Crafting for Change - building houses
Donation protected
My name is Mirjam Hagmann, I study Human Rights at Malmö University and am currently conducting an internship at Dandelion Africa. in Kenya.
Recently we have reached the goal of 5500 SEK to kick off my project for Dandelion Africa in Kenya (See the description below) and I'm extremely excited!! Three of the ladies I work with are unfortunately living on the streets, so I contacted a "fundi" (carpenter) yesterday to give me an estimate on how much it would cost to build them houses within their community. The estimation came up to 1300 Euros, which is 13000SEK to build three metal sheet houses, so I am going to go for it. As soon as I have reached 1000 Euros, I will meet with the chief and talk about where to place the houses before starting the construction.
Katorongot Support Group is a group of ladies from the Turkana tribe all living HIV positive. I recently started a project with them through the organisation Dandelion Africa to help them create a sustainable, income-generating activity, which keeps them from being on the streets and consuming alcohol. Through this project I wish to help them help themselves by providing know-how about creating jewelry, education about entrepreneurship and keeping a regular time and work schedule.
HOW I MET THE LADIES
Through my current internship at Dandelion Africa in the Rift Valley in Kenya, I stumbled upon a support group consisting of women from the Turkana tribe that are living with HIV. They met twice a month and Dandelion Africa was supporting them with knowledge and advice about how to live a healthy life with HIV.
Dandelion Africa gave me the opportunity to start my own project in any field of choice, it was clear that these ladies had potential and I became excited to jump on board. I wanted my project to be sustainable, fun and income-generating, so I started a crafting group with them where we would craft jewelry out of recycled materials, such as bottle caps, fabric scraps from the local seamstress, cardboard and plastic bottles. After collecting some materials, I made some prototypes at the farm where I am staying in the Rift Valley and saw potential for a really nice project.
After a few meetings, there was immense excitement amongst all group members, everybody was immediately on board, we collected materials together and already started crafting in the first session. The results were beautiful, so we decided to meet once a week and soon twice a week.
HOW WILL THE PROJECT STAY SUSTAINABLE
As we have crafted many recycled earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces already, I suggested that I go back to Sweden in July with everything and sell the products at flee markets, at cloths swap events, etc. The project will stay sustainable through Dandelion Africa, where the Founder and Executive Director will take over the group after I leave and send home all the made jewelry with the help of her organisation being in close contact with Sweden and people in Malmö specifically. Dandelion Africa has many Women's Groups which do table banking, (saving money and taking out loans within a trusted group). This way women in marginalised areas can get financially included, open bank accounts and learn about entrepreneurship. The group is aiming to start a table banking group in the next 6 months with the income generated from the jewelry.
CHANGE FROM THE FIRST SESSION
In the beginning, I was sitting in front of many empty chairs. Currently we have held 11 sessions and the entire organisation of Dandelion Africa is talking about the transformation these ladies have gone through. 90% of them are now always on time, they bring ideas to the table, are super motivated and found a niche of specialisation in the area they are good in. The ice is broken, we laugh, dance, sing and use our hands to communicate. Some entrepreneurship modules, I teach with a translator, so they are all 100% updated to what is going on in the budget plan, the divide of profits and cost of materials.
HOW WILL I USE THE FUNDS/DONATIONS
I am proud to say that needles, beads, hooks and locks for the jewelry we craft and also our traditional chai tea and buns which we always eat and drink as a snack at 11am will be paid for by donations, thereafter 100% of the profits made will go directly to the women. Additionally, the donated money will flow into the rent for the stalls and flee markets in Sweden, postage, as well as the transaction fees that I have to pay from converting the profit into Kenyan Shillings. This is a one-off fundraising, as all these things can later be paid through the profit earned.
HOW IS THE PROFIT SHARED AMONGST THE LADIES
The profit is shared equally by the percentage of attendance. There will also be a base profit that everybody in the group will get, as some could not attend due to legitimately proved reasons (being in jail, illness of children, being called in for work etc.).
SHORT INTRODUCTION TO SOME OF THE PARTICIPANTS
Together with a translator I asked the ladies some questions in order to find out what their expectations of the group is.
Paulinah Loste
During my third pregnancy, I went to the doctor for a checkup, when I got tested for HIV and the result was that I am HIV positive. Through my friends in the village, I heard about the Support group and Dandelion Africa and embraced the Idea, as I had little knowledge about the virus and how to deal with it mentally and physically.
My dream is that I can eventually pay school fees for my children, so they can be educated and get a proper job when they are older.
The biggest challenge I face in daily life is to put food on the table, but also not being able to go to work, as I have a toddler. My husband only has casual work (day to day work), which does not provide us with stability. Usually he only earns up to 400KES per day (which is about 4 euros) and it is hard to feed a family of 5 with this money.
Mary Epuke
I frequently went to the clinic to get a free HIV test and one day it showed positive. Thankfully I could immediately start to take the medicine after hearing the news. My friends were talking about the support group and I sent one of them to enquire. After starting the group, I was distracted from the street life, where I started doing many horrible things, such as consuming excessive amounts of alcohol amongst other immoral things. With the profit earned from the group, I want to help take care of my sick mom, as well as reinvest into the group so we can sustain our project.
My biggest challenge in daily life is that I am the only one who is taking care of my sick mom and receive no help from my siblings.
My vision for this project is that we can eventually help our community members and prevent people from doing bad things on the street. Zainab (the chairlady) is like a mom for us now, she mobilized the ladies in the group and we are extremely thankful to her and proud.
Caroline Akaran
Many friends encouraged me to go to antenatal treatment when I was pregnant the first time, but I always refused. After a lot of conviction, I finally went to the clinic, where I found out I was HIV positive. Thanks to the quick reaction, I was able to take ARV (antiretroviral treatment) until I give birth, which is why my 4-year old daughter is negative.
My biggest challenge in daily life is that I am unemployed, living in poverty and have 3 children to raise that I cannot afford school fees for.
At this group I can do something meaningful for my family’s future and most importantly pay for my kids to go to school.
Josephine Natapar
Exactly on the 12th December 2009, I was walking on the road and there was a station set up where you could test HIV for free – that’s how I found out I am HIV positive. Ever since that day I have been taking medicine. Zainab (The chairlady) is a neighbor of mine, who told me about the support group. I met with Wendo (the founder and executive director of Dandelion Africa) and got an understanding about how they can help me.
I am very very happy about this new project Mirjam started, it will help my kids and future grand-children.
The biggest challenge in my daily life is the lack of money to put food on the table for my child and to save money for the future.
My dream is that the group will enable me to dream again.
Elizabeth Ng’asike
I have been sick on and off in hospital and the Mogotio Health Service Clinic did not have the equipment for testing TB. Therefore, I was referred to Nakuru, where they tested me positive for both TB and HIV. I heard about the group from Zainab, but when I was meant to meet with her, I was late because I was drunk. Since the group started, I drink less and less. The entire group in fact has immensely decreased their alcohol intake.
Most of the time, my children do not attend school because they cannot afford it, this is why I live a stressful life. My dream is that the group takes off and becomes something stable and sustainable.
Zainab Payan (Chair lady)
What brought me to Dandelion is Wendo (CEO of Dandelion Africa). There was a child that I was taking care of and Wendo decided to pay school fees for it. She then asked me if we could find a group of people that live with HIV and bring them to Dandelion to help them. I went around the village and talked calmly to the people living with HIV, so they agreed to form a support group. Most members were drunk when I found them.
My biggest challenge is as well as the other members putting food on the table and paying for my children’s school fees.
I have a very big dream for this group, because when you see what we are doing, our children will be able to go to school and be healthy. Thank you to Dandelion Africa and for nurturing talents in the village. Thank you to Mirjam and Wendo, because if it was not for them, we could not be here now.
I would be very very grateful for every donation to help these women change their lives and create a sustainable income for their future.
Mirjam Hagmann
Recently we have reached the goal of 5500 SEK to kick off my project for Dandelion Africa in Kenya (See the description below) and I'm extremely excited!! Three of the ladies I work with are unfortunately living on the streets, so I contacted a "fundi" (carpenter) yesterday to give me an estimate on how much it would cost to build them houses within their community. The estimation came up to 1300 Euros, which is 13000SEK to build three metal sheet houses, so I am going to go for it. As soon as I have reached 1000 Euros, I will meet with the chief and talk about where to place the houses before starting the construction.
Katorongot Support Group is a group of ladies from the Turkana tribe all living HIV positive. I recently started a project with them through the organisation Dandelion Africa to help them create a sustainable, income-generating activity, which keeps them from being on the streets and consuming alcohol. Through this project I wish to help them help themselves by providing know-how about creating jewelry, education about entrepreneurship and keeping a regular time and work schedule.
HOW I MET THE LADIES
Through my current internship at Dandelion Africa in the Rift Valley in Kenya, I stumbled upon a support group consisting of women from the Turkana tribe that are living with HIV. They met twice a month and Dandelion Africa was supporting them with knowledge and advice about how to live a healthy life with HIV.
Dandelion Africa gave me the opportunity to start my own project in any field of choice, it was clear that these ladies had potential and I became excited to jump on board. I wanted my project to be sustainable, fun and income-generating, so I started a crafting group with them where we would craft jewelry out of recycled materials, such as bottle caps, fabric scraps from the local seamstress, cardboard and plastic bottles. After collecting some materials, I made some prototypes at the farm where I am staying in the Rift Valley and saw potential for a really nice project.
After a few meetings, there was immense excitement amongst all group members, everybody was immediately on board, we collected materials together and already started crafting in the first session. The results were beautiful, so we decided to meet once a week and soon twice a week.
HOW WILL THE PROJECT STAY SUSTAINABLE
As we have crafted many recycled earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces already, I suggested that I go back to Sweden in July with everything and sell the products at flee markets, at cloths swap events, etc. The project will stay sustainable through Dandelion Africa, where the Founder and Executive Director will take over the group after I leave and send home all the made jewelry with the help of her organisation being in close contact with Sweden and people in Malmö specifically. Dandelion Africa has many Women's Groups which do table banking, (saving money and taking out loans within a trusted group). This way women in marginalised areas can get financially included, open bank accounts and learn about entrepreneurship. The group is aiming to start a table banking group in the next 6 months with the income generated from the jewelry.
CHANGE FROM THE FIRST SESSION
In the beginning, I was sitting in front of many empty chairs. Currently we have held 11 sessions and the entire organisation of Dandelion Africa is talking about the transformation these ladies have gone through. 90% of them are now always on time, they bring ideas to the table, are super motivated and found a niche of specialisation in the area they are good in. The ice is broken, we laugh, dance, sing and use our hands to communicate. Some entrepreneurship modules, I teach with a translator, so they are all 100% updated to what is going on in the budget plan, the divide of profits and cost of materials.
HOW WILL I USE THE FUNDS/DONATIONS
I am proud to say that needles, beads, hooks and locks for the jewelry we craft and also our traditional chai tea and buns which we always eat and drink as a snack at 11am will be paid for by donations, thereafter 100% of the profits made will go directly to the women. Additionally, the donated money will flow into the rent for the stalls and flee markets in Sweden, postage, as well as the transaction fees that I have to pay from converting the profit into Kenyan Shillings. This is a one-off fundraising, as all these things can later be paid through the profit earned.
HOW IS THE PROFIT SHARED AMONGST THE LADIES
The profit is shared equally by the percentage of attendance. There will also be a base profit that everybody in the group will get, as some could not attend due to legitimately proved reasons (being in jail, illness of children, being called in for work etc.).
SHORT INTRODUCTION TO SOME OF THE PARTICIPANTS
Together with a translator I asked the ladies some questions in order to find out what their expectations of the group is.
Paulinah Loste
During my third pregnancy, I went to the doctor for a checkup, when I got tested for HIV and the result was that I am HIV positive. Through my friends in the village, I heard about the Support group and Dandelion Africa and embraced the Idea, as I had little knowledge about the virus and how to deal with it mentally and physically.
My dream is that I can eventually pay school fees for my children, so they can be educated and get a proper job when they are older.
The biggest challenge I face in daily life is to put food on the table, but also not being able to go to work, as I have a toddler. My husband only has casual work (day to day work), which does not provide us with stability. Usually he only earns up to 400KES per day (which is about 4 euros) and it is hard to feed a family of 5 with this money.
Mary Epuke
I frequently went to the clinic to get a free HIV test and one day it showed positive. Thankfully I could immediately start to take the medicine after hearing the news. My friends were talking about the support group and I sent one of them to enquire. After starting the group, I was distracted from the street life, where I started doing many horrible things, such as consuming excessive amounts of alcohol amongst other immoral things. With the profit earned from the group, I want to help take care of my sick mom, as well as reinvest into the group so we can sustain our project.
My biggest challenge in daily life is that I am the only one who is taking care of my sick mom and receive no help from my siblings.
My vision for this project is that we can eventually help our community members and prevent people from doing bad things on the street. Zainab (the chairlady) is like a mom for us now, she mobilized the ladies in the group and we are extremely thankful to her and proud.
Caroline Akaran
Many friends encouraged me to go to antenatal treatment when I was pregnant the first time, but I always refused. After a lot of conviction, I finally went to the clinic, where I found out I was HIV positive. Thanks to the quick reaction, I was able to take ARV (antiretroviral treatment) until I give birth, which is why my 4-year old daughter is negative.
My biggest challenge in daily life is that I am unemployed, living in poverty and have 3 children to raise that I cannot afford school fees for.
At this group I can do something meaningful for my family’s future and most importantly pay for my kids to go to school.
Josephine Natapar
Exactly on the 12th December 2009, I was walking on the road and there was a station set up where you could test HIV for free – that’s how I found out I am HIV positive. Ever since that day I have been taking medicine. Zainab (The chairlady) is a neighbor of mine, who told me about the support group. I met with Wendo (the founder and executive director of Dandelion Africa) and got an understanding about how they can help me.
I am very very happy about this new project Mirjam started, it will help my kids and future grand-children.
The biggest challenge in my daily life is the lack of money to put food on the table for my child and to save money for the future.
My dream is that the group will enable me to dream again.
Elizabeth Ng’asike
I have been sick on and off in hospital and the Mogotio Health Service Clinic did not have the equipment for testing TB. Therefore, I was referred to Nakuru, where they tested me positive for both TB and HIV. I heard about the group from Zainab, but when I was meant to meet with her, I was late because I was drunk. Since the group started, I drink less and less. The entire group in fact has immensely decreased their alcohol intake.
Most of the time, my children do not attend school because they cannot afford it, this is why I live a stressful life. My dream is that the group takes off and becomes something stable and sustainable.
Zainab Payan (Chair lady)
What brought me to Dandelion is Wendo (CEO of Dandelion Africa). There was a child that I was taking care of and Wendo decided to pay school fees for it. She then asked me if we could find a group of people that live with HIV and bring them to Dandelion to help them. I went around the village and talked calmly to the people living with HIV, so they agreed to form a support group. Most members were drunk when I found them.
My biggest challenge is as well as the other members putting food on the table and paying for my children’s school fees.
I have a very big dream for this group, because when you see what we are doing, our children will be able to go to school and be healthy. Thank you to Dandelion Africa and for nurturing talents in the village. Thank you to Mirjam and Wendo, because if it was not for them, we could not be here now.
I would be very very grateful for every donation to help these women change their lives and create a sustainable income for their future.
Mirjam Hagmann
Organizer
Mirjam Hagmann
Organizer
Malmö, Sweden