Alice Nyanguthii Waithaka (AW)
“The Enkiteng sewing program has really changed my life. Before I started selling my Enkiteng bags to Seeds to Sew, my kids used to be sent home from school because we were late with school tuition, but now we are able to pay school on time, and I am also able to buy food and we no longer go to sleep hungry.”
~Alice Nyanguthii Waithaka
Alice Nyanguthii Waithaka is one of the seamstresses in our Enkiteng Program in Nyeri. She joined in winter 2014 and started learning how to sew by making Enkiteng bags (cloth gift wrapping bags) using donated fabric. She has now graduated to making the Enkiteng bags out of Kitenge fabric, as well as new products such as Kitenge knapsacks, shopping bags, wrap-skirts and other products made of Kitenge.
Alice lives in Kamakwa, Nyeri County, Kenya with 3 of her 5 children. She also cares for her parents. Because she is separated, she has found that her single-source household has not been enough to allow her family to live comfortably. Additionally, she has faced some discrimination because of her broken household. Though she has managed to successfully put her first two children through high school, she still has another 3 children to find means of paying school tuition in order for them all to complete high school. Through the Seeds to Sew program, she feels that she will be able to successfully do this.
“I am very thankful to Seed to Sew. Before I joined the Enkiteng Program, life was very difficult. I could not afford to pay for my children’s school fees and even buying food was a problem.
Now through Seed to Sew I no longer struggle buying food and clothes. My children’s school fees are not a big problem now.
Through Seed to Sew I have been saving little money monthly as I have a plan of buying a new sewing machine. I have now gained a lot of sewing skills after I started sewing garments from kitenge fabric.
Seed to Sew have changed my life very much and I can now face the future with confidence. I have a plan of starting my own tailoring shop. Thank you Seed to Sew for helping me be confident in my life.”
