CEO's Message
When Vincent Aboubakar, my favorite African player and Cameroonian national team captain, was sent off the pitch for celebrating a goal shirtless in the 2022 World Cup in a quarter final against Brazil, I could not help but imagine how simple it would have been to prevent that red-card, or a yellow-card if there was no previous warning. Simple –a change of clothes. I know FIFA regulates all that goes into the kitting of the World Cup teams but if Crochet Hub Africa had a say, 2026, we would stitch the star’s pair of shorts and jersey together literally –no way to remove his shirt at all!
My point is, maybe we in Africa look for solutions way too far from local. That is why I would love to zero in on the typical African rural woman here at the shores of Lake Victoria. Most likely, she is illiterate, jobless and poor. She is a fish monger and in the months of September and November 2022, fish worth Ksh. 1.4 billion died in the lake as a result of up-welling and pollution. Most likely, this woman has experienced transactional sex in ‘Jaboya’ culture, where vulnerable women like her exchange sex for fish. Her larger county, Homabay, ranks highest in HIV/AIDS prevalence year in year out. If vulnerability had a face!
A lot has gone into mitigating illiteracy, unemployment, poverty and HIV/AIDS in the rural Kenya even at the national level. My biggest worry is; can the vulnerable woman stand the storm on global issues. She is hard hit by Climate Change for instance because she is poor and illiterate and perhaps she thinks up- welling, the receding shoreline and the unpredictable weather patterns around the lake are magic spells. Notice the mismatch of expectations: the rural woman hardest hit by Climate Change least understands Climate Action. There is a reason why SDG 13 is a call for action. The more the numbers that respond to the call, the greater the success.
But who are the numbers? Women. They are a majority in most populations
And where are the numbers? Rural. Most African populations are rural.
We need to be telling the rural woman therefore that she needs to do something; the buck rests with her. At Crochet Hub Africa, we tell her straight but simply. We invade what is entirely her domain: CLOTHING. She may not be in control of the family’s financial resources but the choice of clothing for the family is out-rightly hers. In Kenya, the market volume in the fashion industry is $312.20 billion and by 2025, the number of users in the industry is expected to amount to 21.5m. Worldwide, the fashion industry is overproducing brands by around 30-40% every season; contributing to roughly 10% of all global carbon emission. It becomes the world's second worst offender in water and plastic pollution.
The rural woman may not understand the environmental jargon but what is simpler than teaching her that Climate Action is spelt with 4Rs?
- Refuse
- Reduce
- Reuse
- Recycle
We are teaching the rural woman not only to be economical, but to also to be self-reliant and environmentally conscious in four steps:
- Refuse to buy brand new clothes that are not recyclable.
- Reduce how much goes into brand new clothes and stitch some on your own
- Re-use yarn from second-hand outfits to crochet new garments
- Recycle old shoes with crochet.
And with such simple activities, the rural marginalized woman joins global conversations.
Would you like to join us too?
Don’t forget to use the tagline #achangeofclothes on your social media platforms, tag us and let us all take action against Climate Change.