BubaBags for Everyone!
Donation protected
This is Buba:
Buba is 19 years old and comes from Gambia, a small country in western Africa. He has two younger brothers and a sister. His father passed away, while he was still a child. He had started training as a tailor and took part in school theatre plays, but due to extreme poverty and bad conditions, Buba fled Gambia at the age of 15. Shortly after, his mother and siblings crossed the border to Senegal. He spent a year in Lybia and finally came to Vienna, Austria at the age of sixteen and a half. As an "unaccompanied minor" he attended Youth College where he received German lessons and a general education, whilst applying for Asylum in Austria.
This is us:
Group Foto from Peacecamp 2017 in Lackenhof, Austria
We met Buba in 2017 at Peacecamp. Peacecamp takes place every July in a small tranquil town in the Austrian alps, and brings together youth from conflicting areas - Jews and Palestinians, Austrians, Hungarians and also, refugees. We can define the experience there as no less than extraordinary. Despite disagreements we learned to understand each other and through discussions, theatre, and just hanging out together, we all became one big family. Buba is part of our family. He is a compassionate, funny, good hearted soul.
At the improvised talent show on the first evening of Peacecamp 2017, Buba and Musti dropped this dance.
He is also a very enthusiastic runner, football player and quite the actor. When he saw the kind of colourful pants the camp coordinators wore, he told the camp founder, Evelyn: "You know, I can make these." Evelyn organized an old second hand sewing machine and in the year following peace camp, Buba worked with donated materials and this stubborn old sewing machine to create beautiful bags. The bags were made from recycled fabric, such as old trousers and curtains.
From old make new: The first batch Buba made
Buba´s bags were sold at small charity events and Christmas markets. Unlike many other hip, fashionable bags, they are robust and hold for a long time. That is because they are all carefully crafted and hand-made. You can easily take them shopping, jogging or dancing.
AnnPhie and Buba at the christmas market of Vienna´s University for Applied Arts, 2017. This year´s stand had to be withdrawn, because Buba had already been deported.
When Buba turned 18, he was no longer a minor and the Austrian government does not see poverty as a reason for Asylum. None of the appeals, nor letters of recommendation were successful. Buba did not dare tell his mother, that he would be sent back. He was very afraid to go, but we tried to give him hope. Despite feeling he had failed to build a life in Europe, and was going back home “empty handed”, we let him know he had friends in Austria, Hungary and Israel.
Buba now lives in a small village named Kembujeh with his mother who has come back from Senegal to live with him. They both want his siblings to come back and live with them, but their house is too small, and has a leaking roof. They’d like to renovate their house but are dealing with a rent of about 200 Euros a month which they can hardly afford. Much work needs to be done and Buba wants to take it upon himself to support the whole family, which is currently still living as refugees in Senegal.
Buba´s mother Fatou and sister Anty
Together with a friend they want to start a business as tailors, crafting bags and clothing in order to build a new, better life with their families. We’d like to help Buba, and want to see more beautiful BubaBags. In order to produce bags, he needs good industrial sewing machines, which are very hard to get even second hand in Gambia. We want to buy and ship four sewing machines to him, pay for the rent and renovating of the house, and give him funds to buy fabrics for the bags.
Buba´s friend Lamin
So, what do we do?
You can donate to this cause and pre-order bags at the same time.
Just take a look at the pictures below and our thank-you price list. If you´d like to receive a thank-you gift for your donation, get in touch with us by pressing the message icon up top, next to the organizer´s details and leave us a message saying what bag you would like to order and where you want it to go to. We will get in touch with you as soon as the bags are ready, and we´ll always keep this site here up-to-date, so you can check in on the project.
With the money we raise, we will buy and ship the sewing machines to Buba, who will then get to work on your orders. Any money that is left after that, will go directly to Buba, so he can buy materials for his bags, renovate the house and afford the rent. Right now, Buba is desperate to get to work but hasn´t got the resources.
Buba and his mom in front of the house
Next year, one of the Peacecamp coordinators, AnnPhie, will go and visit Buba, see how he and his friend are doing and collect the bags, that you’ll all be desperately waiting for. The bags will be brought back to Europe and then shipped to you. Our hope is that once you lay eyes on your brand new BubaBags, all of your neighbours, friends and siblings will want one too and that we might actually be able to start a little business, so that you can carry everything you own in a hand-made, upcycled Gambian bag that supports a boy, his family and his village.
Of course you can also just donate without ordering a bag -any help you can give will be greatly appreciated, please help us by investing in Buba´s future and make BubaBags a brand!
#BubaBags
The classic BubaBag designs: sportsbag (upper row, second and third from left) and shopping bags
Stylin´! Shoppers, sportsbag and yoga-mat bag.
Some more complicated designs by Lamin.
Buba is 19 years old and comes from Gambia, a small country in western Africa. He has two younger brothers and a sister. His father passed away, while he was still a child. He had started training as a tailor and took part in school theatre plays, but due to extreme poverty and bad conditions, Buba fled Gambia at the age of 15. Shortly after, his mother and siblings crossed the border to Senegal. He spent a year in Lybia and finally came to Vienna, Austria at the age of sixteen and a half. As an "unaccompanied minor" he attended Youth College where he received German lessons and a general education, whilst applying for Asylum in Austria.
This is us:
Group Foto from Peacecamp 2017 in Lackenhof, AustriaWe met Buba in 2017 at Peacecamp. Peacecamp takes place every July in a small tranquil town in the Austrian alps, and brings together youth from conflicting areas - Jews and Palestinians, Austrians, Hungarians and also, refugees. We can define the experience there as no less than extraordinary. Despite disagreements we learned to understand each other and through discussions, theatre, and just hanging out together, we all became one big family. Buba is part of our family. He is a compassionate, funny, good hearted soul.
At the improvised talent show on the first evening of Peacecamp 2017, Buba and Musti dropped this dance.
He is also a very enthusiastic runner, football player and quite the actor. When he saw the kind of colourful pants the camp coordinators wore, he told the camp founder, Evelyn: "You know, I can make these." Evelyn organized an old second hand sewing machine and in the year following peace camp, Buba worked with donated materials and this stubborn old sewing machine to create beautiful bags. The bags were made from recycled fabric, such as old trousers and curtains.
From old make new: The first batch Buba madeBuba´s bags were sold at small charity events and Christmas markets. Unlike many other hip, fashionable bags, they are robust and hold for a long time. That is because they are all carefully crafted and hand-made. You can easily take them shopping, jogging or dancing.
AnnPhie and Buba at the christmas market of Vienna´s University for Applied Arts, 2017. This year´s stand had to be withdrawn, because Buba had already been deported. When Buba turned 18, he was no longer a minor and the Austrian government does not see poverty as a reason for Asylum. None of the appeals, nor letters of recommendation were successful. Buba did not dare tell his mother, that he would be sent back. He was very afraid to go, but we tried to give him hope. Despite feeling he had failed to build a life in Europe, and was going back home “empty handed”, we let him know he had friends in Austria, Hungary and Israel.
Buba now lives in a small village named Kembujeh with his mother who has come back from Senegal to live with him. They both want his siblings to come back and live with them, but their house is too small, and has a leaking roof. They’d like to renovate their house but are dealing with a rent of about 200 Euros a month which they can hardly afford. Much work needs to be done and Buba wants to take it upon himself to support the whole family, which is currently still living as refugees in Senegal.
Buba´s mother Fatou and sister AntyTogether with a friend they want to start a business as tailors, crafting bags and clothing in order to build a new, better life with their families. We’d like to help Buba, and want to see more beautiful BubaBags. In order to produce bags, he needs good industrial sewing machines, which are very hard to get even second hand in Gambia. We want to buy and ship four sewing machines to him, pay for the rent and renovating of the house, and give him funds to buy fabrics for the bags.
Buba´s friend LaminSo, what do we do?
You can donate to this cause and pre-order bags at the same time.
Just take a look at the pictures below and our thank-you price list. If you´d like to receive a thank-you gift for your donation, get in touch with us by pressing the message icon up top, next to the organizer´s details and leave us a message saying what bag you would like to order and where you want it to go to. We will get in touch with you as soon as the bags are ready, and we´ll always keep this site here up-to-date, so you can check in on the project.
With the money we raise, we will buy and ship the sewing machines to Buba, who will then get to work on your orders. Any money that is left after that, will go directly to Buba, so he can buy materials for his bags, renovate the house and afford the rent. Right now, Buba is desperate to get to work but hasn´t got the resources.
Buba and his mom in front of the house
Next year, one of the Peacecamp coordinators, AnnPhie, will go and visit Buba, see how he and his friend are doing and collect the bags, that you’ll all be desperately waiting for. The bags will be brought back to Europe and then shipped to you. Our hope is that once you lay eyes on your brand new BubaBags, all of your neighbours, friends and siblings will want one too and that we might actually be able to start a little business, so that you can carry everything you own in a hand-made, upcycled Gambian bag that supports a boy, his family and his village.
Of course you can also just donate without ordering a bag -any help you can give will be greatly appreciated, please help us by investing in Buba´s future and make BubaBags a brand!
#BubaBags
The classic BubaBag designs: sportsbag (upper row, second and third from left) and shopping bagsStylin´! Shoppers, sportsbag and yoga-mat bag. Some more complicated designs by Lamin. 
Fundraising team: Team Buba (10)
AnnPhie Oh
Organizer
Berlin
Emilia Smith
Team member
Hannah Plachel
Team member
Jonah Karlen
Team member
Kinga Dobany
Team member
