The 10 Steps to Sourcing a New Basket Collection (It's Not Easy)
Someone might have squealed. We're not saying who.
It happened somewhere around step six, on the back of a motorbike, bouncing down a rocky trail and straight through a river. That's what it took to find our newest basket collection. Sourcing handmade baskets from Africa isn't always easy, and sometimes you literally have to go to great lengths to find them.
The short version: Zawadisha sources handmade baskets directly from the women and groups who weave them. We find them through our community, visit in person and buy directly, never through wholesalers. Every purchase funds our microlending program in Kenya.
How did we find our newest baskets?
This collection was months in the making. Here's how it went:
- Going down the rabbit hole on Google.
- Finding someone in our community who knows someone halfway across the country.
- Getting that person's mobile number and calling until they acknowledge your existence.
- Messaging back and forth for months, convincing them we're not fraudsters.
- Traveling for six hours on the day of mass protests across the country.
- Riding for 15 minutes on the back of a motorbike, up and down a rocky trail and over a river (see above re: squealing).
- Awkwardly introducing yourself, because they can't believe you actually showed up.
- Negotiating on price, because we're serious.
- Staying overnight at a local lodge and eating two suppers, because you didn't eat all day.
- Returning to Nairobi and trying to figure out whether to pack the baskets in your luggage or ship them home with DHL.
Why go to all that trouble?
Because buying directly means the women who weave the baskets are the ones who get paid. Meeting them in person means we know exactly who made what, and we can tell you their story. And every basket we sell funds our microlending program for women in Kenya.
Was it worth it? Absolutely.