Braghetterosse in Ethiopia
- Addis Ababa - Ethiopia
- 2011–2018
After several collaborations with UNITED NATIONS development and cooperation projects started in 2008 in Addis Ababa, BRAGHETTEROSSE decides in 2010 to try to work independently with local private companies and artisans to make handbags and small leather accessories to sell abroad mainly in Europe.
The leading objective is to proceed towards the creation of a SOCIAL BUSINESS, which aims at providing dignified work to very poor people, especially women, who are otherwise excluded from working society. In Addis Ababa there are many local, well organized, humanitarian associations who work to assist women in various essential issues: health, hygiene and social relationship (family health), vocational work training (sewing, embroidery, weaving etc.,) and home economics (acquiring and managing small savings). Vocational work training gives these women basic techniques for possibly earning a small income. Each product by BRAGHETTEROSSE is thought out to be produced in part by professionals and in part by non-professionals—assisted by local humanitarian associations—who provide some manual workmanship.
After the teaching of Prof. Muhammad Yunus creator of microcredit and Grameen Bank, this is a method for replacing charity with payment for work. Like Prof. Yunus, we believe charity is in general counter-productive towards development and independence. Moreover, through offering the western market original products, which are culturally rich and cared for in quality and design we sustain progressive values. The skin used for our accessories is mainly from sheep and goat—traditional food in the local diet-and one of the country’s wealth. Tanning of this leather has reached a very high standard and allows it to be one of the two main exported items, second after coffee.
Mamamilk Bags
These very special bags are the collaborative product of lots of different people. The beaded-looking material is hand woven with used milk bags which are gathered for us by “street children” in Addis Ababa.
Every used bag is worth ½ bir to the group who is doing the gathering.
The “street children” are led by humanitarian associations such as Don Bosco Children and Street Invest (agency of Unicef) through social workers with whom the group decides how to use the earned money.
The empty milk bags are then washed, cut up in strips and woven with a hand loom by women of Bethlehem, a local women’s cooperative.
The woven panels are then turned into handbags with carefully crafted leather details by young artisans who have been instructed by our modelist technician Gino Malinverni in the leather craft.
