It is a women self help project registered under the Ministry of Culture and Social Services started under the umbrella of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa on July 4, 1977.
Basically it was started with the main aim of training poor, widowed and single women living in the surrounding villages of Nanyuki town in the craft of Spinning, Knitting and Weaving with the
main objective of making them self reliant.
Nanyuki town was targeted because it is one of the major wool producing areas in Kenya,
its weather being favorable for sheep rearing and raising.
It was agreed from the beginning of the project that half of the proceeds acquired would go directly to the women under the project and the other half would be retained at the center.
ACHIEVEMENTS
•Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers have been able to train over 282 women in the craft of Spinning ,Knitting, Dyeing and Weaving with some venturing into private projects and earning their living for themselves & their family.
•Most women have been able to move from being squatters in the villages where they lived to acquiring their own pieces of land and building their homes.
•Most of the women have been able to educate their children through Primary schools to High schools, and some have taken their children to University level from their share of proceeds.
•Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers have been able to provide sister groups members with raw materials and encouraged them to sell their products through the display shop for those who have not established reliable market for their products.
•The women who have ventured into private businesses have offered employment to other women around Nanyuki town and other parts of the country, helping them too earn their living.
•The sister groups members who have embarked on selling wool and spun yarn have always been given first priority when purchasing raw materials in order to keep them in business.
•The women’s social lives both at the center and outside have been enhanced through consistent reminders of the value of good morals. The project has a strong church background.
•Nanyuki Spinners and weavers have established good relationships with a few people from around the world who have continued to support the project through giving market for the products or helping in searching for market in their parts of the globe.
•The initiation of planting trees around the project’s plot is viewed as a way of contribution towards the environment conservation course.
•It boasts of having to use locally available raw materials from the Mount Kenya Highlands to bring beautiful African designs of Carpets, Shawls, Cardigans, Throws, Pullovers, Scarves and Bedcovers into many contemporary homes.
CHALLENGES
The center has experienced its share of challenges through out its existence that has pulled back the mission sometime to its near close down.
•Since the 1998 Nairobi terrorist attack, Kenya was given a travel ban by the International community and the larger percentage of the customers being foreign tourists the project has been without good market for its finished products.
•With the lack of sufficient market, the center has been unable to recruit new members for training and has been losing most of the sisters to unemployment when it cannot sustain them.
•Acquiring of raw materials has become the biggest challenge because many of the suppliers have taken to selling their wool to bigger companies who are able to pay very high prices. Also the suppliers are exporting their wool to other countries, especially South Africa where there is great demand for it and a bigger profit margin.
•Death of our dear ones due to the deadly disease AIDS.
Receive Christian greetings. We the women of Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers project are appealing for your assistance in any way that God would enable you in order to keep our project in business. We appeal that in case you know of any organization or individual who can help us in any part of the proposal to please let them know of our need, and we will appreciate it very much. May God bless you for your concern as you pass this message to others.
The Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Nanyuki allowed the first building to be constructed in its compound by the American Embassy in Kenya through the funding of the Presbyterian Church of America in 1977. In the same year, the Nanyuki local community held a fund raising and raised $100 which was used to buy Spinning and Weaving equipment.
The large scale farmers around Nanyuki donated wool.
It was after that the first six women were recruited and started being trained in the craft of spinning, knitting and weaving.
In 1979 the Canadian Embassy funded the construction of a washing and dyeing room and also a verandah which was to be used as the display shop for the finished products for the customers.
Due to the expansion of the center and the limitation of the church compound, the Nanyuki Municipal Council was requested to donate land to the project and in Dec 1981 gave us 3.5 acres of land which were immediately utilized by planting dye plants.
In 1982 the District Development Office constructed the weaving house in the newly acquired land and in the same year the British Embassy funded the construction of the Carding house where Care Kenya International placed a power carding machine.
In 1988 the center decided to build an administration block from its share of proceeds and the construction was completed in 1995.
The need for a large showroom was realized as the production increased, and a loan was acquired from one of one of the Ecumenical Organizations in the country. The money was used to construct a large showroom to display the products and standard washrooms for the customers coming to visit the center. The loan was repaid in six years.
Over 282 women have been trained at the center to date, with 137 of those at the center now. Others are starting their own projects in other parts of the country, and some are selling spun yarn to weavers and knitters to form the sister groups.
Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers have been able to train over 282 women in the craft of Spinning ,Knitting, Dyeing and Weaving with some venturing into private projects and earning their living for themselves & their family.
