I posted this a couple of months ago on the Musana blog, but thought I would double-dip as I have been less-than-awesome at keeping up my own, and this is pretty much my life here. Za post:
It has been an exciting end to the summer, as we have finished a large order for Plan International that was comprised of 10,000 products made by Musana. We have worked our hearts out in order to produce such a quantity and coordinate the thousand logistical details in a short amount of time. We have been able to expand our artisan community to bring on 40 additional women from Lugazi to work on the order. And we have learned a LOT.
I want to highlight our new female artisans. Lugazi is sort of a “pass-through” town from the capital of Kampala, to a popular tourist destination and industrial town of Jinja. The majority of available work is more male-focused. And whereas there are many single mothers and widows, this leaves very little employment opportunity for the women who are often the sole providers in their homes.
We coordinated with 4 local women’s groups who were already organized and functioning. They came into our workshop for training, and then were given materials to take home, to then bring them back and receive payment.
I wish I could amply describe the mood that was present the day these ladies received their first payment. We had envelopes for each lady with her payment and receipt inside. We started calling each name and presenting them with their payment for the week. Women would open their envelopes and start beaming. And then turn to the person next to them in excited chatter. Laughter and cheering started to erupt from the group. They were yelling something repeatedly in Luganda, so I asked one woman what they were saying.
“Today, our children will drink milk!”
We are currently in the process of coordinating additional large contracts to keep the opportunity for employment alive for our now 50 strong Musana women artisans.
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