Hadithi Crafts Support CBO is an umbrella organisation representing a number of women’s groups which make handicrafts in south-eastern Kenya. At present time, they sell the crafts from 49 women’s groups, this way helping to financially empower around 1450 women. These numbers are still growing.
Hadithi plays a supportive role for these women’s groups by helping them to build their capacity, improve the quality of their products, improve sales through joint marketing efforts, and learn business and other important skills to improve their lives overall. All of the profits from sales, as well as any other money received from donations to Hadithi Crafts Support CBO, are used only to offer support to these women’s groups.
Hadithi sales provide an income for people living in a vulnerable ecosystem. So by buying handicrafts, customers are helping to conserve a threatened forest full of wildlife, as well as helping the wonderful and kind people escape poverty in their daily lives in a dry area in south-eastern Kenya.
They believe the benefits created by sales are numerous.
- They are reducing the reliance upon farming, which is itself unreliable due to scarcity of rain in this semi-arid area.
- They provide an alternative to environmental destruction: an alternative to poaching vulnerable wildlife (elephant, zebra, giraffe…), or cutting down forest for charcoal, timber and farmland.
- They offer a way to preserve beautiful traditions like weaving baskets and beading jewellery, by allowing them to evolve alongside modern market economic developments. More than this, it provides a learning platform for younger generations to continue some of the practices of their forebearers.
- Most importantly, it gives people the ability to sustain their families. Most if not all the money that ladies receive goes straight to education, health and nutrition for the entire family. The ladies making handicrafts get the practice that leads to skills, satisfaction that leads to self-esteem and encouragement that leads to initiative. A feel of a future.
( text from https://www.hadithikenya.com )