Africa-Forward: Trip to Wawoto Kacel in Gulu, Uganda
The social arts & crafts cooperative was founded by a group of HIV positive women with the help of Comboni Samaritans and an Italian organisation, Good Samaritan Onlus, in 1997. Wawoto Kacel means ‘walking together’ in Acholi. Most of the members working at the coop are either HIV positive (70%) or physically disabled (13%).
The coop has several divisions/units including:
- Knitting (they produce uniforms for several schools in the area)
- Beading (using materials such as recycled paper and Adèle’s favourite, seeds for necklaces)
- Card making
- Weaving (making table cloths, blankets etc.)
- Tie-dye (Some of their methods involve porridge and using African brooms to create brush strokes with porridge on the fabric – very clever!)
- Tailoring and embroidery
There’s a lot of collaboration in the works, between our team and theirs! Adèle has volunteered to redesign their logo and identity to help the coop strengthen their brand and will also be collaborating with them on a seed jewellery collection. The coop may also be producing a new collection for us in a few months time – a departure from our usual medium. We don’t want to say too much right now … stay tuned for the big reveal!
We will be selling Wawoto Kacel’s tie-dye fabrics in our outlets, starting from next week. For location/contact details, visit our website. You can also buy the coop’s products on their website.
Visit our website for plenty more photos from Adèle’s trip.