In the village of Nambehe, Msindo, in southern Tanzania (Namtumbo district in the Ruvuma region), the all-female cooperative Mkomanile Craft is based, born from the multi-year collaboration of COPE with the local parish of Msalaba mkuu and the nuns of St Joseph, to which were added commercial partnerships with the CRAS and the Sicily House of Dar es Salaam.
Mkomanile Craft is a tailoring project supported by private financiers aimed at developing and supporting micro female entrepreneurship in the village of Nambehe, Ruvuma region, in order to increase their economic and social independence.
The project, born in 2007 after a three-year sewing course, was consolidated starting in 2011 thanks to some students who were entrusted with the creation of a series of products to sell on the Italian market: the experiment worked and later the group of artisans consolidated with the name of Mkomanile (in honor of the only Tanzanian warrior woman of the Maji Maji revolution against the Germans in 1906). The products created combine traditional African fabrics with recycled materials (inner tubes, plastic bags for rice and corn, drink caps and newspaper) using eco-friendly production methods. In this way, the scarcity of tailoring materials is overcome and the purchase costs of production are reduced while respecting traditions and the environment.
The overall objective is the growth of Tanzanian women through entrepreneurship engaged in the production and marketing of handicrafts, using locally sourced textile materials and traditional methods of weaving and printing. All this serves to give economic power to all women in this village, and neighboring villages, through work. The program also aims to provide education for more women. The program focuses on preparing a different education (life advice for women to increase their awareness and confidence, to free them to move away from being dependent on men, and choose their own lifestyles, and to let them know that they can bring about change and development in society as men have done). In recent years, we have focused on achieving some results, including increasing the number of collaborations, improving the visibility of the cooperative at national and international level, and improving the entrepreneurial skills of the artisans. Among the activities carried out and in progress, we have:
- Organization of training courses for tailors on technical finishes and printing and knitting courses in order to improve the details of some existing items and create new items (hospital uniforms, scarves, sweaters for adults)
- Organization of peer education sessions and involvement of new female figures in the group;
- Updating the inventory, focusing on new items and creating a new catalog.
- Participation in public events;
- Search for new channels for marketing the products (shops, hotels, knitting schools, etc.)
- Organizing awareness-raising events on domestic violence and gender issues in collaboration with local institutions (e.g. AICIL and Police gender desk) and workshops on maternal health, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, malnutrition and others in collaboration with Kituo cha afya of Nyololo.
The direct beneficiaries of this project (those who are involved in the activities) are the 19 Mkomanile Craft women who are working on the project, and their families.
The motto of the women of Mkomanile Craft is Maendeleo ni vita – Development is struggle!
