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| Kenana Knitters |
Ms. Patricia Nightingale, a beautiful, kind and talented lady - the founder of Kenana Knitters which is a grassroots business that was founded by local Kenyan, Patricia Nightingale, who wanted to assist a group of individuals, as they were lacking a market for their homespun yarn.
With clever consideration, she helped transform their yarn into unique creations with her distinctive designs, including plush toys, home décor, clothing and accessories. With a vision to further impact the community, the group taught women in the area to knit beautiful, organic products using local, sustainable resources. By providing a safe, family-friendly working environment, Kenana Knitters empowers women, offering them a chance to work and take charge of their lives, with dignity.
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| Patricia Nightingale - founder of Kenana Knitters |
The women are allowed to work from home, or they gather at the Kenana Knitters workshop and do the needed spinning, knitting or weaving there. They may even bring their children with them.
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| Kenana Knitters - perfect snacks on their way |
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| Kenana Knitters - the workshop |
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| Kenana Knitters - spinning wheel |
Kenana also supports women and girls, who might be disabled, for finding less demanding tasks for them to do.
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| Kenana Knitters - home spun and dyed natural wool |
We visited Kenana farm last week, arrived a bit late Friday afternoon due to some problems with the traffic in Nairobi (this doesn't tell anything about it really ;)), and didn't have a chance to see the women at work. But we saw the garden (the board meeting room, that is), we saw the container (the office, that is) and we saw the warehouse (some more containers, that is). We talked for hours with Patricia, learning about the project, and their way of life in rural Kenya. We stayed in one of their beautiful, unique guesthouses (you can learn more about the guest houses at www.kembu.com) built and designed by Andrew, Patricia's son. Had a wonderful dinner prepared by Isaac (we even asked for the Ginger-Carrot soup recipe, will be in the blog during the weekend). The nights are cool, as the farm is around 2000 m above the sea level, and they are also DARK. No difference whether you have your eyes closed or shut ;).
Everything is so wonderfully, peacefully down to earth, and yet they have everything they need. This project is 100% what I believe in - women helping themselves with their own hands, learning a new skill, becoming good at it and supporting their family locally, with locally purchased materials. And passing the talent forward to others around them. And this project, in turn, is already able to support the local orphanage.
If you wish to purchase any Kenana products to show your support, please visit our shop at www.werannas.com. Please contact us at info(@)werannas.com, if you wish to become a reseller for the products.
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| Kenana Knitters - home spun spider monkeys
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fantastic
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