Afrodutch Collections: Creating beauty out of waste
Ruth Jepchirchir (at the time a cook and cleaning lady) and Dutch designer Henriette Oldhoff started Afrodutch Collections in 2011. Ruth now owns the business in Kenya while Henriette is responsible for the designs and the marketing. The idea behind Afrodutch Collections is to empower and create an income for Kenyan families by making beautiful products, in an ecofriendly way, from mostly discarded natural materials that can be easily found and purchased. The women who work with Ruth and Henriette can bring their babies with them to the workshop and/or work from home. Their standard of living has improved, their self esteem has grown. They are able to provide for their families, afford healthcare for their children, and have the funds for school fees.
Using an innovative and labor-intensive technique, adapted from a traditional method once common in Europe of using sheep’s wool, water and soap to make the textile called felt, this adaptation exchanges wool for shredded newspapers and is mixed with water and either sand or coffee grounds. After a long process of pounding, kneading, and ultimately, blending the materials, the mixture that is formed is called paperstone, and is molded into the desired size of beads. Beads are fully dried in the sun and varnished – creating a very light and strong material. Once combined with handmade beads from Ethiopia, Kenya (wood, horn, bone, recycled aluminum and brass), and Mali (clay), a collection of necklaces are created. Bejeweled is the term that is used to name these beautiful pieces. Each piece is unique, handmade, and eco-friendly.
We love to create jewelry out of all kinds of handmade African beads - they say. The idea that people from all over the world value the work of their hands encourage the women who make the jewelry. They also realize that recycling, taking care of the environment and making money are not mutually exclusive.
In 2014 and 2015 Afrodutch Collections was nominated by Craft Africa into the Best of 20 of Kenya’s Contemporary Craft and Design Brands.
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