Getting Crafty with Mirembe Community College

[Guest]

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[cpbailey]

Oh, if you are interested in seeing, touching and trying out the Kiva entrepreneur kramas in NYC, here is a flyer.  Maybe soon Florence's women will have their products in events like this!

[cpbailey]

Hello,

If anyone is making a trip from Kampala, Uganda to the USA, please let me know.  There are action items that can be done on behalf of Mirembe Community College's craft project.  There is one contact I am working on, but I like to have backups in case the timing doesn't work out.

Parties to this effort are:

Ahkun -- website with an event featuring Kiva borrower's kramas!  http://blog.ahkun.org/
KivaFriends -- a great website!
Mirembe Community College with Florence and her graduates!
Poverty2Prosperity -- a non-profit which makes loans on Kiva.org.  It has helped in the recent fundraisers for Mirembe Community College.  See Poverty2prosperity.org.

Colette

[wind5001]

Colette,

the effort you have been putting into this project is marvelous! Thank you so much for your time and energy. It seems like you are really coming close to bridging that gap for Mirembe Community College! Keep up the good work.

 

[cpbailey]

Oli,

Thank you for your positive thoughts.  I just know that KF is a place where somehow magic happens, and many a project seemed to hit bumps only to have a person with the right set of experiences, right travel plans or correct expertise to lend to get past those obstacles.  Anh-Thu from Ahkun has done importing to the USA and has experience lend to this, and  Ahkun already is a site for similar types of sales.  Poverty2Prosperity has helped raise funds to start product development.  KivaFriends has been a consistent source of support for MCC, and I strongly suspect KF members will support MCC by buying products!  Florence has trained some women, and she is working to produce samples. 

By the way, Florence has already hired some of her graduates to make samples!  These women are so grateful for the opportunity to work, and the local community is already excited with the products being made.

A pessimist sees obstacles; an optimist sees them as challenges.  -- Colette

Right now, we are  taking a couple challenges at a time and moving forward.  If anyone knows someone going to Kampala this summer, please connect us!  Although eventually, Ahkun is likely to need to send a person to Kampala for finalizing fabrics and verifying that the organizations are clear on things such as quality standards, it will probably reduce the number of trips to Uganda.  The original budget didn't provide for a trip to Uganda, but I have some new fundraising ideas should this become necessary.

Colette

[wind5001]

Thanks for the update, Colette!

I just put up a note on my Facebook wall. Let's see whether someone is going to Kampala.

[cpbailey]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let people know that the Craft Project is being worked on behind the scenes.  We have opened the net to try to find someone coming to the USA from Kampala.  So far no commitments; so if you know someone who might be able to help, please get it touch with me.

Ahkun had an event in NYC last weekend, and it showcased the Cambodian kramas from one of the Kiva borrowers.   Anh-Thu said it went really well.  There were a lot of organizations selling fashion products--great collaboration!  Hopefully, some day soon similar events will feature items such as purses, earrings, cosmetic bags, and gift bags from Florence's school.  Now that this big event is over, Ahkun is ready to work on the next things for MCC!

Ahkun has high standards--not only in quality control and materials but also for social impact.  I really love that this project has found a highly ethical organization to partner with!  In previous partnerships, Ahkun has had a representative locally to work side by side on product development.  It doesn't have one in Kampala, so a short trip to Uganda is a criteria for working with them.  Ahkun has a conceptual plan to help MCC  while providing her some of her graduates with a working wage.  The details of this need to be formalized on site. 

Anh-Thu is working up a budget for a representative to go to Uganda.  At that time we will know how much fundraising P2P and Ahkun will need to do.  If people have creative ideas on how to raise funds, please send me a message!   More brains or distributing the efforts to make lighter work--a good thing!

Colette

[ulrike]

Hi all crafty Mirembe Kiva friends!

 Have you been waiting (patiently or impatiently like me) for the photos of the crafts that might be sold one day by Akhun?  

 If so, here are some fo them! Naturally nothing is decided yet, the articles are not chosen  and all the work to prepare the validation of the articles is still going on. But these photos will give you an idea what kind of article may be available in some months and let you appreciate the beautiful objects that are made by the Kiva graduates.

                        Earrings made out of rafia and palmleaves                               and out of ??:

 

                       A  giftbag made out of kitengi                  and one out of cotton              
  

 

and one out of

 

Makeup bag made out of kikoyi                      and  a  colourful moneypurse

                          And a girl working on pencil bags                                and pencil bags
 

So if you have a brilliant idea to find somebody travelling from Uganda to USA and willing to take back some of the items that Anh-Thu finds the most promising for sell, don't hesitate to  share this idea with Colette!!

Ulrike

[carien]

Well they look great I hope they will be available soon. I will be ready to buy some.

[cpbailey]

We are expanding our contacts to find someone coming from Uganda.  After a preview of the crafts, we will be looking into a trip to Uganda.  Fundraising is a part of that...

Colette

[wind5001]

The makeup bag is absolutely gorgeous!!

Great work.