Their enthusiasm is invigorating. Their talent and skills is a craft to be celebrated. Their desire to work and provide for their families is tangible and inspiring.
However, without the artisan skills and business training, they often lack the structure and/or product design to gain the attention of the mainstream fair trade movement. Our goal is empowering our sisters together in their Crazy Love Africa Sisterhood Support Circles to learn how to create and design demand-driven products to be sold in local and international markets.
Many of the women have little or no background in artisan work, as well as skilled women seeking to take their skills and business to the next level by learning valuable lessons, forming their Crazy Love Africa cooperative and getting access to international markets. We bring in skilled trainers from throughout Uganda to train in each specific skill. The training not only teaches the women the skills to make beads and other products but also provides them with training in entrepreneurship and business management including quality control, budgeting, savings, marketing, and customer service. Working with a team of leaders, women are empowered to run a business together and apply their new skills to their individual businesses.
The women are paid upfront for products made, providing immediate income. This is often a 200-300% increase in their normal daily wage! The women report using the additional income to pay for food, healthcare, needs of their children, and other necessities. Additionally, with each product sold, 100 % of the profits are poured back into training costs, and programming for our Crazy Love Africa sisters.
https://youtu.be/xNOl2JZwWog?si=buoh1surud9FbCl7