Forty-six year old Christine and her seven children live in a home made from mud with no electricity. She bought a plot of land with her savings and has slowly constructed her house. Each day Christine wakes at five in the morning for prayers and to prepare for the day.
Christine helps her orphaned sister-in-law and brother-in-law who also live in her home. Although each has completed higher education, both are still without employment. Christine is physically disabled, but happy that through her job making crafts she can take care of her family.
The collective at which she works was originally founded as a rehabilitation center for disabled Kenyans and is today proud to call themselves a self-sustaining enterprise, declaring that “disability and not inability.” They provide over 160 jobs to individuals as well as health care, assistance with school fees, retirement benefits, trade union membership and a secure income. Many of these artisans earn twice Kenya's monthly wage.
Christine would like people around the world to know how important their business is to ensure that she can support her family and give them a good life.
Necklaces from Christine's collective
Bracelets from Christine's collective
Earrings from Christine's collective
About Women In Kenya
Home to over 36 million people, Kenya serves as the economic port and hub to East Africa. While the life span for men and women is about the same (at 55 years) the issues facing women are more complicated because of laws and entrenched social norms.
Kenyan women face a number of gender issues including equal access to education, discriminatory land ownership, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, sexual exploitation and trafficking. Many factors have prevented women from being allowed to own land; therefore, their economic situation is often dependent on their closet male relation or partner. However, women in Kenya are coming together to fight for their human rights, as well as finding support in microfinance business ventures.
Since the new government assumed authority in 2003, legal efforts have been underway to reverse these practices. Still, however, women are often subjugated to discriminatory land practices, which lead to the loss of property and possessions, homelessness, sexual violence and increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Of the 1.2 million people nationwide infected with HIV/AIDS, women represent a disproportionate number. According to a recent nation wide survey it is projected that a quarter of women between the ages 12 and 24 years lost their virginity to due to a forced sexual encounter.
A key obstacle for women in Kenya has been limited access to contraceptives such as birth control pills as well as sexual education. Because of the social taboo regarding sex and global limitations placed on organizations that disseminate such education, women have limited autonomy over their own bodies, resulting in increased health risks and overpopulation.
Despite clear obstacles to women’s equality, other recent Kenyan policies such as universal free primary education have brightened the prospects for Kenya’s daughters. Additionally, micro-enterprise efforts have been a positive way for women, such as the Kenyan artisans that Global Sistergoods works with, to better their current situation and future.
Female Life Expectancy at Birth: total population: years male: 55.24 years female: 55.37 years (2007 est.)
Total Fertility rate: 4.82 children born per woman
Adult Literacy Rate: (age 15 and over can read and write): 73.6%
Per Capita Income: $1,200 (2006 est.)