The Year in Review 2019

An eventful and exciting year is coming to an end and we have lots of news to tell you!

WeCare Association membership
In 2019, we added the item “Become active” on the website www.wecare-association.ch, whereby there are options to either become a member or to give a membership as a gift. It would be great if you could advertise it a bit. We’re happy about every new member!
In addition, in 2019 we focused fully on the further development of our projects and intensified the collaboration with the local contacts.

Femmes des rizières
After the launch of the launch collection, we are now working feverishly on the improvements and further development of the project. We were able to deliver the products ordered from Bazaar 2018 and held three sales events in 2019. Susi was in Cambodia in March and visited some projects and potential fabric suppliers on site and worked with the studio. The craftsmanship of the tailors is very high and they already work very precisely. We definitely still have to work on the processes, but we’re also very confident in this regard.
The acceptance of the collection was very positive. However, we are still struggling with various problems, such as the local availability of fabrics and their quality, which unfortunately is not constant. Logistics is another challenge, as shipping to and from Battambang (Cambodia) is very time-consuming and cost-intensive. We are currently very open to various options as we have to be flexible in our orientation due to existing restrictions. We made several samples for a Swiss start-up company, which the customer liked and also satisfied in terms of quality, but the startup then reoriented itself.
A Swiss designer made a wonderful fabric donation that is currently on its way to Cambodia, and we want to use it to make some upcycling models. We are also planning to launch a home and animal collection. Sales events are planned for 2020, the first being participation in the Atelier Days in Erlenbach in early April.
We would kindly ask you all to follow Femmes des rizières on Instagram (femmes_des_rizieres) and on Facebook (Femmes des rizières)! There is not only news and information about the project, but also the data for the sales events. We are of course also looking for potential sales partners – so if someone knows somebody, please contact us!

THANK YOU!

NASARU – Learning Center for Masai Girls
Manuela and Susi inaugurated the learning center during their visit at the end of June and were there when the 80 girls moved into their new home. It was a very impressive and emotional event. The girls are incredibly motivated and delighted. It also appears that the opening of the learning center will give the whole community a real boost. The tailoring teacher Faith started teaching in September, her students are the residents of Nasaru and their mothers. There were also a few young men! We have equipped them with a basic set of sewing utensils such as fabrics, threads, needles … but the idea is that in the future they can finance this by selling their handmade products.
One of the products they are supposed to manufacture are period hygiene products for the girls. This would solve two problems in one fell swoop: A major problem for Kenyan girls is the availability of sanitary sanitary pads – they are often forced to buy them for sex! Unimaginable in our world! Sad reality in Kenya!
We are still looking for volunteers to give the girls from NASARU additional English skills!
We are also planning to set up a chicken coop in Nasaru in 2020 – we are currently evaluating the right organizational form and are still looking for the right project managers.

Fountain Project Iloshon
The geological report was unfortunately negative, which means that we have no guarantee that we will encounter water when drilling there. For this reason, no drilling is carried out. Alternatively, the construction of a pipeline from the nearest location is currently being evaluated. We are looking forward to the answer …

Business Hub Kitengela
Agnes Gitogna founded a so-called SACCO Society. SACCO stands for Savings and Credit Cooperative, i.e. it is a savings and loan association. This group consists of 26 women and 4 men. The group meets with a trainer every Monday afternoon and each member pays 260 KES (approx. CHF 2.50) every week. The money saved in this way can be given as a loan to a member, with the monthly interest rate being an incredible 10%! The WeCare Association will cover the costs of the training for 6 months with the aim that we can then set up such a SACCO ourselves and accordingly have learning effects. We will then also have to discuss the correct interest rate. In this group, the participants also get a basic knowledge of commercial trade. For instance, they are about to develope a business model for selling sugar cane juice. Susi is in contact with Agnes every week to give input and also to understand where the problems are and what questions the participants have. Based on the sugar cane juice experience so far we realised that local conditions are not very business-friendly: To be able to sell the juice you need a health license, a health certificate, a sales license, an apron, a hat and rubber boots, electricity, refrigerator, benches and chairs… .. we are curious to see how this develops!
The weather in Masailand has been quite capricious in 2019 and the rain has unfortunately failed to materialize at first. The drought paired with a certain lack of understanding for priorities unfortunately led to several cows in Olpirikata having died. The few remaining cows were brought to the northern part of Nakuru, where they are currently being nursed up. The WeCare Association has also paid the costs and we hope that the emaciated and weakened cows will recover!
We regularly post on our website www.wecare-association.ch or on Instagram (wecareassociation) and on Facebook news and updates of our activities and project progress.