Who makes the banana fibre cribs for Brighter Communities Worldwide? Who are you supporting?

Brighter Communities Worldwide has a range of Christmas gifts which are handmade in Kenya by James Njoroge.

James is an innovative young craftsman originally from Turi, near the Masai Mara but now working in Nairobi. He is the fourth of eight children and despite not being able to afford a secondary education, he now runs his own successful craft business.

When James was in class four in a Christian primary school, he was taught by a French volunteer who showed James a nativity set which really caught his imagination. Four years later James was due to complete primary school and could not afford to go to secondary school. James still had this vivid image in his head, and he set about creating a nativity set using banana fibres. At first it just had four pieces, then eight and over a year he perfected it and now the whole set has 15 individual handmade pieces. He started to sell them in another man’s shop and an Italian nun passing the kiosk was drawn by their originality and skill. She bought a large order to bring home to Italy to sell. James invested his profits in starting up a business as he had to become the breadwinner for his mother and family upon his father’s passing. The business has grown from producing stock for someone else’s shop, to now renting his own kiosk in the Westlands area of Nairobi. His workshop is 15km away where he along with four women and three men, work to create the crafts from banana fibres and sisal.

James is a softly spoken young man who believes this world is full of hope. His dream is to return to education. He feels he missed out by not going to secondary school and would like to learn computer skills so as to improve his business. He was top of his class at maths and in his own words he believes that “education is a powder and when mixed well, it provides a base for someone to develop”.

James is delighted to partner with Brighter Communities Worldwide and considers it a blessing to work together. He keeps his share of the profits for his business and Brighter Communities Worldwide’s share goes towards the community projects in Londiani, Kenya.