Female Artisans at Work
At the heart of everything here at Believe in Kind are the wonderful artisan women. Our aim is to bring you their story, help share the truth behind day to day life for each of them and shed light on the common struggles they face and their continuing resilience and strength.
Products sold here at BIK start their life in the hands of the women of Buhoma, sitting together in the heart of Bwindi Impenetrable Rainforest, Uganda.
Beautifully crafted by a group of individuals each with a story to tell, holding their work in your hands gives a certain buzzing energy generated by knowing the time and care that has been put in by someone that has had to work very hard to learn new skills and who is determined to better their quality of life.
The money made at BIK ensures a basic income and fair wage for these women, yes but the work itself gives them purpose, structure, togetherness, hope, energy, productivity, community and dignity.
So what is life like for a woman living and working in rural Uganda?
Typically women here in Buhoma and across Uganda come from and live with large and extended families in very simple one or two-roomed homes. There is often no electricity. No running water. Little to no education to speak of. Work typically means digging in fields, laboriously, poorly paid and often back-breakingly arduous.
Add to this the effects of HIV, domestic violence and abject poverty that continue to torment the lives of the local workers. The arrival of COVID-19 has only intensified the severity of these issues.
Over time we will be sharing more and more about the women producing our products so that you can build an informed picture of the people making the items that you buy and really see the impact that you are having each time you engage with us.
For now let’s paint a miniature picture of a handful of our artisans…
Winnie Twongyeirwe
Winnie is currently having to live with extended family as she cannot afford to purchase or rent her own accommodation for her and her family.
Currently, all her effort goes into covering the absolute necessities for her family. However, Winnie hopes to one day save enough money to buy her own spot of land and eventually build a home for her and her children.
Winnie makes our beautiful napkins.
Annet Tibaijuka
Annet is a single mother attempting to care for her three children. One of ten children herself, she has experienced the harsh reality of life as a Ugandan - sadly she saw the death of five of her siblings and her mother.
Annet works hard, waking up at 5am to cook lunch at the centre, to provide for her own family and keep them safe, but still struggles; her eldest son has to live with his paternal grandparents, only seeing his mother on Sundays. Annet still worries that even there, he appears too skinny. But, for the moment, she cannot afford to bring him home.
However, since starting to work as an artisan at Believe in Kind, Annet has bought her own plot of land. One day, she hopes to build a house there, and have her eldest back under her roof.
Annet makes our washbags and make-up bags.
Jenipher Tusasirwe
Jenipher is married with three children, having survived the loss of one child. Of the three, only one can be sent to school as Jenipher cannot afford the school fees.
With only a small piece of digging land to her name, she has been forced to rely on the charity of others for basic needs such as food. Even amongst the struggle for basic necessities, one of Jenipher’s main worries is affording school fees to keep her child in education.
Since working as an artisan, she has been able to pay back borrowed money to keep her child in school and has bought a chicken to provide eggs for her family. Jenipher hopes to send her other children to school one day; her own siblings, ten of whom are still alive from twelve, were forced to move away from home to find means of survival. Those still at school have to work in their holiday time to pay for their own school fees. Jenipher simply wants more for her children.
Jenipher makes our beautiful bunting.
Grace Kyimpeirwe
Grace has overcome huge obstacles in her life, but has never let these deter her or weigh her down! She has a talent for picking up new skills and putting those skills into practice.
Grace works diligently, yet she still has not been able to save enough money to realise her dream – to be reunited with her four children in a home of their own.
As a single mother, she has had to make a hard choice to send her children to live with extended family for prolonged periods of time while she works long hours. One day, Grace says they will be back under one roof again.
Grace makes our oven mitts and is also skilled at making a range of other products.
Ruth Tuyamureeba
The Chairperson for the organisation on the ground, Ruth is the main liaison for each woman working for Believe in Kind.
A truly inspiring woman, she shows through her own diligent and tireless work that the women here are not expecting anything to be handed to them; they are willing to work hard to realise their dreams for themselves and their children.
Ruth is proud to be able to do this, sending all three of her children to school and covering their school fees herself. She hopes to provide a better life for them through education.
Our gorgeous tote bags are made by Ruth.
Alice Tushemereirwe
Alice has always been ambitious – of her nine siblings, only Alice was able to make it to Primary 7 level at school, and she dreamed of becoming a nurse.
However, life has thrown Alice many trials, and she was forced to give up her dream of studying medicine to instead look after her four children, to whom Alice is the primary caregiver. She has instead had to dig in a small plot of land to make a living, but the money only covers the basics. She wants more for her children.
To this end, Alice sought new skills and learnt to pedal sew producing her own beautifully handcrafted goods from African fabrics. She now has begun to save, and hopes to be able to educate her children, who all have their own dreams of going to university. Alice wants to make sure they are not forced to give up their dreams as she was.
The face masks are made by Alice.
Lovis Kyomuhendo
Lovis has had many obstacles to overcome in her life, having lost a child and also struggling with severe health issues. One of her children is also very unwell, which causes a huge amount of stress and worry for Lovis.
She finds it hard to provide for her family, particularly with the added costs of medical bills. However, despite everything that life has thrown at her, Lovis remains a sensational and positive character in the organisation, and says she is happy to just be able to give her family what they need.
Lovis makes our tablemats
Noreda Mutaka
Noreda is one of the older ladies of the community, now in her 60s. But this hasn’t robbed her of any of her energy! This energy stems from Noreda’s unyielding resolve in the face of life’s difficulties, which she has had to face time and time again.
When Noreda was young, there were no hospitals to provide her with contraception, and she gave birth every two years, making her so weak she could barely find the energy to grow food in her small garden. And due to the lack of hospitals as well as the harsh life in the Ugandan rainforest, only six of Noreda’s sixteen babies survived.
But she picked herself up, carried on and dug in the fields to give them food. Now, three of her children are grown and married, giving Noreda five grandchildren. However, life is still tough in the rainforest and Noreda has had to take in two of her grandchildren as their parents could not look after them. None of Noreda’s children or grandchildren have been able to progress far in education because the family couldn’t afford the school fees.
Noreda still digs for food to eat and sell, but has now learnt to use a sewing machine - something she believed she was just too old to do! To her surprise, she has become the most skilled of all the women at making table mats, and through this skill Noreda can now provide for her large family. She says that she feels particular joy to be able to look after her grandchildren and give them more than their parents, and Noreda, ever had.
Noreda makes the tablemats
These are just tiny insights into the real women behind BIK. Even with these stories of struggle and survival, they present themselves for work and push themselves hard to learn new skills and find independence.
Owning a product from BIK means so much more than buying something pretty for your home. It means you are actively impacting real lives in a place facing some extremely tough and continuing challenges. You are giving them a chance to become independent and strong, to put or keep their children in school, alive and with food on the table.
