Marshfield (OnFocus) – Shoppers at Rae Baxter’s Fashions in downtown Marshfield can help support entrepreneurial women in Africa – and do so in style.
The main street boutique is currently selling unique pieces created through the Baskets & Beads project, a program started by Eldonna Lewis Fernandez when she went on a mission trip to Kitale, Kenya in February 2018 and met the ladies of the Kipsongo slum.
According to the program’s website, buildings in the slum are mud huts — smaller than a tiny house — and sleep up to 15 people. Most children are malnourished, school enrollment and literacy rates are very low, and adequate healthcare and economic opportunity is severely lacking.
Through micro-loan programs, the ladies have started businesses making and selling jewelry, baskets, and other products. Fernandez had the idea to sell the items, with 100% of the proceeds going back to the project and the ladies in Kenya. The program aims to provide a means for self-supporting families through entrepreneurship, one woman at a time.
When Carol Knauf, owner of Rae Baxter’s, learned about Fernandez’s mission to help these women, she was excited for the opportunity to make these pieces available to her customers.
“I loved the idea that it would help enable these women to feed their families and send their children to school,” said Knauf. “The response has been overwhelming to the beautiful purses and necklaces. My customers love the bright colors and hearing the story behind the items.”
Brightly colored and stylish, each of the handmade purses and necklaces are unique.
“Each item is different and will never be able to be duplicated because of the materials they use changes with what they are able to get,” explained Knauf.
Visit basketsandbeadskenya.com to learn more about the jewelry, and stop at Rae Baxters to purchase in support of the “Baskets & Beads” program.
