"Our work is very important to us, as it is what enables us to live, to help each other and to meet the needs of our families."
--Illies Mouhmoud
Before organizing with his friends to start UPAP (Union Peasants for Self Development), Illies Mouhmoud traveled through France for several years, selling his jewelry from a backpack. Today, he is a master craftsman and founder of (UPAP), an artisan group that creates traditional Tuareg jewelry in his village of Terhazer, Niger.
The Tuareg are the descendants of Berbers, an indigenous people of North Africa, and are renowned for their exquisite silver work. Mouhmoud makes jewelry using the lost-wax method, an ancient practice used for complex casting. He creates a wax mold, forms clay around it, and pours molten silver into the hardened clay.
“I have wanted to have a loom in my house for a long time so I can
work and have money. With this money I can help my family. All I want
is to be with my family and help them out and I am doing this now. So
my dream has been realized.”
--Heba Eid, MCC Egypt
As
thousands of farmers from Upper Egypt who no longer had land to farm
migrated to Cairo in search of employment, they found a new crop –
garbage – that didn’t need to be planted, only harvested. “Garbage
City” houses thousands of Egyptians who make their living by
collecting, sorting and recycling the tons of trash that millions of
people in Cairo toss out.
In
Cairo’s Maqattam neighborhood, artisan Heba Eid hand looms shaggy
cotton purses made from recycled fabric for fair
"I hope if our organization will be receiving orders, my life and
the lives of my children will change even more and more for the
better."
--Patrick Aching'a, Carver, Nyabigena Soapstone Carvers
Located in an agriculturally fertile region of Kenya, Kisii has high rates of HIV/AIDS, which has driven life expectancy from 57 to 37 years old. As a result, one out of six children under age 5 is an orphan. Unemployment rates are also extremely high. Yet the social cohesion and identity of western Kenyans remains optimistic, with the Nyabigena Carvers Cooperative standing out as a powerful success story.
Kenyan soapstone, or "kisii," is unique to the Tabaka Hills of Western Kenya. A soft and easily worked stone, it comes in a variety of colors ranging from cream and pink to black.
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