January and February just flew right by with Yawama of Sweden positioning ourselves as a distributor. It has been lots of hard work and we have had to look at new ways of marketing.  In the online store, we can easily tell stories about each character and we wanted to make sure that our creatures in stores would still carry the descriptions – so new labels had to be made. We decided to go with a new warmer brand colour and we have made new marketing material. Exhibition material, lighting, podiums had to be considered, and of course, our lucky mascot our large elephant Insofu had to be made and dragged with me to every trade fair.

Liana knitting Insofu.

What an exciting time with trade fairs in both Stockholm and Holland and numerous visits to toys shops, museums, interior stores and gift stores.

We are so glad to be enriched not only by this new marketing experience but by all the new friends we have made and the new stores that are now carrying our brand.

Our creatures can now be found at the following stores in Sweden.

Levareko Kalmar

Calle Kanin Skellefteå

Sogolikating Umeå

Marias Blommor Umeå

Minimi Umeå

Ting o tanke Falkenberg

Svenska presenter Valdermarsvik

Q4 Dalsjöfors

Signerat Örsnköldsvik

Makaroom Linköping

Hemma i Stavsjö Hemma i Stavsjö

We will soon also be in Germany and in Holland and have negotiations underway in so many other exciting stores!

Christmas just around the corner and the women at little Ndaba have been working so hard to complete our Christmas orders which includes our brand new crocheted collection. Not exactly Santas’ toy factory up in the north but a smaller version of it with women spread over Zambia with their knitting needles and crocheting hooks.

We are so excited about working with a new group of extremely motivated women contracted to work specifically with a small part of our new collection. These women are based in Chillilabombwe (which is  434km from Lusaka a good 7-8 hour bus ride). The group was incredibly excited about being given the opportunity to work on one particular piece of clothing- a pair of dungarees for one of our new toys.  So the deadline was set for shipment and the women worked hard before the deadline to make sure the shorts were good and ready.

Crocheted shorts for Yawama of Sweden new collection

The shorts were boxed and ready for the trip to Lusaka. Initially the women had missed the bus going from Chililabombwe so they jumped on a bus to Kitwe (2 hours away from Chililabombe) to try and catch another bus travelling through to Lusaka… (I think it says something for their commitment!) but then no one (bus diver/station master etc) could find the box of shorts when they finally got to Lusaka. 4 days later after much rummaging through bags and boxes the shorts were located in the depths of Lusaka inter-city bus terminal with the help of a very sweet bus driver called Mr Daka.

Lusaka bus terminal picture from my visit in 2014

I am saying my official goodbyes to my role heading the museum on this magnificent island of Norrbyskär.

I am truly grateful to have been entrusted to manage this important cultural heritage that is a symbolic cornerstone in the welfare state the we enjoy in Sweden today. The saw-milling era at its prime in the 20s – 50s brought with it major changes- productivity, job creation, export opportunities and economic gain.

Every journey one embarks upon will leave a trail. This one is mine.

I have learned to appreciate even more so the benefits previous generations have paid the price for -controlled working hours and conditions, more favourable womens rights, childrens right to an education and controlled use of chemicals in industry.

I have explored cultural avenues that I would have never dreamed of taking.

I have stood before crowds of visitors and taken tours in a language that is not my mother tongue.

I have made friends from all walks of life.

I have worked hard.

I have laughed.

I have cried.

A little piece of Norrbyskär always in my heart.

I move on to continue working with women in Zambia with the vision of making a difference in their lives through Yawama of Sweden.

Training knittes

I saw Nina Yesterday. I saw myself. 12 years old in a predominantly white boarding school in newly independent Zimbabwe standing up and saying. “ ENOUGH!!”. My fight then was for the right for blacks and whites to use the same showers.. to be able to stand in the same space. As I grew older my fight has evolved focusing on women who can’t own a space due to be being economically crippled.  They are silenced. They are no one. They are part of this never ending malicious poverty trap. They are women in Zambia.

Yawama of Sweden is my initiative born out of my numerous years in the aid sector wanting more than just hand outs for women. Wanting women to feel a sense of self worth. Wanting women to feel ownership. Wanting women to be economically independent. Wanting women to send their kids to school…..I could go on.

This is what Yawama is about.

Yawama in my tribal language bemba means “It is really good!”

A short film about our latest trip to Zambia.

I love seeing and listening to these ladies beautiful voices.