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100 years of International Women’s day- Lillian’s story

March 2, 2011 By idahorner 1 Comment

International Women’s Day is 100 years old and the question on everyone’s mind is how have things changed for women during that time. As we count down to International Women’s day I will introduce you to one by one of our female producers here at Ethnic Supplies

Please meet Lillian.

Lillian

Lillian is 70 years old and has lived around Lake Bunyonyi in SW Uganda and knows the surrounding of this landscape inside out. In her time there have been numerous presidents and she has seen leaders come and go. She lived through the Milton Obote and Idi Amin regimes and when, asked what has changed here during all her life time, nothing seems to come to her mind at first.

When we met Lillian we asked her about the changes she has seen in her life time.

“Not that many|” she said. But suddenly her yes light up and she starts telling us how happy she is due to the long period of peace that this part of Uganda has enjoyed. She relates a story of the floating bodies that she saw in the lake during the Amin era. She then whispers “so something has changed after all”.

The old lady sighs again and continues. The big tourist resorts build for bazungu; this is Swahili for White Man, is a new addition to the Lake and did not exit when she was growing up. In the old days she had no income but these days she is involved in handicraft production and is able to sell her wares to the odd tourist. She smiles as she recalls her childhood.

Lake Bunyonyi

Lillian’s husband died 10 years ago leaving her very little by way of property and income, she was one of three wives, her late husband had three wives, as polygamy was usual in the traditional culture of the Bakiga, the Ugandan hill tribe Lillian belongs to. Lillian had no choice but to accept this arrangement of sharing her husband with other women. The wives helped each other with household chores shared child care as well as the strenuous work of tending the fields .Lillian has four children.

Problems started when the husband that Lillian shared with other women passed on. There were fights over the land and who would inherit it and there was not enough to go around amongst all the four wives. Lillian got a small patch that she still cultivates this day. However in order to sustain herself she has had to rely on her skills as a basket weaver in order to survive financially. The baskets are made out of papyrus, a plant common by the shores of Lake Bunyonyi. Although Lillian had the skills to produce the baskets she had no access to markets that would enable her to utilise her skills to earn an income.

Her children supported her financially to some extent but as they had their own responsibilities they were not always able to do so. Lillian luck changed when Edirisa, a community based organization arrived in her village. Edirisa offered a route to the market for her baskets and she was finally able to make enough income to support herself. These baskets are sold on our online shop

Bread basket made by Lillian

Today Lillian’s life is not easy, but is better than she could have hoped for. She is up at dawn to tend her vegetable patch for several hours before the sun gets too hot and spends sometime weaving baskets as well as tending to other household chores. Lillian always ends her day with more weaving and tries to take advantage of the natural day light as she has no electricity and makes her dinner at dusk

Lillian doesn’t complain about her life and is grateful to have lived this long as the average life in Uganda is about 47 years old. She is able to support herself and has a sheep and a goat. She says that she is happy with her life. She smiles a bit, sighs once more and starts to weave another basket.

TO SUPPORT LILLIAN PLEASE BUY ONE OF HER BASKETS AT

http://www.ethnicsupplies.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?Product_ID=278

Filed Under: Women in Business Tagged With: Africa, African baskets, AFRICAN CRAFTS, ethnic supplies, International Women's Day, Poverty, Uganda

Should Women in Africa care about International Women’s day?

March 8, 2010 By ethnicsupplies Leave a Comment

It is I nternational Women’s Day a day to celebrate women’s achievements. This year’s theme is equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all.

Very good I say but the cynic in me can’t help but ask what this really means for women in Africa especially the poorest in African communities?

Late last year I was introduced to a group of internally displaced refugees from Northern Uganda, that have become known as the Women Of Kireka (WOK). These women fled the war in Northern Uganda and ended up on a quarry in Kireka a suburb of Uganda. I had the opportunity to meet these women after a chance meeting with @tmsruge on twitter. Find out how that went on this short video clip.

A lot has happened to improve equal right and equality of opportunity for women and one could say that we are almost there. But what can be done for women in Africa? is it right that women should pass their days working on a quarry to feed their children?

The women know this is no way to earn living and are fighting back by making hand made jewellery from paperbeads.

http://projectdiaspora.org/2010/01/23/women-of-kireka-jewelry-shoot-in-kampala-uganda/

If equality of opportunity and progress for all are to be experienced by all then we should all be doing our bit to end the unfair situations that women such as the WOK find themselves in.

I do wonder sometimes whether we are fighting a losing battle. Strange thing to say I know, following that visit to the quarry Teddy, Kayongo and I were at a diaspora conference in Kampala. I was shocked to hear one of the politicians dismiss our efforts to extend equality of opportunity to these women. If current and aspiring politicians do not acknowledge the existence of these women ans their circumstances, can they realistically hope to ever have a better life for themselves and their children?

When will those rights that women fought for all those years ago on the first ever International Women’s Day be felt by the Women of Kireka in Uganda?

Have you got a view? Then let’s here ?

Filed Under: African women, Poverty in Africa Tagged With: Africa, ethnic supplies, Internation women's day IWD, Proejct Diaspora, project diaspora, Uganda, women of Kireka

African Wild Silk- from cocoon to fabric

December 8, 2009 By ethnicsupplies 2 Comments

If you have been following my blog in the last few days you will have read about Africa’s best kept secret .

Yesterday we looked at the role of silk in the Malagasy culture

In today’s thread we will look at how the cocoons are transformed into a usable fabric, it is an involved if not fascinating process.

When Silk worm cocoons are collected in the tapia forest, the Landibe eggs are subjected to various treatments, before there are turned into usable thread.

The first stage involves the soaking of the cocoons in water and are turned upside down using a simple metal tool.

This treatment increases their volume four or five-fold, and they are then dried in the sun. When dry, they are boiled in soapy water for an hour and a half, and are kept in a container or cooking pot for about four days.

After this fermentation, the silk material is produced, which is cleaned with soap and dried. It is beaten with a stick to make it suppler. After drying, the wild silk is ready to be spun. As in the past, spinners in Manandriana use traditional weaving equipment.

After the thread is formed, women remove the gum in it by boiling it in soapy water for about a quarter of an hour and then leaving it to soak for half a day. The thread is then rinsed and dried in the shade.

Weavers in Madagascar traditionally use brown thread, dyed naturally, to make burial shrouds. However, faced with evolution in silk products on the market, women are diversifying to produce a range of fabrics and scarves in a wide range of natural colours.

They use a mix of domesticated silk and wild silk, experimenting with different weaving techniques and natural dyes. About twenty plants are used to make the different colours, which can come from different parts of the plant: their leaves, stems, bark, and roots. Various colours, such as red, green, brown, yellow, grey, black, are produced depending on local knowledge and practices.

The women of Manandriana still use simple tools, old wooden looms, during weaving and various weaving groups in Amoron’i Mania are benefiting from essential technical and material assistance from NY TANINTSIKA’s project.

For a selection of handwoven wild silk scarves from the project please visit our online shop

I hope you have enjoyed learning about African wild silk and as usual if you have any views please share them

Filed Under: African heritage, Business Opportunity Tagged With: antural dyes, ethnic supplies, handmade, Malagasy, silk scarves, wild silk