I spent last weekend in the beautiful Kunene region of northwestern Namibia. On Saturday, I was lucky enough to connect with a dozen or so American volunteers in the area and have a reasonably traditional American Thanksgiving, albeit minus turkey. I even took a shot at fixing my mom’s legendary broccoli casserole, which didn’t turn out so bad. After Thanksgiving dinner, six of us piled in the truck and drove three hours north to Epupa Falls, an incredible landscape situated on the border of Namibia and Angola.
Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to Opuwo, the regional capital, so that I could sit down with a local cooperative of carvers. The group, known as Beads for Seeds, is comprised and managed by a group of 17 Himba and Thimba artisans. As with the San bushmen, the Himba have been historically marginalized by the Namibian and Angolan governments, so poverty is rampant in the Kunene region. But, the hospitality and natural beauty that I encountered in what was my first visit to Kunene have made it my favorite area in Namibia.
Beads for Seeds produces a unique product that I have never before seen in stores or online. They take used PVC pipe, which has been stripped from the ground and is destined for the landfill, and reuse it to make bracelets. The process is innovative, unique and environmentally friendly, but most importantly, the bracelets are stunning. Each piece is hand-carved, and gets its coloring from the natural organic compounds that form on the inside of PVC pipes after years of transporting water. So, each bracelet is unlike any other. Among the volunteer community in Namibia, these bracelets are among the most popular items in the country.
I attended the cooperative’s weekly meeting on Sunday afternoon and presented my proposal to sell their products overseas. Thankfully I had an interpreter with me, and he relayed the discussion while I watched for two hours as the group discussed the intimate details involved with producing high-quality export goods. I was inspired by their patience, humility and excitement in dealing with each other, as the group does not make a decision until there is unanimous agreement and all questions are answered. Additionally, because the artisans each have a personal stake in the cooperative, they are all extremely concerned about its well-being, as Beeds for Seeds represents each individual’s first formal business endeavor.
Once all issues were resolved, the artisans agreed to carve a sample stock of 200 bracelets for Promote Africa by the end of the year. We’ll send these bracelets to retail partners and post them online to see the response, and if all goes well, we’ll sit down with Beads for Seeds in the beginning of the year and set up a formal agreement to ensure stock availability and fair compensation.
Keep checking our storefront and we’ll have these products listed as soon as they’re in the states in January.
i live in australia and would love to personally buy some of those fantastic pvc bracelets. can u help ?
Absolutely. I’ll have someone from our sales team reach out to you.
By far the most concise and up to date information I found on this topic. Sure glad that I navigated to your page by accident. I’ll be subscribing to your feed so that I can get the latest updates. Appreciate all the information here
Can I buy some bracelets as well?
Absolutely. Please visit our Art Store, which can be found here: http://promoteafrica.org/CharityArt.html