Sabahar is an Ethiopian company that produces uniquely designed, hand made cotton and silk textiles. In addition to scarves and shawls, they make table linens, cushions, throws and towels. All products are entirely hand made in Ethiopia from natural fibers.
Sabahar strives to create respectful, ethical and sustainable work opportunities for artisans in Ethiopia. They believe the private sector has a critical role to play in the development of a country and the betterment of its people. By providing international buyers the opportunity to purchase Fair Trade products in Ethiopia, they are supporting hundreds of people to earn salaries on which they can live.
KAZURI, which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili, began in 1975 by two Kenyan women as a tiny workshop experimenting on making handmade beads.
Their Mission is to provide and sustain employment opportunities for disadvantaged members of Kenyan society, primarily to other women in the villages around Nairobi, most of whom are single mothers, and in great need of regular employment. In order to achieve this they know they must produce top quality Hand-made and Hand-painted Ceramic Jewelery and Pottery, ensuring that they are well equipped to compete in both the international and local market place. Driven by the desire to provide such opportunities, Kazuri has grown and today we have a large work force skilled in the making of handmade jewellery.
Ellilta Products is the sister company of Ellilta International which seeks to assist women to recover from a life of prostitution by earning their living through crafts and skills for which they receive training.
Since 1996, Ellilta has helped to restore over 1000 women from a life of prostitution at a 90% success rate, meaning: a woman never returns to the streets – never.
In addition, Ellilta has provided support and assistance to over 500 children of the women in the program. These children have received education, healing from the trauma, and hope for the future. Ellilta spiritually mentors the family, relatives, and friends of women.
Lulit’s handwoven was founded in 2015 and Lulit Sahle-Michael is the owner and creative director of Lulit’s Handwoven clothing and accessory shop.
Lulit’s handwoven has taken part in an 8-shaft weaving training held by Giz and are now creating unique pieces using this method. Their aim is to focus on sustainability and produce high quality export standard pieces. What’s important is that everyone in this company gets their fair share grows together with the company. With that in mind they have a bonus system and wages of all employees grow every 6 months. they offer flexible work hours for employees, so that they can study alongside working”.
Another aspect of Lulits is that they specialize in plant dyeing using them on most of their product ranges.
BeadWORKS creates opportunities for pastoralist women in northern Kenya to translate their traditional skills into much-needed income. A business line of NRT Trading, the commercial arm of the The Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), BeadWORKS is part of a powerful and growing movement to transform lives. By promoting peaceful community partnerships, they are committed to conserving natural resources and wildlife through self-governed, community-owned conservancies and sustainable, social and ethical enterprise.
When women have reliable incomes which are independent of unpredictable rainfall, communities and wildlife are able to thrive – together.
BeadWORKS currently work with 1,200 Artisans from 9 different indigenous communities in northern Kenya.
In a deeply patriarchal society, these women are slowly and respectfully finding their ‘seat at the table’ alongside their male counterparts, through their contribution to household and conservancy incomes.
BeadWORKS works with community conservancies to organize Women’s Groups and provide the training, resources and support the women need to participate in BeadWORKS’ community-to-market value chain. Since 2005, participants have grown to include members of 135 self-governed Women’s Groups, all increasing their incomes through BeadWORKS. This income enables them to survive and improve their families’ lives, without resorting to environmentally damaging activities such as charcoal production, or overburdening their fragile grasslands with sheep and goats.
