0 Shares

Ronelle Funk Allstate LogoA few months ago, Christine Jarlik-Bell got an offer she couldn’t refuse.

She’d gotten involved with Friendly Water for the World, an Olympia-based group that teaches people in developing nations how to build biosand water filters to create clean drinking water. After conversing back and forth on social media with a man in Rwanda about the project happening there, she was startled when he sent her a message: “Our women make beautiful crafts. Can you help us create a market in America to sell them?”

rwanda baskets
Christine Jarlik-Bell has created a fundraiser called Weaving Joy to help Rwandan women raise their standard of living by selling their baskets, bags, and bowls.

The man was a representative of GOD in US Africa, a group that works with widows of HIV and street youth in Gisenyi, a region in rural western Rwanda. “This group of widows creates these exquisite baskets using all natural dyes,” says David Albert, Board Chair at Friendly Water for the World. “Through our organization we connected them with Christine.”

Jarlik-Bell had never organized anything like it before, but decided to take on the project, dubbing the fundraiser ‘Weaving Joy.’ Eighteen women send commercial samples of bowls, bags, and baskets woven out of sisal fiber, a type of agave plant that is native to Mexico but grown around the world, which are then sold at wholesale prices. All of the proceeds go back to the artisans.

Rwanda is known for its peace baskets, a product that was born after the genocide in the mid-90’s that decimated the Tutsi population. “Thirteen women harvest the sisal grass and dye the string,” she says. “There are about 30 different types of bowls. They’re always different and totally unique. They can’t be reproduced.”

The products are currently on sale at the Yelm Food Cooperative and several other locations around Thurston County. “All the proceeds go back to the women,” she says. “It’s helping them to have a better standard of living. They can pay for health insurance if they need it, and take care of their children’s school fees and other basic needs. They are also making kitchen gardens now.”

rwanda baskets
The money the 18 women receive for their work helps them with things like school fees, health care and basic needs.

She appreciates the difference that Friendly Water for the World has made in the region. “What I really like about this project is that they already have clean water and sanitation,” she says.  “They can put all of their efforts into making the baskets.”

Albert is happy to see the continuation of the work his group has been doing with GOD in US Africa. “They’d been working with HIV widows and street youth for ten years, but they saw that water was really a terrible problem,” he says. “We’ve trained them to build biosand water filters, and it’s been a great success. In the last four months they’ve sold 154 filters, bought health insurance for 59 children in their community and rented a large piece of land so they can grow food for themselves, sell it at the market and give it away to even poorer people. We’re taking some of the poorest people in this community and turning them into philanthropists.”

The next steps for Weaving Joy include expanding the number of women involved, adding more retail outlets, and going through the process to acquire a Fair Trade certification. In order to understand more about the latter, Jarlik-Bell contacted Alaffia, an international cooperative based in Tumwater with a focus on empowerment, education, and health projects in Togo. “I want to make this sustainable,” she says. “These women are looking at this as a long-term income source. I learned that there are twenty questions that have to be answered before something is approved for fair trade. I’m looking into that process in order to get them a more steady income.”

rwanda baskets
The baskets are made from sisal fiber, which is exceptionally strong and durable.

For now, the baskets can be viewed at Divinity Organic Hair Salon in Olympia and bought at the Yelm Food Co-op. “I’m really grateful to the whole staff of the co-op plus its beautiful customers and members for being part of this project and moving it forward,” she says. At the same time, she hopes to expand into other outlets around Thurston County. “I’ve had it in mind to make them available more extensively, but the Christmas season came,” she says. “We’re looking to expand.”

Taking on such a venture has helped her overcome a degree of doubt. “I’ve learned that I am able to do this,” she says. “To literally make contact with a different part of the world, to reach out and give a helping hand, it’s just amazing. I got over my shadow that said, ‘You can’t do this.’ It’s expanded my whole being.”

Jarlik-Bell also appreciates the help she’s received. “It was important to get this project off the ground, but I’m not doing it alone,” she says. “My friend Margaret Weich has been traveling the world and helping women get better living standards her entire life. She’s been taking bowls and showing them to people where she works.” Graphic designer Ross Leroy of Point Zero Creative made her a logo and a flyer, and local artist Tina Maggio created a sign for the co-op. “I’m really grateful for all of those who are helping me,” she says.

rwanda baskets
Rwanda is famous for its Peace Baskets.

Jarlik-Bell’s goal is to make the project self-sustaining. “I want more markets to be open for these crafts and to help these women,” she says. “This whole project is bigger than any one person. This is a community effort, with those of us in Olympia, Yelm and Thurston County supporting the community in Rwanda. It brings me a lot of joy to do this.”

Click here to watch a video of the Rwandan weavers celebrating their first sales in Thurston County.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
0 Shares