The Village Weavers Project promotes sustainable livelihoods for women in rural and urban communities in Nigeria by teaching them how to "upcycle" discarded fabric from local tailor shops, into beautiful trendy rugs that are then sold. THE VILLAGE WEAVERS PROJECT
Background
The Village Weavers Project started in September 2010 under the name “The Weaving Project.” The founder Ella Smit, a Dutch
national living with her family in Abuja, Nigeria sought to help her underprivileged neighbours squatting in an uncompleted housing complex by teaching them how to weave discarded fabric materials (from tailor shops around town) into beautiful multi-coloured rugs. She looked closely for the first time at the rugs and realized the rugs were made from old t-shirts. This realization led her to experiment with some left over fabric she had. She had a wooden weaving frame made and with left over fabric pieces she had and some weaving thread, she made a beautiful rug using principles she learnt during her arts and craft class when she was in elementary school back in the Netherlands. Upon completion, she decided to reach out to Mama Biu (her neighbour) who prior to meeting Ella, had been selling bean cakes for a living and was unable to send her children to school. After learning the weaving skill, Mama Biu now earns a comfortable income from weaving and has been able to send her children to school and additionally, is now building her house. This is just one success story of many weavers who have benefited tremendously from this project. Goal
The goal of the Village Weavers Project is to promote sustainable livelihoods for women in rural as well as urban communities in Nigeria. Our Project is viable because our materials are all locally sourced and there is a demand for the rugs. Most importantly the fabric used to make these beautiful multi-coloured rugs are in abundance in Nigeria because Nigerians wear a lot of tailor made Ankara clothes. Prior to our project, most tailors simply threw away left over fabric pieces, now, we have been able to liaise with a network of tailors who give us their discarded pieces for our weavers. Products
We make different types of rugs and place mats in addition, these rugs can and have been used as art pieces and wall decorations. We plan to diversify our range to include throw pillows, duvets, computer bags and oven gloves and other kitchen appliance covers. Networks
We are looking to establish links with networks not just in Nigeria but also around the world that support sustainable enterprises and grassroots development projects. We hope to widen our market especially in developed countries. International Conferences
In December, 2012, the Co-founder and Project Director, Amarachi Igboegwu was invited by the US Mission in Kampala to speak about the Project at a TEDTalk hosted by the United States Embassy in Uganda in collaboration with the US State Department and the Office of Global Youth Issues. TEDtalk link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D7E9p9JCs8
