I am among the founders and vision bearers of the Umoja Uaso Women’s Group. Beadwork was and still is our mainstay. We began this work with Rebecca when she was running a small shop in a shanty township of Acther’s Post in the early 1990s. We initiated Umoja Village in 1994 and tried to keep our families afloat by selling our jewellery to tourists visiting the village.

As time passed, Umoja began to inspire others and many villages blossomed throughout Samburu County. The men became jealous nearly shutting it down. There was cut-throat competition and we could hardly make a sale for many days, even weeks at a time. In a bad year, we would struggle for months. 

The Umoja Jewellery website — it is Godsent. We are ahead of the game. Our business no longer suffers from seasonal trends of ups and downs. We are steadily receiving orders, we can now afford decent meals, keep our children in school, and access basics. When we receive big orders that production exceeds our capacity, we invite women from nearby villages to help us.