Each Kenya Bag Has A Story

With the urge to help the needy and impoverished, Karen Mains and some of her friends who shared the same vision started the  Global Bag Project. This ministry effort organized a cooperative bag-making project, better known as Africa Bags, which started in Nairobi,Kenya. Their goal is link that part of the world with us in a pragmatic way. As a result, micro-industries in Kenya, similar to the ones that once dotted the American landscape and supplemented our own economy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, have sprung up, bringing life and hope to hundreds of women in Kenya.

Each bag that made is a symbol of the struggle of a Kenyan woman. Thus, each Kenya bags has a story behind it. Here are some of those stories:

Abandoned by her husband, Jecintere was overwhelmed by the responsibility of taking care of her  baby, Patience. She didn't have ajob. Then she discovered about the Africa Bag program and realized that she could become her own boss. It wasn't long until she was producing Kenya bags, and caring for both herself and little Patience.

An HIV widow and mother of two daughters, Jennifer was rejected by her in-laws after her husband died because she wouldn't marry her husband's brother. Without a home, she left Kibera where she lived, and went to the city to start a new life. She knew of the Africa Bags Project, and found the answer to her prayers.

Hannah is a 37-year-old widow. She is also a single mother of six, ranging in age from 21 down to four, including two sets of twins! She is a hard worker, and in September 2010, she showed just how dedicated she is when Global Bag Project Kenya Project Coordinator Mary Ogalo and I - along with seamstresses Salome and Sophie, who are in the GBP sewing cooperative with Hannah - visited her. Hannah rents a two-room home in the Dagoretti Corner of west Nairobi, one of the city's many low-income neighborhoods.