In June this year two of us went to Nairobi, Kenya to set up a small arts and crafts business that employs youths from the area. Through this business a small group of youths now has an income and several of them are using the employment they received to save up for a University education. Currently the business is independent and doing well and there is hope to expand the business in the future to employ even more youths. (see more about this under the caption: Iyzaqx art)
One of the products that is sold in this business is belts made from wood. These are unique products that we have never seen in the Netherlands or in Germany. The belts are too expensive to be purchased by the average Kenyan citizen, which means that perhaps a different market should be considered. Therefore we brought home a couple of these belts to see how people reacted to them. Many people wondered where we got the belts from, which indicated that there is some great potential in selling the belts on the European market.
Now we want to realize the potential of the wooden belts and address the problem of street youths by setting up a business that offers them a safe and empowering employment opportunity in which they manufacture wooden belts that are then sold on the European Market.