Tumaini Project - Helping Single Mothers in Kenya
Donation protected
The Tumaini Project/African Wazo Designs is a social enterprise that aims at giving hope and a chance of a better future for young single mothers from the region of Ukunda in the Kenyan South Coast.
This project was created by our project manager, Carolina Vasconcellos (ADDHU NGO - Association for the Defence of Human Rights) and was born from a deep concern about the rising numbers of sexual tourism and exploitation in this area, and we believe that giving these young girls an alternative to prostitution is the best way to reduce these worrying numbers.
Together with our team's passion for fashion design, clothing and African traditional fabrics like Kanga, Kikoi or Kente, we believe we can create a successful business that will empower and change the lives of these women forever. We commit ourselves to base all our decisions and actions on the following values: compassion, solidarity, fairness, respect of human rights and dignity and transparency.
Our objective is to create a small tailoring and fashion design workshop, that will train and employ these young women, and that will fabricate and sell (mainly online) fashionable and sustainable clothes and decorative items made from traditional African fabrics.
The objectives of this project are the following:
1. To setup a tailoring workshop with all the necessary materials and equipment needed for successful business that prides itself on quality
2. To train at least 5 single mothers in tailoring, sewing and fashion design for a period of 1 year
3. To provide a stipend to the beneficiaries while they are on training so that they can sustain themselves during that period
4. To employ the trained women, offering them a fair and adequate base salary and sales commissions
5. To setup an online shop that will target both local and international markets
6. To create and promote a brand (Wazo Designs) of clothing and decorative items, made from traditional African fabrics and materials locally sourced
The expected results and outcomes are the following:
1. At least 5 women trained and fully employed, earning a fair and adequate income that allows them to provide for themselves and their children with dignity
2. A tailoring and fashion design workshop properly equipped in order to provide the best working conditions while boosting production capacity and quality
3. A successfully established business that reaches clients in both local and international markets, mainly through online sales, and that generates enough income to sustain itself and expand
The resources necessary to set up the project are the following:
- a physical space for the workshop that will be rented
- tailoring and fashion design equipment and materials (4 sewing machines, 1 overlocking and 1 embroidery machine, fabrics, sewing materials and supplies, etc.)
- office furniture, equipment and stationery (desk, chairs, computer and printer)
- a website and an online shop
- marketing and branding material (flyers, posters, website design, labels, packaging, etc.)
- government licenses to operate a small business
- 2 instructors/trainers
- 1 accountant
- 1 webmaster
- 1 photographer
Impacts and future projections:
We believe this project can help alleviate poverty in this region, especially the one that affects single mothers. We also believe that this project can help to reduce and fight sexual tourism and exploitation in the region, by offering these women an alternative to prostitution.
Once the project becomes self-sustainable and starts generating enough income, we will expand, training more young women and increasing the size of the workshop and production. We expect to achieve a self-sustainable social enterprise in 1 year and to have more than 10 young women trained and employed in the period of 2 years.
This project was created by our project manager, Carolina Vasconcellos (ADDHU NGO - Association for the Defence of Human Rights) and was born from a deep concern about the rising numbers of sexual tourism and exploitation in this area, and we believe that giving these young girls an alternative to prostitution is the best way to reduce these worrying numbers.
Together with our team's passion for fashion design, clothing and African traditional fabrics like Kanga, Kikoi or Kente, we believe we can create a successful business that will empower and change the lives of these women forever. We commit ourselves to base all our decisions and actions on the following values: compassion, solidarity, fairness, respect of human rights and dignity and transparency.
Our objective is to create a small tailoring and fashion design workshop, that will train and employ these young women, and that will fabricate and sell (mainly online) fashionable and sustainable clothes and decorative items made from traditional African fabrics.
The objectives of this project are the following:
1. To setup a tailoring workshop with all the necessary materials and equipment needed for successful business that prides itself on quality
2. To train at least 5 single mothers in tailoring, sewing and fashion design for a period of 1 year
3. To provide a stipend to the beneficiaries while they are on training so that they can sustain themselves during that period
4. To employ the trained women, offering them a fair and adequate base salary and sales commissions
5. To setup an online shop that will target both local and international markets
6. To create and promote a brand (Wazo Designs) of clothing and decorative items, made from traditional African fabrics and materials locally sourced
The expected results and outcomes are the following:
1. At least 5 women trained and fully employed, earning a fair and adequate income that allows them to provide for themselves and their children with dignity
2. A tailoring and fashion design workshop properly equipped in order to provide the best working conditions while boosting production capacity and quality
3. A successfully established business that reaches clients in both local and international markets, mainly through online sales, and that generates enough income to sustain itself and expand
The resources necessary to set up the project are the following:
- a physical space for the workshop that will be rented
- tailoring and fashion design equipment and materials (4 sewing machines, 1 overlocking and 1 embroidery machine, fabrics, sewing materials and supplies, etc.)
- office furniture, equipment and stationery (desk, chairs, computer and printer)
- a website and an online shop
- marketing and branding material (flyers, posters, website design, labels, packaging, etc.)
- government licenses to operate a small business
- 2 instructors/trainers
- 1 accountant
- 1 webmaster
- 1 photographer
Impacts and future projections:
We believe this project can help alleviate poverty in this region, especially the one that affects single mothers. We also believe that this project can help to reduce and fight sexual tourism and exploitation in the region, by offering these women an alternative to prostitution.
Once the project becomes self-sustainable and starts generating enough income, we will expand, training more young women and increasing the size of the workshop and production. We expect to achieve a self-sustainable social enterprise in 1 year and to have more than 10 young women trained and employed in the period of 2 years.
Fundraising team (2)
Carolina Waiharo
Organizer
Lisboa, Vila Franca do Campo, Portugal
Anthony Ngari
Team member
