Each September and October, the people of Eastern Ghana gather at the annual harvest celebration known as the Odwira festival. Drumming, dancing, and delicious food are all part of the festivities, but it’s the show of multi-hued kente cloth and handmade jewelry that Kiva borrower Rachel cherishes the most.
“The highlight for me as a young girl was the display of the beautiful traditional colorful attires that people wore and accessorized with gorgeous beaded necklaces and other adornments,” she remembers of her childhood in a peaceful mountain village northeast of the capital of Accra.
“My aunty adopted me, so I said, when I grow up, I'll also adopt and help somebody."
The vibrant styles inspired Rachel to pursue a career as an artisan, and she began by learning from her aunt, a fashion designer and makeup artist. Her aunt encouraged her creativity, and since 2007, Rachel has been crafting scarves, beads, bracelets and other accessories from materials sourced from Ghana’s traditional kente weavers and natural bauxite mines. Now that she has a successful online shop, Rachel encourages creativity in others by teaching orphans and single mothers her craft.
A loan just for artisans
“My business was booming. People were buying because I had the opportunity to buy a lot of raw materials.”
Rachel’s e-commerce shop is hosted by Kiva Lending Partner NOVICA, a unique platform that allows artisans—many of whom live in developing countries—to reach global markets and sell their goods directly to consumers. After she opened an online shop in 2012, demand for Rachel's wares increased so much that she needed to borrow some capital to replenish her inventory.
“Before I got the loan, I was working on a small scale on my own corner,” Rachel says.
NOVICA's platform also disburses capital, enabling entrepreneurs to amass the materials needed to make their creations.
“They advertise your things and let the whole world know what you are doing,” explains Rachel.
“Also, when your things are being sold, they don't take your money, but rather, they put the money in your accounts. And that's why I like them.”
NOVICA loans have zero percent interest, with repayments terms that are linked to the artisan's revenue—meaning the more products they sell, the more they will repay that month. Conversely, if sales are slow, they’re not obligated to make a big payment.
Kiva is a natural partner for NOVICA. By posting some of their loans to artisans to the Kiva site, they are able to fund a larger number of artisans at a greater speed, and introduce more people to NOVICA artisans.
Rachel's loan of $100 was funded by 4 Kiva lenders. After she received her Kiva funding:
“My business was booming. People were buying because I had the opportunity to buy a lot of raw materials.”
Make a loan to an artisan here
With her loan, Rachel purchased thread and other sewing materials locally, then traveled to other parts of the country to peruse the different types of cloth and stones unique to various regions that she became familiar with as a child.
“My father was a teacher, we traveled with him all over Ghana to where he was posted,” says the designer who also taught clothing and textiles at the Ghana Education Service for ten years.
“I travel quite a distance to the eastern region of Ghana to get natural bauxite and soapstone. I am in contact with stone carvers there who shape and cut them to my specifications.”
Rachel recommends borrowing with Kiva, though she issues a strong caveat to anybody without a clear plan for the money.
“If I didn't have this loan, maybe I would stay idle without doing anything.”
“The advice I would give to others taking out a loan is that they should focus on the exact thing that they want,” she counsels, warning against frittering away the funds on clothing or other items.
“Focus on the business so that you make a profit out of it.”
“I've been able to pay my loan through the sales,” she confirms, estimating that her business has at least doubled since borrowing the funds.
“Any sales that I make, they deduct from what I've sold and they give me the rest. So I was paying it bit by bit.”
You can visit Rachel's page on the Kiva store here to see or purchase some of the goods she creates.
Teaching it forward
Though her business is thriving, Rachel has faced challenges and trauma. When she posted original profile, she described herself as a single mother who played with her daughters in her workshop. In a more recent interview, however, she reveals she has since experienced unnamed tragedies.
“I normally don't talk about it. My children and my husband are no more,” says the usually effusive artisan, her wide smile dimming for a moment. “So the orphan children are my family now.”
Rachel cares for these children in her home, working on her beads and scarves while they are in school. Her own mother died when she was young, and the love she received from her aunt—the same one who bolstered her creative career—has moved her to dress, feed, and look after those who have no one else.
“I still want to maintain history and culture, and also to help people."
“My aunty adopted me, so I said, when I grow up, I'll also adopt and help somebody,” recalls the dedicated foster mother.
Rachel also shows the children how to bead and craft and intends to help others by passing on her knowledge and skills as an artisan, giving them the opportunity to make a living.
“I have future dreams and a plan,” describes the teacher. She plans to further expand her business, then open a vocational and technical school for those who don’t have access to education, to help keep them from living on the streets.
“I will teach a lot of people, the less privileged, the orphans and the single parents. I will teach them so that I will put a smile on their faces.”
Maintaining history and culture
Rachel still returns to the Odwira festival every year, contributing her own colorful designs and exquisite adornments to the celebration.
“I still want to maintain history and culture, and also to help people,” she says.
It’s all possible, given Rachel’s faith, hard work, and dedication to her craft—as well as, she reminds, the support from Kiva that helped her establish her business.
“If I didn't have this loan, maybe I would stay idle without doing anything.”
