Rural Swazi Women
This is the reason we are here. It hasn’t even been a full week and I already feel and see the impact of the work we will be doing while we are in Swaziland. We were able to go into Lamgabhi, today. We joined Meg, the procurement guru for Gone Rural, who maintains the records for each product transaction and order for all 700 artisan women and visits each group of women every three weeks to do three things:
1. Purchase/pick up the items that were ordered on her last visit. 2. Purchase grass from the women to dye back at Gone Rural headquarters (this will be returned to the women in an equal trade for the weight of undyed grass to make products). 3. Place an order for the next trip out to the rural area.
Every three weeks, when the women artisans come together to make this trade and sell their products, they also create a marketplace. Some men, and many children gather in this “marketplace” as the women spend the day braiding the grass, selling food and playing music, all while speaking their native language, siSwati. I’ve learned the traditional greeting exchange, which volleys back and forth: “Sawubona; Yebo; Unjani, Siyaphila.”
These are very strong women and knowing their struggle makes the experience even more beautiful. Swaziland has the highest percentage of AIDs in the world and a 40% unemployment rate. Within these rural communities, 25% of the women are single moms and 80% of husbands are unemployed. Their husbands, who often bring in HIV, may steal their hard-earned money for alcohol and choose not to work to support the family. It is an impressive sight to witness the women’s craft and the selflessness they exhibit in protecting and supporting their family.
Gogo Victoria, one of the artisan women who cares for nine children (two of which have lost both parents, probably to AIDS), welcomed us into her home when we were done. Gogo, in siSwati, means grandma, and her dependents are the kids of her children, most of who have passed away to AIDs.
Gone Rural — the for-profit organization who practices fair trade in order to create a sustainable living and sell beautiful, handmade products — realized the need for more support in these villages. In addition, people were asking them how they could help these amazing women outside of buying their products. Therefore, Gone Rural created the nonprofit Gone Rural boMake, (boMake means “woman” in siSwati), to bring social services to support the income generation that is already created as a result of Gone Rural.
Marketing Gone Rural boMake will be my project over the next month. While I still have more to learn, even on day two I am faced with the power of what this initiative is all about and how important it will be to create a consistent message and fundraising strategy to support their children through school fees, bring wellness clinics to their villages and educate these women on their newly constituted rights.