Matonyok

About Olopololi lo Mayianat

The group was established in 2013 as a women’s group and now has 15 members. It started as a “merry-go-round” system where by members would contribute cups, plates and spoons to each household meeting. Their main activity is beadwork, whereby they buy shukas and beads and design unique dresses to sell to nearby markets in Kimana and Rombo. As an additional activity, the group practices farming and livestock keeping and currently own two goats. They have a table banking system which each member contributes 100 shillings to a treasurer for saving purposes.

The group have expressed some major challenges to their livelihoods:

A significant lack of reliable and consistent markets for their beadwork. They make dresses in bulk but only manage to sell one every so often.

Lacking in capital to expand on their farmland and to buy more cows and goats for fattening.

The need for diversification in crops due to a section of their land becoming swamp like in rainy season.