SATUBO - Empowerment through craft

The ancestral beadwork of Northern Kenya is an intricate art form that involves the threading together of beads of different shapes, sizes, and colours, connecting them along the same wire or thread. This traditional craft has been the very thread uniting the members of SATUBO - a twenty-strong female collective comprised of women from the historically warring Samburu (SA), Turkana (TU), and Borana (BO) tribes of northern Kenya.

Traditionally used to decorate costumes, beadwork is practiced across all three communities and passed from one generation to the next. In 2010, in the aftermath of particularly turbulent post-election violence, the women from these pastoral communities realized they bore the brunt of unrest, left behind to face the consequences of intertribal conflicts, and destroyed homes. Setting aside their differences they, with the help of the ZEITZ foundation, formed a women’s collective, which allowed them to earn an independent income, and support themselves by doing what they knew bestbeadwork.

Headquartered on Segera Conservancy, the ZEITZ foundation creates and supports positive impact projects that promote holistic conservation, enhance livelihoods, and foster intercultural dialogue and sustainability. Segera started sending guests to SATUBO workshops to see the women in action.

“In 2010 we started working closely with Segera and this collaboration was god-sent because it brought out the best in us - our entrepreneurship as well as craftsmanship. We got our first money as a result of them and we were over the moon,” says SATUBO spokeswoman Jane Karimi.

Inviting visitors to see their craft first-hand and selling their colourful beadwork was life-changing for the SATUBO collective. “Some of the women had never earned an income before. The little money given to them by their husbands was to go to the market and purchase basic items for the family, so it was a very big thing,” says Jane.

“One of the guests was teary-eyed when his family joined us for the day and promised to build us an office and workshop if we could provide land. This was one of the happiest days in our lives. We had been saving 30% of our income for some years to buy land and then this angel appeared,” says Jane as she shows us around the SATUBO workshop, a beautiful stone and grass thatched house built on land just outside Segera Conservancy with help from the ZEITZ foundation.

Since then, SATUBO has continued to go from strength to strength, even collaborating with grande dame fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood on her Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI). Overcoming initial opposition from men in SATUBO women’s communities, who initially believed a woman’s role was confined to caregiving and household responsibilities, they eventually recognized the positive impact of women gaining independence and additional income on the entire family.

With no tourists visiting, and no income, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the group hard, reminding Jane of the time before SATUBO was formed, when hardship was a way of life. Once again showing their adaptability and resilience in the face of a challenge, the women of SATUBO ventured into farming. “With no income, we had to find other sources of revenue to survive, and we started cultivating vegetables and rearing chicken,” says Jane. “Segera noticed our efforts but realized that we were doing it the wrong way and sent over some of their experienced gardeners to help us out,” she adds as she shows us their garden.

During the COVID period, the ZEITZ foundation extended support to SATUBO by building a kindergarten. This facility not only offers safe and high-quality childcare for the group’s preschoolers but also serves neighboring families. The proximity to the SATUBO workshop allows mothers to sustain their work commitments while ensuring their children’s well-being.

SATUBO is about more than just financial rewards, explains Jane. “We are always learning and helping each other, and coming to the workshop gives us peace of mind that we can’t find at home. You will find us here working and chatting loudly; there is no time to be sad even if the world is a dreary place, and we appreciate the little that we have.”

For SATUBO, the ZEITZ foundation and Segera are invaluable partners. “We are eternally grateful to them for their help, we have been partners for more than a decade ” says Jane, explaining that SATUBO would never have achieved as much without their support.