Review of 2019

An eventful and exciting year is drawing to a close.

Membership WeCare-Association
In 2019, we added the “Become active” section to our website wecare-association.com, where you can either become a member yourself or give a membership as a gift.

It would be great if you could do a bit of advertising. We are happy about every new member!
In 2019, we also focused entirely on the further development of our projects and intensified our collaboration with local contacts.

Femmes des rizières
Following the launch of the launch collection, we are now working feverishly to improve and further develop the project. We were able to deliver the products ordered at Bazaar 2018 and held three sales events in 2019. Susi was in Cambodia in March and visited several projects and potential fabric suppliers and worked with the atelier. The craftsmanship of the tailors is very high quality and they are already working very precisely. We definitely still need to work on the processes, but we are very confident in this respect.
Acceptance of the collection has been very positive. However, we are still struggling with various problems, such as the local availability of fabrics and their quality, which is unfortunately not consistent. Another challenge is logistics, as shipping to and from Battambang (Cambodia) is very time-consuming and also cost-intensive.
We are currently very open to various possibilities, 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 was satisfied with in terms of quality, but then the start-up changed its direction.
A Swiss designer has made us a wonderful donation of fabric, which is currently still on its way to Cambodia, and we want to make some upcycling models with it.
We are also planning to launch a home and animal collection. Sales events are also planned for 2020, the first of which will be participation in the Atelier Days in Erlenbach at the beginning of April. Please follow Femmes des rizières on Instagram (femmes_des_rizieres) and on Facebook (Femmes des rizières)! There you will not only find news and information about the project but also the dates for the sales events. We are of course also looking for potential distribution partners – so if anyone knows anything, please send an email to s.riz(@)wecare-association.com!!! 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 present when the 80 girls moved into their new home. It was a very impressive and emotional event. The girls are incredibly motivated and were delighted. It also seems as if the opening of the learning center will give the whole community a real boost.
Tailoring teacher Faith started teaching in September, and her students are the residents of Nasaru as well as their mothers. Some young men have also joined them! We have provided them with a basic stock of sewing materials such as fabrics, threads, needles, etc., but the idea is that in future they will be able to finance this from the sale of home-made products.

One of the products they are to produce is period hygiene products for girls. This would solve two problems at once: A major problem for Kenyan girls is the affordability of hygienic sanitary towels – they are often forced to buy them for sex! Unimaginable in our world! A sad reality in Kenya!
We are still looking for volunteers to teach the girls at NASARU additional English skills!
We are also planning to set up a chicken coop in Nasaru in 2020 – we are currently evaluating the appropriate form of organization and are still looking for suitable project managers.

Iloshon borehole project
Unfortunately, the geological survey was negative, which means that we have no guarantee that we will find water if we drill a borehole there. 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 has founded a so-called SACCO Society. SACCO stands for Savings and Credit Cooperative, i.e. it is a savings and credit cooperative. This group consists of 26 women and 4 men. The group meets every Monday afternoon with a trainer and each member pays in 260 KES (approx. CHF 2.50) every week. The money saved in this way can be given to a member as a loan, 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 have a corresponding learning effect. We will then also have to discuss the amount of interest. In this group, the participants are also given a basic knowledge of economic trading. For example, the idea “We want to sell sugar cane juice” is currently being used to develop a business model. Susi is in weekly contact with Agnes to provide input and also to understand where the problems are and what questions the participants have. However, it is already becoming clear from the sugar cane juice project that the local conditions are not very business-friendly: To be allowed to sell the juice, you need a health license, a health certificate, a sales license, an apron, a cap and rubber boots, electricity, a fridge, benches and chairs….. we are curious to see how this will develop!
The weather in Masailand has been quite capricious in 2019 and unfortunately the rain did not come at first. The drought coupled with a certain lack of understanding of priorities has unfortunately led to the death of several cows in Olpirikata. The few remaining cows were taken to Nakuru, further north, where they are currently being nursed back to health. The WeCare- Association has also covered the costs for this and we hope that the emaciated and weakened cows will recover!

We regularly post news and updates on our activities and project progress on our website wecare-association.com and also on Instagram (wecareassociation) and Facebook.