Today in the morning I moved to the nuns’ house because the priests went to Mombasa for a seminar. Three sisters live in the house: Rosario, Katherine and Elisa. Each one of them is in charge of coordinating a project. Sister Rosario is the nursery coordinator, Katherine is in charge of coordinating the beads program (where Samburu women make bracelets and necklaces), and Elisa is the nurse of Barsaloi… sometimes she is the only nurse in town but other times she has the help of some other nurses sent here by the Kenyan government. I feel really comfortable here!! The sisters are very nice and the food is very delicious!!
In the afternoon I went to see the work of the ladies with the beads. They have amazing bracelets, rosaries, earrings and necklaces among other things. This is a project that has been going on for around 15 years and It’s the only productive project that is fully self-sustained. The beads project functions as a cooperative. Sister Katherine buy all the materials with money made from the project. The group is made up of 20 (or more) Samburu women and one man. They work every single day.
The only problem is that there are not too many clients. The main client is father Jorge Ivan, who used to be a missionary here in Barsaloi, but now he lives in Colombia. He comes back to Barsaloi at least once every year and pick up all the jewelry that he sells. The other clients are the visitors that come to the town, but they don’t have regular clients. I’m trying to help these women to find more clients online. I would love to find permanents clients in USA, Colombia, Argentina, etc. Here are some pictures of the women working. Also some of the jewelry. Please if you are interested in some of the products let me know!
-
- Women of every age work in the beads project
-
- Some of them are shy!
-
- A woman working with her young child