the shadows of two volcanoes, covered in pink and grey clouds burning off under the morning sun, protrudes from the bright green clean cut pattern. The path eventually spits you back onto a narrow asphalt road which winds in between small villages. At 7:00 am children, in red and white uniforms, are diligently heading off to school in packs of twos and threes. Swinging small brooms, lunch pails and bags (and in one case, a narrowly missed scythe).
Donations raised through this marathon are being used to help Women of Kireka expand its product line. Recent donations went towards buying materials to train the women in using metal. Peter Corry, a Kampala-based graphic designer and jewelry, has offered to lead the training pro-bono.
Women of Kireka‘s designer TMS Ruge has completed our 2011 Summer/Fall Buyer’s Information Pack. You can access it online here or email me for a PDF copy. The pack contains information about Women of Kireka, our different jewelry pieces, as well as individual and bulk prices.
This past month, Women of Kireka has started working with a couple of new jewellers in Montreal and Ottawa. Marie-Louise sent us this lovely sketch and a request for the Siena and Scovia beads in warm and flashy orange, red, brown, cream and yellow and the Santa and Sabina beads in pale coral, light green, light yellow and cream. We are really excited to see how our beads in their beautiful pieces. Updates soon!
With headquarters in Montreal, and a workshop in Ottawa, Touch Jewelry is a home-based handcrafted jewelry business inspired by everyday women. Ever since I was a little girl, crafts have been a passion for me, whether it be collage, jewelry making, or scrap-booking. While it is quite ironic that I was very much of a tomboy growing up, jewelry was always part of my style. Not only was being born on Halloween a set up for loving the weird and the different, but having spent a few years in Africa growing up kept me in touch with the raw and human feeling of stones. That’s why I try to inspire myself not only from the bizarre, bold and statement designs, but also from the jazzy life that Montreal has brought me growing up and the distant memories I have of Africa. These experiences have given me a confidence that I’ve carried around in my back pocket ever since I moved to the quiet city of Ottawa. As such, my designs transpire the idea of confidence in order to empower women around the world.
With a new partnership with the Women of Kireka, Touch Jewelry aims to help their initiative through micro-fincancing through purchasing their beads, helping them establish their local business in Kampala. As such, Touch Jewelry will create unique pieces that reflect the essence of women around the world, while delivering a message of empowerment.
New pictures from Women of Kireka‘s photo shoot in Dallas! If you are interested in any of these pieces or would like to order loose beads, please contact me directly for updated prices.
Helen, Jennifer and Grace at the Stone Cold movie screening. Read more here!
It’s that time of the year again – marathon training time! I started training for the Marathon de Montréal 2011 in May just as my first year law exams began. For the rest of the summer, I will be training in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where I am working with LICADHO, a human rights organization. Eventually, I will make my way back to Montreal for September and a final month of running around Mont-Royal.
Last year, a number of you helped donate to Women of Kireka’s School Fundraiser. We have since phased out that program as the women are increasingly able to make ends meet through Women of Kireka’s jewelry sales. We are now hoping to start combining new materials in our jewelry and we are looking for two kinds of generous support: either a donation through ChipIn, which will go directly into buying new jewelry-making tools or materials OR a purchase from the Women of Kireka shop.
Thank-you again to everyone who helped us out last year!
Jennifer setting up the Women of Kireka table at the Stone Cold movie opening.
The following post is by Katie Gleason, a student at Harvard University and intern with Women of Kireka. You can see the original on her website or on the WoK website. The movie “Stone Cold” is about the quarry the women come from.
Last week the Women of Kireka went Hollywood! Well, sort of. At the kind invitation of Irene Kulabako – film director, health communications specialist, and all around lovely woman – WoK was invited to attend the premier of Stone Cold, a new film by TriVision Uganda.
Shot here in Kampala and in parts of North Eastern Uganda, Stone Cold tells the tale of Kosai, a poor man from the countryside who earns his living crushing stones. Desperate to make ends meet, Kosai takes his four children out of school and forces them to work alongside him in the quarry. The film not only sheds light on the dangers of child labor, but on the specific risks involved with quarry labor.
For Helen, Jennifer, and Grace who accompanied me to the premier, the film resonated with their personal experiences. Fleeing the decades long conflict in Northern Uganda, the women moved south in search of a better life for themselves and their families. Upon arriving in Kireka the only work they could find was in the rock quarry. When asked if the film was an accurate portrayal of the backbreaking and tireless work they have done for years Jennifer responded simply, “That’s the real quarry movie.”
While the film was an amazing opportunity to explore issues close to home, the business minded Women of Kireka took full advantage of this unique opportunity to sell many pieces and get the word out about our jewelry. This eye towards the future was also apparent on Sunday when I had the chance to sit down with Helen, Jennifer, and Grace, and ask them their thoughts about Stone Cold.
Q. What were your thoughts after watching the movie?
Grace. It is very bad indeed. The (movie) pained me, but I don’t have any effort to do another thing. I don’t have a garden. I don’t have any capital to do another business, so that is my work.
Jennifer. I feel like changing. I think about changing my life to another work, but I’m forced to go back because I have nothing (else) to do.
Q. What is your reaction to how the children were forced to work alongside their father in the movie?
Helen. It is really very bad but because of the situation we are forced to do that.
Grace. The way the father acted is what happens in our working place. Even me I am like that man, I force the children to work. Because… I don’t have fees and I don’t have food. (The children) don’t want to go but you are supposed to force them to go. We say “This is your life, if you don’t want to work, you don’t get food, you don’t get fees, so you have to work.” I just request you to get (more of a) market for us so we can stop working that way, because it is very dangerous.
To learn more about what life is like working in a stone quarry read a review of the film here or watch the trailer.
If you are interested in helping the Women of Kireka, we would encourage you to check out our jewelry online. Our prices have changed (in your favor!), so if you are interested in a piece, please let me know directly. Our website is being revamped so do check back soon for more styles and a new look. We also sell loose paper beads in various shapes and sizes (check out Cathy with Touch Jewelry who recently bought several kilos).
If you are in Uganda, pick up the New Vision today for a story on Women of Kireka. You can find the original article here:
Ugandan art and crafts get market abroad on internet
A GROUP of women who have been chiseling rocks at the Kireka stone quarry, Kampala for the last two decades have become soldiers of fortune.
Their fortunes have changed as they have been tasked to make art and craft products such necklaces, ear rings, bangles and bracelets for export through the Internet to USA, Canada and UK. The women join other groups from Rwanda and Kenya using online marketing to sell art and crafts materials to USA and Europe to end poverty through trade.
Angela Awoch, a member of Women of Kireka says she has been working at the quarry for the last 20 years. “It affected our chest, gave us respiratory problems, we had pain because the work was physical,” she narrates.
Awoch says her group consists of widows who fled from the 20 year LRA war in Northern Uganda. She says during the war they couldn’t go to school and they lost all their livestock and properties. Awoch says she has eight children four of her own and four from a relative who passed away.
Jeniffer Ayat, secretary Women of Kireka says in 2008 Sienna Anstis who came from the US asked them to set up a group to start making crafts for sale. Anstis introduced them to the US based Project Diaspora. Ayat says they now have an alternative livelihood because the stone quarrying was a hazardous work with little pay. “We had problems of school fees and rent while working in the stone quarrying. But now we can pay school fees and rent”.
She says the project pays school fees for their children and they get a monthly salary of sh100,000. Ayat regrets that the fore finger of her young daughter was ripped off while she was carrying stones in the quarry. She narrates that one time a child died when a big rock rolled over her and such tragedies continue happening to those still there. Most of the women work in the quarry because they do not have other jobs to do. She reveals that some of the women were raped by rebels and says the project has given them hope.
The term “sustainability” is abusively common in development. It’s ubiquitousness makes it hard – at least for me – to really peg down what it might mean and what sustainability might look like. Over at Women of Kireka, we are no less guilty of using the word sustainability. Some days – particularly when we are struggling to make ends meet or are trying to overcome a structural challenge – the use of the word sustainability, which is at the core of our business’ mission, seems even more difficult to define.
However, this past month, WoK’s hard working members have brought a more concrete definition to the word sustainable. Independent of any Project Diaspora or other external support, WoK’s members came together to form a savings group. Each woman pays 5,000 UGX into a funding pool every week and one woman receives the savings on a weekly rotating basis. This means that each week, one woman receives 70,000 UGX.
A big thank-you to the McGill African Studies Students’ Association for the invitation to speak this evening on Women of Kireka. It was refreshing to have an honest discourse about the challenges Women of Kireka faces, as well as the progress we have made. Participants asked very perceptive questions which allowed me to take a critical look at our work and Women of Kireka’s future.
Prof. Gilles Cloutier started the discussion with an interesting commentary on working in international development and what he might have done differently had he just been starting out. His comments were thought provoking. In particular, the idea of coming into the development ‘field’ with a free mind – i.e. shedding the clutter of being focused on trying to get a good job with a machine like the World Bank and more with the idea of learning and exchanging – was a straightforward but important point that can easily be forgotten in the process.
Next week, I will be speaking about the foundation and development of Women of Kireka at this event.
Female Entrepreneurship & Empowerment in Africa: The Future Beckons
ASSA is proud to announce the event “Female Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in Africa: The Future Beckons,” featuring the Professor Gilles Cloutier and McGill Law student Siena Anstis. Come for a candid discussion on challenges and prospects facing the African continent, as well as a forum for forward-thinking ideas in social entrepreneurship, women empowerment, and development in information and in Africa. The night will be informative and stimulating, so come with an active mind!
Thursday, 10 March 2011
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Leacock 26
McGill University
Dr. Gilles Cloutier (PhD, MIT; Oxford Law School) Board Member of Canadian Crossroads International, has extensive experience and knowledge in both the private and public governance sectors concerning international management and development. In the last 30 years, he has worked in over 90 different countries for multilateral and bilateral institutions, including the World Bank, USAID CIDA, and the United Nations.
Siena Anstis, a Swedish-Canadian law student, freelance journalist, and communications consultant, will hold a presentation on women entrepreneurs in Uganda. She recently completed an 8-month fellowship with the Aga Khan Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya. She has actively written about ICT4D, human rights and other social issues in Kenya and Uganda. Siena is also the founder of the “Women of Kireka,” a women’s jewellery business in the Kireka quarry in Kampala, and works with “Project Diaspora.”
