Edward Selasini
29 November 2008
Arusha — Matonyok women group from Malambo ward in Ngorongoro district are now eager to build modern houses through money collected from sales of beads and other ornaments.
The Maasai women are skilled in making colourful items decorated with beads. Such items include handbags, waist belts, gourds, sandals and neck laces. The items are sold as souvenirs to tourists.
Matonyok group started with 28 members who launched their work with an investment of only one 50kg bag of sugar that they had received from a German, Sister Angelika who runs a maternal child mobile clinic in the district. Now the group has over 70 members who work together to produce ornaments for sale.
According to the group secretary, Mama Ngayako Sakara after they had sold the sugar bag at Tsh.90,000 they bought five goats that they sold in the animal auction and then went on trading with the capital until it was enough to be shared among the members to buy building material such as corrugated iron sheets and cement.
Now instead of building their houses with cow dung , they mix cement with clay for better results.
The women said they were also able to buy school stationery for their children without asking for support from their husbands.
The group received leather processing art at Shah Leather in Moshi, Morogoro Leather Factory and Usa River Rehabilitation Centre.
The Maasai traditional homestead also called bomas are a collection of several round structures erected from sticks covered with cow dung.
.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Arusha Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
