By Nancy Masit
Members of Nkoilale Women Group in Narok South Sub-County are now engaged in commercial bead weaving which has impacted positively on their lives.
Magdalene Ntinka who is the production officer at their craft centre said the group was started in 2005 and has 85 women whose main activity is beadwork and shop operations.
She said before women opened the craft centre to market their products, there was no identified market and they used to sell their items by the roadsides or under trees.
They also sold their wares at throw away prices and sometimes, hence earning little income to cater for their basic needs.
Their clients declined to buy the item and often demanded explanation as to why the price was high.
That is why Nkoilale Community Development Organisation officials decided to look for a market for them.
They were linked to an organisation that officially engaged them and also employed an expert to train them to improve the quality of the beadwork items they were making.
Magdalene said that the women are now selling bracelets, belts, necklaces and beads decorated Maasai rungus (clubs).
“The women now have money to take their children to school and also improve their livelihoods by buying modern equipment for cooking like gas cookers, improved charcoal stoves (jiko koa) and production of biogas,” she said.
They have bought water tanks to harvest water and they also conserve environment by buying tree seedlings for planting in their homesteads.
They also assist their husbands and other family members to building modern houses and no longer live in manyattas.
She urged the County government of Narok to assist women open more craft centres in the entire county so that they can employ themselves and earn a living from the beadwork.
