A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service

"Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities."

Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia.

For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Partners > Africa > Kinawataka Women ...

Kinawataka Women Initiatives

Kinawataka Women Initiatives (KIWOI)
Kinawataka Women Initiatives (KIWOI)

Issue: Women's Rights and Recycling
Region: Africa
Location: Kampala, Uganda

Background
Established in 1998 in Kinawataka, a slum area in Kampala, Uganda, KIWOI engages in various income-generating activities, provides trainings and educational programs, and operates an orphanage. It was founded by Benedicta Nanyonga, a former Bank of Uganda employee, and several other women who sought to raise the standard of living for themselves and other women in their community. To that end, KIWOI invested in trainings to learn how to make mushrooms, food warmer baskets, and pineapple wine, skills that it taught to its members. Further, KIWOI built a public toilet/shower in Kinawataka to generate income for the organization, which it could use to offer microcredit to its members, while providing a valuable resource to the community.

Since 2006, KIWOI has been making and selling original handcrafts fabricated out of used plastic drinking straws. The line of products includes a variety of bags, mats, earrings, belts, and even shoes. Benedicta Nanyonga came up with this novel idea after finding a bunch of straws in a plastic bag polluting and blocking a local waterway. She adapted the traditional Ugandan technique for weaving mats, bags, and baskets (typically out of natural fibers) and developed a process to create the plastic straw products. This unique income-generating activity has provided a number of women with employment opportunities. In addition, KIWOI has been training groups of women in other regions of Uganda how to make the straw products.

Many of the women and children who benefit from KIOWI’s projects are affected by HIV/AIDS and war.

Telling The Story

Photographs:

Take a look at Peace Fellow Scarlett Chidgey's Flickr photos	Visit the KIWOI's photo gallery

Videos:

Watch AP's playlist on KIWOI

Peace Fellow Blogs:

2012: Katie Hoffman (Georgetown University)

2011: Scarlett Chidgey (University of Denver)

2010: Annika Allman (Columbia University)

Quilting and Other Projects:

With the assistance of 2011 Peace Fellow Scarlett Chidgey, the women of KIWOI created an Advocacy Quilt using recycled drinking straws and panels that were hand-painted onto bark from a mutuba tree, which was beaten and pressed into paper. The name of the quilt, Butonde, is the Luganda word for "nature." The quilt has been displayed internationally, including at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City in honor of International Women's Day 2012.


The Butonde depicts images of everyday life of women in Kampala, Uganda.

KIWOI's Work

Campaigns:

Women working at KIWOI's center in Kampala work on weaving used drinking straws to create bags and other works of art.

KIWOI provides employment opportunities, income-generating activity training, and microfinance to women to enable them to gain economic empowerment, so that they may use their income to support themselves and their families.
KIWOI educates women in the community about their human rights, and provides trainings for them on topics such as HIV/AIDS, English literacy, and domestic violence.
KIWOI works at the grassroots level to educate the community about the importance of environmental protection and recycling and the hazards of disposable plastic bags and pollution.
KIWOI uses locally available materials, plastic waste, and harvested rainwater to produce handcrafts, thereby reducing its carbon footprint.

Donate to KIWOI
Support Kinawataka Women Initiatives in Uganda:

You must insert a dollar amount to donate.

Contact KIWOI
Visit the Kinawataka Women Initiatves website

Mailing Address:
Kinawataka Women Initiatives
Benedicta Nanyonga, Executive Director
P.O. Box 22145, Kampala UGANDA
+256-41-221332
+256-71-221332 (mobile)

Email: kinawataka@gmail.com

To see some finished products and to support KIWOI, visit www.strawbags.org.

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