Monday, November 9, 2009

in the news: rwanda//gahaya links


ahhh, this one warmed all three of our hearts. but first, a little background:

"Basket weaving has a long tradition in Rwanda, and two sisters, Joy Ndungutse and Janet Nkubana formed Gahaya Links, a small business with great ambitions. They employ over 4,000 rural women who weave intricate baskets that end up on the shelves of Macy's in New York City."

[more here and here]

isn't this absolutely brilliant? empowering africans to help themselves restores dignity to people who continue to rise in spite of staggering odds. it's amazing the stuff that comes out of one continent...and we can't WAIT to share news and stories from our trips around africa with you SOON. stay tuned :-) that said, gahaya links is a brilliant initiative and we're curious to discover just how many folks have similar initiatives in and around africa. nothing makes us more excited than to see africa come to her own. slowly but surely...

shop and explore the MOST AMAZING pieces from gahaya links @ macy's here.





xo

photos courtesy of macy's.

5 comments:

Ladyee Boutique said...

Aww, so heartwarming and such pretty baskets!

Fly Girl said...

Wonderful initative! I can tell you as a Uniceif and fair trade consumer, that there are hundreds of African samll business iniatives like this. Can't wait until you find more!

xoliquoricexo said...

@ ladyee boutique: we totally agree! absolutely love them all! what a great idea.

@ fly girl: oh my, could you please share some more with us? it's totally cool that you're "fair trade" conscious. good on you :-)

thanks for dropping by, ladies!

xo

Urbanknit said...

these are beautiful, great to see that products made in Africa are going 'out'. Even if it is in a small way, its a reverse of the complete dependence on imports that is the bane of the continent.

Great find! your blog is always fresh and interesting!

xoliquoricexo said...

@ urbanknit: yes, yes, yes! we totally share your view. can't wait to see african goods everywhere we turn in the near future. we're remarkably innovative people and need to share our vibrancy with the world on a bigger scale. thank you SO much for the compliment :-) we're glad!

xo