Kageno, a place of hope, is beautifully organized and has a number of different programs. I always feel overwhelmed when mentioning the Craft Project; where I train and work with widows who weave and make variety of products out of locally available materials such as water hyacinth, sisal fibers and banana fibers. We make products ranging from tablemats, baskets, CD racks, coffee stools, doormats, carpets, coasters, nappy holders, lamp shades, file holders, book holders, etc. This has also created employment opportunities for the village of Lambwe where the villagers eradicate water hyacinth from the lake and sell the dried material therefore making the lake clear for the fishing activities to take place. In addition the crafts project has eradicated the fish for sex issue "JABOYA" among the widows in Kageno. Making crafts enable the women to have a sense of belonging within their society and foster their creativity and hence improve their standard of life.
So far I have made raw materials available and I have been working to find ways of marketing our finished products. I have also made efforts of visiting centers in Kisumu to explore and teach the women new techniques of weaving. On the same note, I love to say that I hosted Moses, from the organization called Merlin, with whom we discussed marketing strategies for our finished products. We filled out a questionnaire he came with and took photos of our products. He liked the products quality and assured us of lending a hand in marketing our products where possible.
It was one morning when I and Debra set for Lambwe to get water hyacinth, can you imagine how hectic it was? We took a pick-up truck from Mbita leaving Kolunga Beach behind and went through Lwanda Nyamasare to Waondo, the Minister of Parliaments place, and finally to Kamsama. The road was rough and each time we would swing up and down. We went down to the lakeshore by the short cut but it was unbearable! We would get out of the car to make it lighter for the driver to make it through the rough parts. On looking at the road, you would think the car would go deep down into the hole but the next minute, God was with us, we emerged and counted ourselves lucky.
The people of Lambwe were eagerly awaiting us with the hyacinth ready and each person was sweet. They talked to us because the car we came in was not big enough to fit all of the hyacinth they had. It forced us to buy a little from each person so as to make them equal and that way each person would have something to keep them going. We would count and note the number each time and we were very tired and happy leaving Lambwe behind and heading for Kolunga Beach again.
Hopefully we will achieve the marketing goals if we all unite hands and work as a team, WELCOME!
June Akongo
Craft Coordinator
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