Archive for Community Projects
SOKO grows up!
Last week saw SOKO make it’s big move to our new location. SOKO has been in it’s current space in Ukunda for 2 1/2 years and so the move to Rukinga, our new home, was no small feat! On Monday afternoon a small team loaded the lorry and had our last chai together in Ukunda [...]
Read moreNews from SOKO
Sorry we have been silent for so long. We have been busy with the exciting next phase of SOKO. (If you would like to keep updated with our day-to-day news please ‘like’ our facebook page) In the last few months we have been working on the SS12 collections for our clients. You can see some [...]
Read moreSOKO works with MADE.
SOKO has recently teamed up with MADE, to produce kitenge and khanga pouches to put their jewellery in. This is fantastic opportunity for us as it means we can use up our fabric off cuts and give our trainee tailors more experience. MADE produce beautiful pieces of jewellery that are hand crafted in their workshop in Nairobi, with many components sourced [...]
Read moreProviding loans to our staff…
A lot of our employees are expected to support their extended families because they are on a good wage. This type of letter is something that we receive regularly, as despite earning a good living wage many people do not have [...]
Read moreMeet Mwaka
Mwaka is 30 and has worked for SOKO since February 2010. She didn’t finish secondary school as her father died when she was 16 and her mother could no longer afford the school fees; she took it upon herself to train to be a tailor so that she could help support her family. Mwaka began [...]
Read moreReturn from maternity leave
On the 1st of this month new mum, Phelisters, returned from her three month maternity leave. With her she has brought her lovely son Lucky! He has settled into the creche well and enjoys Gift entertaining him. Phelisters has said that she is happy to return from maternity leave to work because having help with Lucky during the [...]
Read moreMeet Fatuma
Fatuma is the youngest tailor at SOKO and has been with us from the start, in December 2009. From an early age Fatuma was always interested in clothes and the way that they were made, so when she finished secondary school the obvious thing to do was to study tailoring. She moved from her home [...]
Read moreThis is Gift.
A month ago we opened a small creche. Our female employees with young children have two childcare options one is to pay a child-minder, which can cost at least a third of their monthly salary, the other is to leave their children with their parents in the countryside and visit them every 3 to 6 [...]
Read moreBusy Beaders
SOKO has now gathered a large group of beaders to work on the beading for the ASOS Africa Autumn/Winter 2010 collection. Our group of beaders are from the Maasai tribe (of Kenya and Tanzania) and, as one of the beaders told us, they are “born beading”. Beading is traditionally done by women but throughout the [...]
Read moreWe’re in…..
Our extension is finally finished and we’ve moved in! The first ASOS Africa Autumn/Winter 2010 delivery of 1000 units is due to leave the workshop next week so we haven’t had much time to sit back and enjoy it but as you’ll see below we’ve managed to fill every inch of the new space already.
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