There’s been a dearth of posts on this site, not because there’s nothing to write about, rather we’ve been consumed with growing pains behind the scenes. That’s always a good thing but doesn’t excuse a …
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NOTE OF CLARIFICATION:
Just to clarify, while Grace gives varying answers on the video on how long it takes to put together that box of jewelry, it actually takes the women about 3 days to produce the pieces in that box. Grace confirmed that it took 3 days to produce Ush 40,000 (~$20.25), the equivalent of three weeks worth of work breaking rocks.
My last photo shoot featuring Women of Kireka jewelry got a lot of positive interest. Within one week the women got orders from London, Vancouver, Nairobi and Kampala. Last week alone, Siena and myself hired a couple of boda bodas and took some interested buyers to visit the women at the quarry where they worked.
The frenzy of sells got me thinking about the income the women were pulling in just from the jewelry. The video above once again stars Lamono Grace, talking about the economic impact of selling just a few pieces of jewelry versus the income from the daily grind of pounding stones.
As always, be part of a solution and encourage these women by buying some jewelry if it appeals to your sense of style. Remember, it’s not charity, so don’t buy anything unless you feel it’s up to your standards. But having seen these pieces with my own eyes, they are worth every dollar.
On a further note, let me task you with this: what do you earn in three days of work? Do you even think twice when you spend the equivalent of a week’s worth of earnings for each woman on a cup of coffee? Again it’s not a request for charity, but a simple reminder of what some people on this planet of ours have to go through just to earn a dollar.
More information on the Women of Kireka, bead purchases, internship opportunities and quarry visits can be found on Siena Anstis’s website. We’re thinking proxy websites spreading like Western Union across Kampala’s downtown core. Ah, if …
Canadian Diaspora members, get to it!
From The First Drop:
The First Drop wants to provoke passionate, informed and accountable discussion among Canada’s next generation of leadership. We plan to do this by supporting a slate of …
The original here:
As someone with many un-paid internships under her belt, the word “volunteer” often makes me shudder. But, the facts are, we need your support!
Programme Assistant Intern (Full-time): This position with the Women of …
This is my quick response to Jimmy Kainja’s thought-provoking post and comments discussion about gay rights in Africa and the role of donor organizations.
The brouhaha over African gay litigation is simply overreaction to the very …
With the Women of Kireka slowly gaining international fame in Europe (thanks to the efforts of Ida Horner pushing their wares), I thought a product shoot was in order so we could really show off …
This week finds me in Kampala, Uganda for the 3rd annual Diaspora Home is Best Summit. It’s been a gathering of some of the most visible Ugandan Diaspora in the West. Among them is my …
When the financial gods of the world sneezed and nearly caused the apocalyptic demise of the world, as we know it, the West, the United States and Asia became the news and leaders scrambled to …
Living in Nairobi, Kenya these last few weeks has given me an opportunity to meet with hordes of freshly returned diasporans who made the decision to move back home from their various locales around the …
This just in, my talk submitted for SXSW Interactive 2010, Africa 3.0: A Look at the Future of a Connected Africa, has been accepted. If you were looking for a good reason to attend the …
It is a common practice that many Ugandans in the Diaspora trek home to cerebrate the Christmas festivals with the families. Therefore this year’s Conference code named “Home is the Best Summit -3” will be held in Lira on 23rd December 2009, Kampala on 29th to 30th December 2009, and Mbale on 4th January 2010. Home is the Best Summit – 3 because it will be the third Conference to organise under such a theme.
I was stopped in my tracks tonight by this ad:
Which is intentionally playing on fears of identity theft, unsecured data transmission and Nigeria’s unfortunate reputation as being full of internet con men. This on the …
O how I long for my “Mothers” milk. It tasted good. It tasted right. The fruit of her land was juicy, succulent and tasted real. Out here, the fruit of this land is dry, tasteless and bland. It’s like it’s essence has been sucked out.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
More info here: Push Your Pens to the Pinnacle!
Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award is here again this time linking poetry to financial literacy and so we invite you to push your pens to …
1. Protecting Displaced Africa: Selective Rescue, Economist, p. 52
As we are working with internally displaced persons (the Women of Kireka), this article was of interest. On October 23rd, the Africa Union signed a convention stating …
This weekend Cameroon will host the country’s first BarCamp in Douala on November 7, 2009 at Le Meridien Hotel. Be sure to check out their blog and Twitter streams for live updates on the nearly …
This November, motivated young Kenyans will create the first public digital map of Kibera, widely known as Africa’s largest slum. Map Kibera is a collaborative project lead by Mikel Maron of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team …
Ok guys, we are heading headlong into phase 2 of this little experiment of ours. So this is a fantastic time for us to get ideas from you. We have been traveling a bit no …
Submitted by: Gannon Gillespie of Tostan.org
October 5, 2009
In Puntland, Somalia where an estimated 98% of the population practices FGC, this declaration provides new way forward. 14 villages in this Northeast Zone of Somalia, made history …
Embedded video from CNN Video
As previously mentioned, team PD is packing up shop and heading to dreary London to brighten things up at Africa Gathering this weekend. We are planning on meeting up with these …
There are three major reasons why we are not engaged in development projects beyond mere remittances. By “mere” I don’t mean to belittle the estimated $40 billion in annual remittances we send to Africa. Only to say that $40 billion dollars can have a far greater effect on development, if it were structured differently. I am sure if you are inclined, you can contribute a litany of reasons why we aren’t, as a collective force, a lot more engaged on the ground. These three reasons, I believe are the major obstacles why the diaspora isn’t more involved in greater numbers and on bigger projects beyond remittances and personal wealth accumulation.
If you happen to be in London in October, make sure it’s on the 8th and 9th. The Project Diaspora team is gate-crashing the 2nd Africa Gathering event. If you have been procrastinating and haven’t bought your tickets yet, make sure to hit up the registration page and do so now, like right now. The last event in April sold out weeks before opening day.
A couple of weeks ago, I was I had an email correspondence with Francis O. Oghuma, one enterprising Nigerian, and co-founder of Naijaborn, a social network dedicated to the vibrant Nigerian diaspora community. He recently …
All For Africa Promo Video from allforafrica on Vimeo.
Just got word that on Thursday, the 24 of September from 7 – 11 pm, L’Altruist in New York is having a trés chic benefit event for …
This morning I had an opportunity to be featured on The Hugh Macken Live radio show. Actually should I say, Leila Charayath Janar—who I interviewed last year at the Facebook Developer’s Garage in Uganda, was …
Diaspora and the Cloud – Cloud Intelligence Symposium at Ars Electronica from TMS Ruge on Vimeo.
No longer is Africa’s rich cultural heritage, development and identity championed and hijacked by those from outside and treated as …
The Advanced Ape White African
