Visited a women’s cooperative this past week called Gahaya. The women here make beaded necklaces for sale. They actually roll each bead from a strip of paper. It's then dyed, dried and then arranged in a pleasing form on a string to make a necklace. The place also serves as a clearinghouse for baskets made by other cooperatives from the countryside. We met the co-founder, Janet, who was extremely charming, and she explained to us about what the cooperative does and who its clients are. US clients include Macy’s /Bloomingdale’s, Anthropologie and Sam’s Club. She had a recent issue of Marie-Claire, a French women’s magazine, with a photo of one of the hand bags the ladies had woven for designer Kate Spade. It was selling for $150 US and of course bore a Kate Spade label although Kate Spade had little to do with the actual design. I picked up a few items, but the prices were along the lines of US prices so I couldn’t really afford much. It was an extremely interesting outing and I’ve posted a few photos that I once again took with my phone camera. Why I am always so ill-prepared, I’ve yet to figure out!
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