TenThousandVillagesArtisanStoriesVol1_Samuel_ChumaWires.mov

Ten Thousand Villages Artisan: Samuel Macharia
Location: Dandora, Nairobi, Kenya
Artisan Workshop: Chuma Wires

A number of years ago, Samuel Macharia and his family moved to the community called Dandora, on the outskirts of Nairobi, in order to find work and earn income needed for survival. We would call Dandora a slum. Several hundred thousand people live in Dandora in very basic living conditions. Eventually, Samuel started to make wire toys and sold them to Ten Thousand Villages through an organization called OTICART International Limited. OTICART handles export details for a number of artisan groups in Kenya. Samuel has proven to be a good organizer and business man and now employs several young men in Dandora making wire toys and ornaments. As Chuma Wires grows, Samuel hires other young men who have migrated to Nairobi looking for work and have ended up living in Dandora. The income they earn helps to improve their living conditions (better homes, access to clean drinking water, electricity, better sanitary conditions) and, probably most importantly, it enables Samuel and his workers to afford good education opportunities for their children.




About Ten Thousand Villages
For more than 60 years, Ten Thousand Villages has been establishing long-term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans lack opportunities for stable income. Founded in 1946, the company has grown from the trunk of founder Edna Ruth Byler's car to a network of more than 75 retail outlets throughout the United States. Ten Thousand Villages is an exceptional source for unique handmade gifts, jewelry, home décor, art & sculpture and personal accessories made by artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. One of the world's largest fair trade organizations and a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization, the company strives to improve the livelihood of tens of thousands of disadvantaged artisans in 38 countries. Product sales help pay for food, education, healthcare and housing for artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. For more information, visit www.tenthousandvillages.com.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Fair Trade
• Ten Thousand Villages
• Chuma Wires
• Galimoto
• 4102210
• Kenya
• OTIC
• wire
• handmade