The Business of Basketry

Before I met the San Bushmen women, I met Mma Kushonya. Here is my portrait of my dear friend.

     When we met her, she had a small building next to her home where she housed the shop filled with baskets. Without much prompting, she told me that she had been the trainer for Conservation International's basket weaving cooperative. They showed her how to conduct business, how to provide good customer service, how to recruit other weavers, and the idea of sustainable harvesting.    

     She even had a small palm tree nursery behind her shop. With her own business, she helped train other weavers to be entrepreneurs. Holding training classes that included visiting shops to determine what was selling, how much to charge, and to make introductions to the stores' buyers. She also developed a visitor tour to her village so that tourists could learn about the culture as well as understand the importance of supporting this traditional artistry.

     The last time we saw Mma Kushonya, we all participated in her one day basket weaving class. I was so bad at it, that she actually took my beginning basket from me and finished it herself, both realizing that those who can't, sell...lol!

     She is a master weaver with a multitude of awards. She was asked one year to step aside and let someone else win the Best In Show honor. True to her word, she did, but the following year, she once again entered and of course she won!

     Someone believed in her, hired her, trained her. She is a shining beacon of basketry success in an industry that could easily be dismissed as a hobby. She has perservered and created a successful sustainable livelihood.

     It is with her in mind that I look for my next steps. I've been working in the field of women's economic development for 12 years this year and while I take one step back to work on my book, I hope to take a giant step forward in the year to come.