African Woodsmoke

Jack is originally from Congo but now resides in Durban, South Africa because of war in home country. Jack is a wire artist, he makes the most amazing designs out of recycled wire and beads. He is a true entrepreneur and started this little business two years ago. Now he supplies many stores locally and loves what he does. Jack makes the most amazing key chains that have become very popular lately. To purchase one click here

Jack Show Us His Office from Sean Coetzee on Vimeo.

T Nwayo lives north of Durban in Zululand South Africa. She works at a popular street market and sells much of her jewelry there. She is particularly good with beads and necklaces. The beads she mainly uses are Zukule beads and lucky beans that she adds into most of her necklaces. Her English and business skills are decent but can be improved. We will be working with her to help improve her business and English skills.

Lola is from the South Coast of Kwa- Zulu Natal, South Africa. She is in her 70’s and makes beautiful necklaces and bead work. Her English is very poor but her handwork skills are excellent. She is from the Zulu tribe and always has a smile on her face. The first time we interacted with her she was very keen to work with Woodsmoke. When we bought 72 of her Zukule bead necklaces she was over the moon and thanked us by constant hugs and dancing around. We are going to be working with her to help her improve her English and business skills.

Lola with Zukule bead necklaces

Bongeki Mkhele works in the heart of Durban. She makes beautiful grass matts out of the Ncema grass from Kwa-Zulu Natal. She is an elderly woman and still works for most of the day. She works at a marketplace in Durban with many other woman that hand make the grass matts. Her English is very poor but our plan is to help her gain knowledge in English and business skills this year.

She started her business selling curios in 1995 as a means to provide for her family. She has two children, a son Christopher who is 15 and a daughter, Dorothy who is 18. Her husband is unemployed but helps her out every day with her business running errands for her. Her business supports her family as well as pays for rent, utilities and school fees for her children. In a good year her business would make about $2,600, but this year due to a drop in tourism business has not been that good and she has made only $650.

In the future she would like to open her own store where she would not have to daily move merchandise to and from the shop. In order for this to happen she would have to make $3,850 a year and this is where Woodsmoke has come to partner with her. We want to provide local African artisans with an international market thereby increasing their ability to make a profit and in turn improving their lives and helping them to achieve their dreams.

To support Miriam purchase a scarf here. For every scarf purchased, Woodsmoke will donate 5 percent of the sale towards helping Miriam with the many costs of educating her children.

Peter went to tailoring college for three years when we finished secondary school, and someone helped pay for college because they saw his potential. After college he was hired by the government to be an instructor for Industrial Management but he was not happy there. He continued to sew throughout his time as an instructor. He then moved to accounting and with his strong sewing and accounting background one of his customers brought him to Nairobi and they established a tailoring business together. He has worked for this person and their clients for the last 20 years and still works for them today.

He is appreciative of the individuals help but he would like to go into business for himself because up to this point the person who helped him has been benefiting from his work rather then himself. His workshop is not much bigger then your average bedroom which limits his workspace and ability for his business to grow. He also has a heart condition and throughout the years this has really hindered his work and has caused him to spend much of his income on medicine. Woodsmoke partners with Peter to help him grow as an artist and improve not only his life but also his living conditions in Kenya.