Binga Craft Centre Zimbabwe - African Baskets

In South Africa today, poverty and unemployment levels are high and xenophobic attacks have sparked a new conversation across the continent amonst the media, advocacy groups and other interested parties.  Xenophobia is described by Wikipedia as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange".  In South Africa, Xenophobic attacks have occured mainly in the townships by indigenous South Africans against other indigenous Africans. 

I spent 6 months in South Africa this year and had plenty of time to watch the news, documentaries and television debates on the issue of Xenophobia.  What disappointed me most was the lack of solutions presented by the parties on opposing sides of the issue.  Some South Africans felt their own people were lazy, therefore immigrants from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other African nations should be allowed to remain while others argued that all foreign owned businesses should be boycotted!!  I couldn't believe what I heard.

If you are wondering how the Binga Craft Centre of Zimbabwe and the issue of Xenophobia are connected, let me explain....  I walked into a Mr Price Home store at Cape Town's prestigious shopping mall (Canal Walk) and there I saw an entire section of laundry baskets and other hand woven basket containers for the home.  They looked vaguely familiar - very much the same quality you would find in a Walmart, or Target or Bed Bath and Beyond store in the USA...  I turned over the label and yes, you guessed it, the woven baskets were all made in China. 

What was wrong with this picture? I'll spell it out.  Right next door in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho etc... there are thousands upon thousands of unemployed basketweavers barely eeking out a living selling a quality far more superior than what I saw in Mr Price Home.  Why is South Africa importing all the way from China when they could send the business to its neighboring countries?

If South Africa, as an African economic powerhouse, were to create employment on the continent of Africa, the foreigners in their land would follow those opportunities and go home.  It's a common fact that most crafts sold in South Africa are brought in by cross border traders from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Congo, Malawi etc... and many have now settled there to make a living selling their products. 

Binga is located in a remote part of Northern Zimbabwe close to Zambia but it is not impossible to get there.  It is certainly easier than going to China.  Conditions are harsh and most people live below the poverty line, but at the same time, Binga is renown for its hand woven basketry which has found itself on display in top notch New York stores such as Anthropologie.  In fact South Africa sets a bit of a double standard really, because the Binga Baskets I saw on display in Anthropologie were labelled and marketed as a "South African" product and not Zimbabwean.  Not that it matters to me to be honest, I am more concerned about the bigger issues such has crafters being able to earn a living than the country of origin on the label. 

The Marketing Manager of Binga Craft Centre, kindly provided the photos used in this blog.  They are anxious for business and not hand outs. They don't want to relocate to South Africa to find markets for their products but unfortunately that is what is happening today.  I hope this article will motivate us to push for locally produced products regardless of where we live, especially if the raw materials for those products are locally available.

Bees in War Against Poverty

The Herald - August 11, 2011
By Ruth Bataumochoh


Thirty-eight-year-old Judith Rutsito of Nyajese village in Nyanga was devastated when her husband died in 2002, leaving her with three children to fend for.


With no pension, nor any formal education that she could use to look for employment to sustain the family, her only option was to brew beer for sale, which she did vehemently for a good one year.
However, a visit to one of her brother-in-laws' homestead, Mr Andrew Nyandoro, turned out to be a life-changing experience that was also to improve her ebbing lifestyle and that of her children, who introduced her to beekeeping as a source of livelihood.
Reminiscing over the trying times she went through the first two years following her husband's death, Mrs Rutsito who is known in the neighbourhood as Mai Chifamba believes her fortunes could have turned around overnight.
Beekeeping, which is centuries old in Zimbabwe, has become a well-recognised entrepreneurial activity among small holder farmers with an estimated 50 000 beekeepers engaged in the activity.
The beauty of it all is that the bee farming industry, together with the horticulture industry and the safari businesses, once the preserve of white commercial farmers, is now open to the small-scale farmers, following the agrarian reforms.
And small- scale farmers have found beekeeping as a viable income- generating activity considering that it is done on a part-time basis, allowing farmers to concentrate on other agricultural activities, while waiting to "harvest".
With no heavy capital injection needed to kick-start the project as is the case with a litany of income-generating projects, smallholder farmers can afford to make a financial projection premised on the diverse plant species as well as the ecological and climatic conditions.
Like other beekeepers sprouted around the country, farmers in the Nyajese's Village 14, have witnessed a dramatic and positive change in their lifestyle, since they started beekeeping in the area.
Although most of them inherited the beehives from past generations that relied mainly on traditional technologies, they have been able to upgrade them to hives from timber, used pots and baskets.
Use of brown sugar, beeswax and propolis as baits has resulted in increased yields, undoubtedly doubling farmers' incomes.
Nyandoro (52), who has been involved in beekeeping for the past 19 years, says his flirtation with bees has paid dividends, adding that his lifestyle bears testimony of benefits he has to date accrued since a neighbour introduced him to apiculture.
"I come from a humble background and for 20 years, I slept in a traditional granary until I managed to build a three-bedroomed house from the proceeds of honey," he said.
Nyandoro who started off with 20 hives, now has over 100, a feat he has achieved owing to patience, persistence and determination. Nyanga
"I now have a regular source of income and I am able to plan and buy inputs for my farming projects, while paying fees for my children," he gushed.
Realising that the numerous spin-offs from beekeeping, villagers have since adopted "busy bee attitude" towards honey production.
So intense are their efforts to make money from honey that they have since formed a co-operative made up of more than 50 people - all beekeepers, though in various stages.
They say the co-operative is one of the mechanism they are using to collectively market their produce, and in the process benefit from schemes that are being introduced by players keen on investing in the beekeeping sector.
Already their synergies have yielded results after a private company Savanna Delights entered into a partnership with them that will see the latter training them on beekeeping and later buying their produce.
Savanna Delights is a private company that supplies honey to retailers as well as honey as a raw material to the pharmaceutical and other industries.
The company is not a novice in the industry having trained small-scale farmers in Mutoko, Nyanga, Chimanimani, Hurungwe, Raffingora, Zvishavane, Chipinge, Buhera, where more than 1 000 households have since benefited from the initiative, which Savanna did in partnership with the Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief.
Savanna Delights is already working on an initiative to empower communities in Shurugwi and Makoni in beekeeping.
Executive director for Savanna Delights Mrs Selina Mercy Chitapi said the company was born out of the need to eradicate poverty by empowering communities with special focus on beekeeping as an intervention strategy.
"It was also born out of the realisation that the apiculture industry in the country was underdeveloped, despite the vast marketing opportunities available not only in Zimbabwe but in the region as well," she said.
Mrs Chitapi, however, said although beekeeping was slowly taking shape in Zimbabwe, individuals and organisations involved in the initiative were still not able to service the growing market.
She added that the huge deficit of honey in the country had resulted in Zimbabwe becoming a net importer of honey, despite the competitive advantage it has in producing the product at minimum cost.
"The country produces in excess of 100 tonnes of honey for the formal market, a figure which is way below the market expectations.
"As a result, a lot of people who use honey in production of say pharmaceutical products are now importing from South Africa.
"Demand for honey worldwide stands in excess of 909 million kilogrammes per annum, with Brazil and China being the major producers," she said.
She called on the Government and the private sector to support honey production, as a long-term poverty eradication strategy.
"If support is extended to the beekeeping community the country has the potential to produce three million kilo- grammes of honey from rural communities alone."
However, despite the low production level of honey in Zimbabwe, the activity is quite robust in neighbouring countries like Zambia and South Africa.
In the North-Western Province of Zambia, beekeeping has since expanded from an informal activity to a booming source of revenue, where more than 10 000 beekeepers own 500 000 hives, producing 1 000 metric tonnes of honey per year.
Half of the honey and other bee products are exported mainly to Europe, earning the country the much-needed foreign currency.

From Zimbabwe to Santa Fe

"From Zimbabwe to Santa Fe" is an in-progress 60 minute documentary about crafters in rural Zimbabwe competing for once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase their crafts at the Sante Fe International Folk Art Market in the USA.  The film focuses on the three finalists who narrate their daily lives, their thoughts, their hopes and their dreams.  While you may root for all of the contestants, the spaces are limited to only one individual per participating village.

I am intrigued by this film and can't wait to watch it.  The filmmakers are currently trying to raise $25,000 to fund the remaining part of the journey in Santa Fe.  If you can support, please do.  Check out their website here, and make your donations here.

Trailer

From Zimbabwe to Santa Fe (work sample) from cristina mccandless on Vimeo.

Zimbabwe Artists Project (ZAP)

When  I was living in Zimbabwe in the 1990's I began to come across a new type of artwork in the form of textile art and paintings.  I liked the colors and the textures which were colorful and eye catching, but beyond that I had no further knowledge or understanding of the source.  Around 2003 I came to know this art as "folkart", and the name of the community which originally created it is Weya, a rural Zimbabwean family of villages in the Eastern Highlands of the country.

A group of women in Weya were taught by the European artist Ilse Noy.   Ms. Noy came to Zimbabwe in 1984 as a member of the German Volunteer Service. After working for three years at the Cold Comfort Weaving Co-operative on the outskirts of Harare, she transferred to Weya where she taught local women sewing and painting skills, and appliqué and embroidery techniques.  Today the Weya quilts are sold across Zimbabwe, in neighboring countries, and in fact, all over the world.

Dick Adams, a retired sociology teacher from Oregon is credited with enhancing the recognition of Weya art in America.  He founded the Zimbabwe Arts Project in the late 1990's and since then he has literally transformed the lives of hundreds of people in the country.  I read the newsletters posted to his website and was struck by his dedication to the artists and his committment to true transformation of their lives one individual at a time.  He is an incredible human being indeed.  Please read and support the Zimbabwe Artists Project website on http://zimbabweartistsproject.org/

Below is a video filmed and edited by Sarah Breidenbach showing the lives of rural women artists in Zimbabwe. 



As you may already know, Tashanda also sells Weya art under the brand name Makuti Training Center (location where the women meet to train, create and gather to sell their products).  We visited them only once when we were in a big hurry to get to Harare from Mutare and unfortunately we did not get the chance to learn their stories, take some photographs or let alone develop any form of a relationship.  They are difficult to access as they are in a very remote (but very beautiful) location off Mutare road near Headlands.  However we are very keen to meet them and hopefully one day, we will be able to support them with new business and new opportunities for transformation.

Below is a sample applique from the Tashanda wesbite.  Each applique tells a story, a true story.  The artist attaches a handwritten note explaining the meaning of each piece.  For example below, the story reads as follows (unfortunately the artist did not show her name):

"Two friends are visiting an old woman who stays alone.  They have bought some food and clothing in their bags"

In Zimbabwe the primary reason an elderly person is living alone is because their children have either left the country to seek greener economic pastures, or they have died of AIDS.  The elderly are revered in our culture and so naturally neighbors and well wishers will stop by to check up on such a person, as is the case in the story.  The "food and clothes" indicate they are supporting her financially as well. 

Sample letter below:

Kwamsasa - African Pottery

African pottery varies across the continent but in our opinion some of the best pottery is made in Zimbabwe, Africa.

















This African pottery range includes vases, casseroles, tea and coffee sets to dinner sets, cruets, bowls etc and custom orders are also accepted.  KwaMsasa pottery is a wholly owned and proudly Zimbabwean entity which makes the most beautifully crafted pottery.

The business prides itself in its ability to use locally and environmentally friendly materials to make its pottery. It employs ten people mainly from the high density area of Mabvuku. This is one of the poor surburbs of Harare, but the staff are full of enthusiasm and love for their work. As you can see the talent is clearly outstanding.

Kwamsasa Pottery products are inspired by and display Zimbabwean culture, heritage, people, wildlife, landscapes and the various tribes in & around our country e.g. the Tonga weave which represents Northern Zimbabwe's heritage from the Tonga tribe located in Kariba or Mixed Hide which is a mixture of hides from different animals namely the zebra stripes, lion footprint and cheetah spots.

Team At Work!

Contact us if you are interested in learning more about Kwamsasa's African pottery.

Vivi Fashions Believes in Transformation

Empretec Zimbabwe was set up in 1992 as a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Zimbabwe as a Non-Profit making organisation. It is part of a worldwide Empretec family of organizations whose mandate is to develop entrepreneurship.

The Empretec concept started in the 1980's in South America where currently there are more than five countries with active programmes. In Africa the programme was first introduced in Nigeria and it has since been established in Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

For a decade Empretec Zimbabwe has spearheaded the growth of a strong entrepreneurial culture in Zimbabwe through training, information dissemination, business advisory services and acting as an agent of change for SME's.

Below is a video illustrating growth and the success of local business Vivi Fashions, a woman owned enterprise supported by Empretec and the local Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe.
PART 1


PART II

African Fabrics (Sadza Batik) For Your Wedding, Kwanzaa Decoration etc..

You may be struggling with how to incorporate your western wedding with traditional African fabrics like those sold on Tashanda (Sadza Batik / Kudhinda) . 

One Tashanda customer has kindly shared some photos of how her family used our sadza batik fabrics for her daughter's wedding, which was absolutely beautiful. 

Please note that this was a special order, so you may not see these exact fabrics on our website.  However you are free to contact us for custom orders.

Other customers have used our fabrics for Kwanzaa and their Kwanzaa decorations. 

Informal Skills to Earn A Living

Meet an informal vendor who makes nativity sets from the branches of an indigenous tree called Jacaranda.  Sorry the videos are so short, I was running out of space on my camera.

Made in Zimbabwe with Mediocrity?

Interesting blog contribution by a Zimbabwean living in Zimbabwe who is disappointed by the quality of the workmanship at a low income furniture complex in one of Harare's high density suburbs. It gives a glimpse of one aspect of Zimbabwean life. This blog story is taken from Kubatana (note that spellings are UK English).  The book The End of Poverty (on the left) is a fantastic read in our opinon, and our motivation for adding this blog article today:

When a friend suggested that I should go and check out the home furniture industry located in the teeming high density suburb of Glen View 3, approximately eight kilometers out of the city centre, little did I know I was in for a quick lesson on Zimbabwean mediocrity at its most basic level. First things first: I firmly support local entrepreneurship but only if it adheres to high levels of excellence at every step of execution. Suffice to state that my story began after I complained that the prices of furniture in the city centre were simply too exorbitant for the quality of the items on offer.


My friend told me that many of the furniture items being showcased in the city shops were actually originating from Glen View 3. I immediately became curious to check out this goldmine of furniture. So, I jumped on a Kombi (public transport) at Market Square and headed out to Glen View 3 keen to strike a furniture deal that would not damage my pocket yet beautify my apartment.


Because I wasn’t sure about the location of the place, I constantly reminded the Kombi’s conductor that I wanted to drop off at the furniture joint. The complex, he retorted, to my amazement. Complex is actually what the furniture joint is called by the locals, I discovered later. In recent years, the place where the furniture is being made has grown so much to deserve being referred to as a complex.

Granted, it is a home industry which is providing employment for hundreds of people that may otherwise be out of jobs in today’s precarious economic environment. I could only premise that many of the people that are working at the complex could otherwise be criminals or beer drinking and dagga smoking ghetto thugs. So it is great that such an alternative exists.


The first thing that greeted me when I arrived at the so-called complex was dust. There were dirty plastics strewn all over, and particles of dust swirled in the air. Blades of grass and plants were covered in dust. My concern with the dust was quickly swept away when I looked around and saw magnificent furniture items on display on dusty ground.


There were quite a number of stands, each guarded by salespeople who as was to be expected hassled and harassed me to buy some of their wares. The furniture items looked exactly as what I had seen in the furniture shops in the city. In spite of the bits of dust that constantly wafted into my nostrils, I decided to purchase a bed and a set of sofas.


After the transaction, the salesman commandeered me to a workshop area as he ran around to make transport arrangements at my request. And then there it hit me. In front of me, I saw one young man working on the framework of a sofa. He punched nails mercilessly into the wood. I saw him picking rusty nails and just punching them into the wood as if he was demon-possessed or as if the wood had cursed his mother. After a while, he turned to me sweating profusely and requested my opinion on whether the frame of the sofa was proportional. Not quite sure how to respond, I made no comment, and the next thing, I saw him pick up a piece of wood from the ground and attach it to the frame with a bent nail.


After witnessing this ordeal, I left the complex quite disappointed at the level of workmanship. I wasn’t surprised when the bed I bought broke three weeks later. The stuffing in the sofa was so hard and crooked that my wife and me had to furiously apologize to our visitors to take care when sitting on them. Because I had settled for mediocrity I was going to pay for it. And as the saying goes, cheap is indeed expensive. I felt cheated by my support to my own countrymen’s entrepreneurial capabilities that I regretted having gone to the complex in the first place. After much reflection, I realized that while the spirit of Glen View furniture complex is quite entrepreneurial, the problem is that it is tainted with mediocrity.

As I see it, mediocrity is indeed the bane of Zimbabwe’s progress and development. It’s so apparent in everything we do, the idea of cutting corners, so to speak. The end result is always shoddy, not up to standard products. From our music to our politics, mediocrity always rears its ugly head. Unless we shake off this deep seated mediocrity, we will continue to speak big of ourselves and have little to show for it, at least at a global level. Zimbabweans need to commit to high levels of excellence in all spheres of their lives as part of the rebranding process.


Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha


July 22, 2010

Mediocrity is definitely an issue when it comes to certain Zimbabwean products, especially those made by the informal sector.  Not sure why this is the case although potentially it could be due to the need to make money as quickly as possible and the failure to look to the future.  The man who purchased the broken bed is hardly going to return to buy another one.  I wonder what it takes to instill excellence as a way of life in a people?

A Pram (Stroller) for Paul's Friend - Batsiranai

About 2 years ago I blogged about a ten year old boy named Paul who suffered from cerebral palsy. Paul was the son of one of the mothers of disabled children at Batsiranai who makes a living by making toys sold on the Tashanda website.  I'm sad to say he passed away shortly after visiting him in 2008 but we only found out when we went back to Batsiranai early last year to donate a pram (stroller) we had purchased especially for him. It was terribly depressing and demoralizing to be honest, especially after the excitement of knowing that he would finally be able to replace his hand made (albeit eco-friendly) papier mache chair with a soft well cushioned pram (stroller). It was too little, too late and I felt awful about it for a while.  In fact his passing is why it has taken me so long to post this article....it just hurt too much.  That day, after pulling myself together, I asked the mothers if any  other disabled child needed a pram (stroller) and they all cried "Tafadzwa !!" at the same time.  Tafadzwa is another little boy who suffers the same illness as Paul and he is the son of one of the women at the cooperative.  They view all the children as their own and it was clear they had been waiting for an opportunity to help Tafadzwa for a very long time.  They sang songs of praise as we unwrapped the pram and placed Tafadzwa in it.  His mother was especially excited because she carries him on her back to and from Dzivarasekwa (high density suburb in Harare) every day for at least an hour each way. 

The picture below shows Tafadzwa (left of picture) in the arms of oneof his carers.  His mother, along with another 25 - 35 mothers of disabled children, makes the products seen on Tashanda (site temporarily disabled) such as African dolls, baby bibs, fridge magnets and more

There was so much joy in the room because of the purchase of this very small gift.  It pains me to see discarded baby products on New York city side walks because I know they are going to a landfill when they could be put to good use where they are genuinly needed.  However I still celebrate moments such as the one I experienced at Batsiranai.  Below Tafadzwa's's new pram (stroller) is being adjusted to make him more comfortable.  The last picture shows Tafadzwa and his mom on their first journey back home in his new pram (stroller)

I am still sad about Paul, but I am also happy to have eased Tafadzwa's suffering. Did I mention he is only ten years old?  Yes, small as he is, he is ten years old!  His pram (stroller) was donated by Tashanda from the sales proceeds of the toys made by the mothers of these disabled children, the women of Batsiranai. 

"It's customers like you that make all this possible, so thanks, thanks very much!"

Bugaboo,Quinny,Britax,Avent, Bob,Inglesina, Maclaren,Mountain Buggy, Baby Jogger, Rock Stary Baby, Radian, stroller, baby gear, car seats

African Hammocks by Mr Gurupira

Mr Gurupira & His Wife Above

I met this talented man in Zimbabwe at the Borrowdale Shopping Mall where he was selling his hammocks at the popular Sunday flea market. He is a teacher by profession and makes hammocks to supplement his income. His hammocks are 100% handmade using Zimbabwean cotton rope and fallen branches from hardwood trees. He uses a single rope for each hammock.

Mr Gurupira Stands Outside His Home (above) and Chats to us

in his Kitchen (below)

Mr Gurupira is looking for customers, so let us know what you think of his product. He lives over an hour away from the city where his wife is a nurse at a clinic in an area named Darwendale. We drove to visit him one afternoon so see him at work. Unfortunately it was wet and rainy that day so we had to cut the visit short, but he & his wife unravelled one piece he was working on for us to see as seen in the photos above. Below are some brief videos we shot while we were there:

Forget Me Not Forget Me Not Forget Me Not Forget Me Not

We spent our last weekend in Zimbabwe touring the Eastern Highlands and visiting family and friends. The scenery as always was spectacular and a much needed tonic for my nostalgia. I took photos of everything I could even though the car was racing at top speed. I wanted to capture every moment including the views, so that when I returned to America I would have something to remind me of home. I photographed images I would have taken for granted in the past such as vendors selling fruits and veggies at a bus stop, curving roads, the mountains, and people going about their business; and of course I continued to scout for artistic talent on the roadside, in small towns, and in the villages.

Approximately 150km away from Harare we drove past a display of toy tractors which I had seen in other parts of the country earlier in the week. I could see that this was the latest wave of crafts in the country. Typically in Zimbabwe once a certain type of craft catches on, others copy and soon the market becomes more or less flooded with the respective craft. All the same, the crafts are well made by amazingly talented individuals.

We stopped the car, reversed a few meters backwards and I hopped out, eager to meet the artist of these colorful toys. The artist turned out to be a young boy named Forget Munhuwepano, aged 17, but looks 14. I explained who I was and asked if I could interview him about his work. He agreed but was a little shy with his answers. I really had to prod him to get information, and this is what I learned:

As mentioned above, Forget is 17 years old and he dropped out of school in seventh grade. He did nothing with his life until about a year ago when his uncle began to teach him how to make these toy cars. He uses Jacaranda wood, used tyres, recycled rubber, wire, scrap metal and oil paint to build his toys. The wheels for example are circular wood shapes covered with a strip of recycled tyre. Each toy tractor sells for anywhere from $10 to $30. The tractors have long wire handles with a steering wheel to control it when it is moving.

He said business was OK although he finds he has to bargain a lot with his buyers who think his prices are too high. We encouraged him to put himself through school. The last time we checked public high schools in Zimbabwe cost $80 a term/semester, and if he could work it out, he could sell toys during school holidays/vacation and go to school during term time. I call his tractors "toys" but they would work well as an artistic display in a home or office setting. You'll notice that Forget has named his pieces after real brands like John Deere and Massey which is probably a violation of copyright laws. Unfortunately someone like Forget has no knowledge of this. Wouldn't it be great if these big companies would order them as marketing gimmicks with a social benefit, rather than threaten to take legal action (as I have seen against wire artisans who make wire Volkswagens)?
Unfortunately time was not on our side, so while we made assumptions that he would be able to put himself through school we really didn't get a chance to ask him about his personal circumstances, and he wasn't very forthcoming with information about himself. It was nice to talk to him anyway. We didn't purchase a toy but we did leave him a donation to purchase more materials like oil paint which he said was very expensive. I've learned the hard way - in the past I would buy at least 2 or 3 samples of artists products and ended up with too much inventory. Now I let my readers decide if the product is good - thumbs up or thumbs down? Let me know!

Meet Dexter Nyamainashe - A Truly Gifted Artist

Hi Everyone! Last week I was in Zimbabwe and as usual I was on the hunt for creative talent and innovation. On several occassions I drove past a man stationed in the parking lot of a shopping area in one of the northern suburbs of Harare. He sat behind a huge contraption which I couldn't figure out from a distance, so finallly after several days I decided to stop and say hello. What I found was a treasure trove of talent, skill, creativity and vision. Dexter Nyamainashe of Chiweshe, Zimbabwe is aged 41 and six years ago he started combining various art pieces he made to create what he describes as a "Global Village of Peace". He uses scrap material to make little figures, minature homes and scenes which come alive when he rotates a piece of wire behind the art piece. The minatures move, they cook, they wash laundry, they play, they smoke a joint, they look for cattle etc... The animals fly, they run, they eat and they kill. Confused?? Take a look at the pictures below. Dexter says the above represents Americans having a barbeque in the Summer

Below are the videos I promised in several parts

VIDEO PART I

VIDEO PART II

VIDEO PART III

Above is a man thatching his hut in Zvimba, Zimbabwe

Dexter says he has had a difficult time promoting his art locally for the following reasons: a) The local city council has called his art nonsense and refused to give him a license to operate. He has been chased away and even arrested for "illegal" vending. b) Locals are spooked by his "Global Village". He says some people think it might be related to witchcraft so he has to explain to them by demonstrating how it works. c) He used to work with the local art gallery but their commission was too high leaving him with very little. d) He managed to gain the support of a local shop owner who tells the city council that Dexter is part of their own store display. This means he can display his work free of charge, avoid police harassment and avoid costly flea market charges. Dexter promotes peace because he is concerned about the direction the world is headed. He says God made us all so we have to learn to tolerate one another and work together for a more peaceful world. What a Guy!

Meet David Kasama, Natural Jewellery Maker...

Necklace made from water seeds and hand painted bamboo

I met David Kasama at Silveiria House with my mother during my annual visit to Zimbabwe. He was sitting outside facing his friends, the Shona sculptors, sitting on a chair and a small table:

David prepares his products for the local market

From a distance it looked like he was working with a sewing machine, but it wasn't a sewing machine, it was a "bench grinder" which he explained is a tool used to sand/make his products:David shows his machinery

David is a natural jewellery maker. He finds seeds from indegenous trees and uses them to make his jewellery. He started jewellery making in 1980 when he was a member of a youth group managed by the Jesuit priests at Silveiria House. He says he tried many other jobs but he always returned to jewellery making which he enjoyed most of all. David uses necklaces and earings from bamboo, mopane wood (which is a hardwood), peach seeds and water seeds:

Necklace made of Bamboo and Peach seeds
He picks them after they have fallen to the ground naturally so as not to destroy the ecosystem in the environment around him:

Africa, and is more often used to make furniture and African curios, so I was suprised to see a 100% natural oil derived from this tree. As David showed me his jewellery equipment he explained that the machine was purchased for him by a visitor to Zimbabwe who lived in the United Kingdom. The visitor sent him catalog from the UK to choose the machine he needed to do his work, and he hasn't looked back since. I wondered if the benefactor knew what a difference his small gesture had made, for David lives with his wife, his mother and three of the children of his late brother. He is the breadwinner and I wondered how on earth he was managing to sustain everyone, especially after he told me about the volume of business he had lost since 2000.

Sample of "lucky bean" seeds (as we used nickname them ), which David uses to make necklaces.

I was impressed by the innovation he displayed. Due to the scarcity of hooks for his earings and necklaces, he purchases gold plated safety pins and uses his pliers to make the hooks he needs:

Gold plated safety pins he converts into earing or necklace hooks with pliers

He showed me a bottle of the Mukwa oil he uses to polish the seeds until they shine. The Mukwa is a species of indigenous trees native to southern

David shows his work in progressHe opened up a small photo album and showed us all the jewellery he had made for the USA market in the past, which he used to sell through local tourists and NGO employees from Germany, the Netherlands and USA:

David shows us his catalog

He then pointed the parking lot and told me how it used to always be full of cars. I followed his finger to an overgrown patch of land where I had parked my own car not even realizing that I had parked on the official parking lot. Since the decline of Zimbabwe's economy fewer tourists visit and small scale artisans like David are the ones being hit the hardest:

Empty parking lot on what should be a busy work week



It was quite sad to hear and again I felt terribly helpless. I told him I'd purchase a sample of his jewellery to test the market for him. I also purchased a necklace for myself & my Mom. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on his work, and if you'd like to see more just met me know. What so sad about this situation is that here is a low income entrepreneur, father to his deceased brother's 3 children, caretaker of his ageing mother and family man in his own right, trying to make a decent living honestly. The least we can do is provide a stepping stone for home to continue his work.

I'll be uploading David's jewllery to our new website when it is up and running early this year. In the meantime, take a look and add your comments good or bad and if you want to purchase any of it just let me know. I'd particularly like to hear design ideas I can take back to David to help him make his products more marketable overseas. I'll be visiting Zimbabwe again soon and I want to be able to give David some feedback on what the American market thinks of his work:

l