Bring Joy to Women Across Africa
There are a lot of women in Kenya who are really happy that we got into the business of selling baskets. But it wasn't always something we prioritized, nor did we see it coming.
Our daily work is providing life-changing household items on credit — microloans for things like solar lamps and rainwater tanks. Back in the day we'd sell sisal baskets (made by the very same women who receive loans from us) at our Change Makers events, but it wasn't a focus.
And then something umm... errr... big happened that changed everything. When COVID struck, we lost so many of our donors, and we couldn't hold our events anymore. We had to come up with a new plan to raise funds for our work in Kenya. The team was depending on us, particularly given that we were forced to shut down our operations for quite some time.
We knew that people LOVED the baskets we brought back from Kenya, so we took a chance and doubled down on selling handcrafted goods from not only Kenya, but across Africa. And it paid off.
Here we are, three/thirty/three hundred years later (no one knows) and not only do we have a sustainable and growing source of revenue, but we also are supporting the women who receive our loans even more than before. Because we purchase the baskets from them, they have a new source of income that they didn't have before. And it's not just the sisal baskets from Kenya; everything you find from our handmade jewelry to our bike baskets from Ghana help makers and small businesses across Africa thrive.
That's really what makes our shop so special: We're helping to strengthen communities across Africa at the same time that we fund our microlending program. It's work that we're really proud of, and if I'm going to be honest, it takes the bite out of being the lady who sells baskets out of the side of a van in a parking lot.
As you start to plan your holiday gift lists, keep us in mind. In a few weeks we'll have hundreds of new baskets and some new goods you've never seen before. Can't wait to share that with you :)
Our daily work is providing life-changing household items on credit — microloans for things like solar lamps and rainwater tanks. Back in the day we'd sell sisal baskets (made by the very same women who receive loans from us) at our Change Makers events, but it wasn't a focus.
And then something umm... errr... big happened that changed everything. When COVID struck, we lost so many of our donors, and we couldn't hold our events anymore. We had to come up with a new plan to raise funds for our work in Kenya. The team was depending on us, particularly given that we were forced to shut down our operations for quite some time.
We knew that people LOVED the baskets we brought back from Kenya, so we took a chance and doubled down on selling handcrafted goods from not only Kenya, but across Africa. And it paid off.
Here we are, three/thirty/three hundred years later (no one knows) and not only do we have a sustainable and growing source of revenue, but we also are supporting the women who receive our loans even more than before. Because we purchase the baskets from them, they have a new source of income that they didn't have before. And it's not just the sisal baskets from Kenya; everything you find from our handmade jewelry to our bike baskets from Ghana help makers and small businesses across Africa thrive.
That's really what makes our shop so special: We're helping to strengthen communities across Africa at the same time that we fund our microlending program. It's work that we're really proud of, and if I'm going to be honest, it takes the bite out of being the lady who sells baskets out of the side of a van in a parking lot.
As you start to plan your holiday gift lists, keep us in mind. In a few weeks we'll have hundreds of new baskets and some new goods you've never seen before. Can't wait to share that with you :)