Jarida Crafts: Creating colourful treasures from waste

Jarida Crafts was founded in 2001 by Lilian Akinyi, Harry Omondi together with a group of women and youth in Kisumu. A social enterprise it aims at improving the lives of its community through handicrafts. They recyle rubbish like bottletops, auminiums wires pieces of leather and old newspapers to create fantastic articles
Not only do they use rubbish but also products that are readily available in nature like banana leaves, maize cobs and tree barks for making products like picture frames and soapstone to make candle holders and sculptures.

Jarida is also an an avenue to engage the youth who were already disoriented by social factors such as joblessness, HIV/AIDS, family disintergration and dropping out of school. As a part of their social responsibility to their community they offer sports and other after school activities so that the children dont go astray.

To date they have trained many youth in handicrafts, sales and marketing who have gone ahead to use their skills to become self sufficient in their community. Due to the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Kisumu and its environs, Jarida offers seminars and guiding and counselling services with an aim of creating awareness about about safe sex.

Jarida Crafts have showcased their items in Germany twice this year already in February at the trade fair in Frankfurt and last month in Berlin.

You can see their products in Berlin again this week at the Import Shop Berlin which will be at the Messehalle at Berliner Funkturm

• Wednesday 13 Nov to Saturday 16 Nov 2013: 11am – 9pm
• Sunday 17 Nov: 11am – 7pm