Imani Workshops

Imani means ‘faith’ in Kiswahili. The workshop was created in 2002 in Eldoret, Kenya to provide income opportunities and counseling for women who have suffered from poverty, hunger, and stigma associated with HIV/AIDs. Imani Workshops is a branch of the Family Preservation Initiative under the Indiana University/Kenya Partnership’s Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) program, which provides HIV preventive and treatment services to more than 100,000 adults and children in western Kenya.

The women at Imani make handcrafted jewelry, kenyan bags, aprons, shirts and handmade paper products like journals, picture frames and cards. The women are empowered by working at Imani to make a normal life for themselves despite the difficulties associated with HIV/AIDs.

I visited Imani for the first time a few weeks ago, and I was very impressed. Many of the items are made from recycled material: old donated Oprah magazines (apparently they are the best for jewelry making!), recycled hospital paper, and scrap metal.

Here are some of the women grinding hospital paper...

The bead makers (they were absolutely thrilled to be in this picture and made me take at least 4 different shots of them posing!!)













The workshop...

I will be hosting an Imani sale when I am back in the states for the holidays. Below is a link to an album with some of the items I will be selling. All of the proceeds will go directly back to Imani to support higher salaries and additional job opportunities at the workshop!

Imani

Please let me know if you are interested in any of the items and I will try to bring your requests back to the states!