marissa's blog

Usually people say that there are two seasons in Malawi: the rainy season and the dry season.  From Nov - March it's the rainy season which means: planting crops, mangos, flooding and the slipperiest mud you've ever seen.  From April - October the dry season means: harvest, temporary wealth, tradtional ceremonies, cooler weather, fires, smoke, dust and respiratory sickness.  Being here in late Jan/early Feb this trip, I'm reminded that there is actually a third season...the hunger season.  

The hunger season starts at this time of year and can go until April/May.  The reason hunger season strikes now is that some 80%+ of the population here are subsistence farmers meaning they grow their own year's supply of food for their families.  Problem is that their supply of maize (the staple food) often starts dwindling dangerously low this time of year.  A family may have had a bad crop, maybe rodents got into the homemade silo of reeds and grasses, thieves could have raided it in the night or some of it could be lost any other number of things.  Fact is, that come February many families must supplement their supply of maize by buying it at market.  Because demand is high and supply is low this time of year, prices skyrocket.  Add to this the global economic recession and the current economic crisis in Malawi and you have the hunger season.  

The silver lining in this for my Dsenyo trip is that we are able to provide business to a vast number of people at a time when they need it most.  We often mention that Dsenyo works with more than 70 women and artisans here in Malawi.  Well, that's only part of the picture.  We actually contribute economically and support many many more families.  We buy chitenje (the African textiles) from over 30 women at the fabric market providing a boost to their businesses, we buy lining fabric from the local textile mill, and notions from local shops and second-hand denim from vendors at the open air markets.  We purchase phone units from the women with mobile businesses moving around on the streets.  And this list goes on.  It's really fun to shop for materials for Dsenyo and it's really rewarding to see the excitement of the vendors when we make large purchases.  With giddy excitement they thank Tamara for being a good "sister" and bringing them business from Dsenyo.  There are lots of hugs, special Malawi handshakes, smiles, dancing and singing.  It's nice to be able to be a small bright spot in the middle of the wet, muddy hunger season.  In the vendor's words "it's a miracle" for them!

This TED talk was shared with me the other day. It is one of the best explanations of why the AID INDUSTRY is broken that I have heard. What's even better, is that the speaker uses Malawi as the example. The problems presented here are exactly what I witnessed while living in Malawi and why Dsenyo has chosen the approach of social enterprise and Fair Trade. The simple answer to the broken aid industry is always corruption, but that's not the whole story or even the real reason behind the broken system. Take a moment to watch this video...be inspired and be enlightened!

"Belonging in Boulder: Unexpected Stories from Your Neighbors" is new cable show on Boulder Valley Media’s Channel 22 features local business owners, entrepreneurs, and interesting community members sharing stories about important journeys they have taken, life lessons they have learned, and why they choose to work and play in Boulder Valley. The show is created by Arielle Nobile of Legacy Connections Films who interviewed Dsenyo Founder Marissa Perry Saints for the latest episode.

"Belonging in Boulder: Unexpected Stories from Your Neighbors" Episode 5 from Arielle Nobile on Vimeo.

Guess where this week's episode of "The Amazing Race" took place?

Yep...MALAWI!  I am pretty excited about this for a number of reasons:

1. Watching footage of Malawi and the people just makes me smile
2. They visited the main market in Old Town and even went to the fabric section to work with the tailors.  This is where I buy the fabric for Dsenyo's products!
3. Tourism plays a key role for countries as they develop.  Because Malawi is a land-locked country and is a bit off the beaten path, their tourism industry is pretty tiny.  Any exposure, like this show, is great for Malawi!  

Episode 6: Watch now Episode 7: Watch now (also in Malawi!)

Sometimes people get confused and think that Fair Trade threatens the Buy Local movement. I'd like to propose quite the opposite and state that Fair Trade in fact compliments and strengthens the Buy Local movement. This is because Fair Trade, and Buy Local, and Buy Green for that matter, are all equal partners in a much greater movement which is BUY ETHICAL.

I don't know when it became okay for business not to be ethical or to not serve a real need, but somewhere down the line things have gone wrong in many cases. We are all too aware of this at the this moment in history with our current economic situation and the irresponsible actions certain industries and large corporations.

However, there is a silver lining. People at the grassroots level are responding in positive ways. All of these movements (fair trade, local, green) combined are building social awareness about how our everyday consumption impacts people and planet. That instead of seeing consumerism and capitalism as all out negatives, we can use them as powerful tools to care for the people and environment around us.

Want to dive in deeper? Check out this info-packed infogram about Fair Trade v. Buy Local from Ethical Ocean (click read more)...

When you are talking about fair trade you can now say, "Hey, there's an app for that!"  October is Fair Trade Month which makes it an idea time for Fair Trade USA to announce their new App.  I downloaded it onto my Android phone the other day and started testing it out.  Here's the deal:

• App is called the "Fair Trade Finder"
• Available via the Apple App Store or Android Market
• Use the app to find locations that sell Fair Trade certified products
• Use the app to upload Fair Trade products you find at stores and help build the largest Fair Trade database ever!

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Mwayiwathu simply means "blessings" in Chiyao, the language of the Yao people in Malawi.  This is the name that the HIV support group in Ndiwasa Village near Domasi (map) chose for their group when they started working for Dsenyo.  

HIV Positive Living Groups are quite numerous in Malawi because of the high HIV infection rate.  The purpose of these groups is to provide a safe place for people to share their struggles, council each other and encourage others in the community to live openly with the disease.  There is still a huge stigma associated with HIV, which is evident especially among men.  The majority of these groups are comprised by women, many of whom are widowed, and only decided to get tested for HIV after seeing their husbands die too young and suspecting AIDS was the cause.

Mwayiwathu is a group of 20+ women who chose this name for their group because they see the work from Dsenyo as a blessing and a solution to some of the challenges they face.  They use their wages to pay for transport to the hospital to get their ARVs (anti-retro virals), buy food, pay school fees for their children and purchase fertilizer for growing crops. 

On our recent trip to Malawi this August we interviewed each member of the group asking, "Has your quality of life improved through working with Dsenyo?"  Esinara Kwalamasa (photo left) said that it really has because she has learned new skills, she enjoys working together with the other women sharing her problems and ideas with them.  She also said that now she has money to cover basic necessities like food and soap which were a struggle before.

The Mwayiwathu HIV Support Group makes the following items for Dsenyo...everything is hand-stitched, no machines: Flowers (hair clips, ornaments, magnets, etc) and Little Friends (lion, monkey, elephant, bunny stuffed animals).

Click here to share this fair trade story...

By, Spencer Gale, guest blogger, who is interned with Dsenyo summer 2011.

Monkey Orange. It’s a small fruit that grows on trees up to 5m in central Africa. A mature tree typically produces about 400 pieces of fruit each year, which can be eaten (though they have a certain gelatinous quality that may resemble brains…ewww). The seeds are poisonous but have medicinal properties, while the fruit itself has high nutritional value.

When produced in excess the Monkey Oranges can be turned into beautiful décor globes such as the ones Chifundo Artisans Network and Mwayiwathu HIV Support Group produce in Malawi for Dsenyo. They remove the skin, then hollow out the Monkey Oranges, leaving a think, hard shell. After drying out entirely the Monkey Oranges are hand-painted and varnished to create the beautiful Monkey Orange décor globes and ornaments brought right from one tree to your tree!

By Ellen Arkfeld, guest blogger, who is interning with Dsenyo this summer.

 

 

We love the African wax print textiles with funky patterns and bright colors that we use in our bags.  But, strangely enough, many of what we know as “African textiles” don’t come from Africa at all.  In fact, the style of batik us