Mayamiko Trust | Empowering local communities through skills and fairer trade

November 23, 2012
by cristina
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An Interview with Mayamiko’s Trainees by Lauren Solomon

Sophiloat Kaposa

Lauren with Sophiloat Kaposa – One of Mayamiko’s wonderful trainees

: Sophiloat Kaposa – Mayamiko Trainee

Sophiloat lives locally in Lilongwe and heard about our training programme from previous graduates. She spoke to Elizabeth who coordinates the training programme in Chinsapo (a villiage set on the outskirts of Lilongwe) and was selected to be a part of it.

Sophiloat has five children and her husband is currently unemployed. She joined the Mayamiko training programme so that she could learn tailoring skills, as this will help bring money into her household.

She has greatly enjoyed the training so far and has found it very helpful – when her children’s clothes need mending she no longer needs to take it to a tailor as she can do it herself!

After Sophiloat graduates she plans to start her own business.

Sophiloat hopes that in the future she will have a wonderful family that will not lack anything they need, she wants to be an independent women who can proudly contribute to her household income. With Sophiloat’s positive attitude, drive and the skills learnt during the Mayamiko training course, we are sure she will succeed in building a better future for herself and her family.

October 17, 2012
by cristina
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SPARK – An Explosion of Creative Energy

On October 26th, we will be joining forces once again with our creative partners Slaves of the Extraordinary, for our second creatively explosive charity event, ‘Spark.’

We are collaborating for the second time with the creative collective Slaves of the Extraordinary - an imaginative design group who showcase the height of forward thinking, imagination and creativity.

After the great success of their our fundraising event ‘Inspired,’ we have organised a creatively charged night of up-and-coming ethical designers, musicians, performers and http://www.hoxtonfm.co.uk/, all coming together to raise money and promote the works of Mayamiko Trust, as well as showcase their amazing artistic talents.

The fashion showcase will include, Mayamiko Designed, African Fashion Week rising star MIA by Mia Nisbet, Fair & True, Here Today Here Tomorrow styled by Bunmi, AFOL Milan Fashion School with shoes by Beyond Skin. Musicians include State of Bengal, Bam Bam Drum Band, Randolph Matthews and Michelle Cade, with performances from Slum Civilians with music by Stephen Thomas Clarke and illustrations by Lisa Hawthorne.

We are also excited to announce that their Media Partners for ‘Spark’ are Hoxton FM who will be hosting and broadcasting live from Corbet Place.

Money raised from ‘Spark’ will fund the development and construction of a sustainable skills and production centre in Lilongwe, Malawi, where currently Mayamiko trainees learn and work outdoors. Mayamiko’s Bricks Of Hope campaign is running in conjunction with the event and aims to raise enough bricks to fund construction in Malawi. The target is 200,000 bricks, with each brick representing 50p .

Spark will be held at Corbet Place Elys Yard 15 Hanbury Street E1 6QR (Off Brick Lane) on Friday 26th October. Tickets for the event are £15 per person including a drink on arrival.

Purchase your Spark ticket HERE.

August 26, 2012
by cristina
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Sadia’s Diary – Graduation

In celebration for the completion of Level 1, we held a graduation ceremony for the 1212 trainees. In preparation for this the ladies choreographed a simple dance routine, which they performed whilst entering the ceremony as well as making their own matching graduation dresses.

The dresses were set as their final assignment, which each lady took very seriously and all achieved to the highest level. As a collective, they decided to save up enough money over a certain period of time to enable them to buy the fabric. Once they were ready, I drove them to the fabric market where they had the opportunity to see the latest print designs and decide together on the fabric for their dress.

They also insisted that myself and another Mayamiko volunteer, Briony, should also wear the same dress, which they adapted from one of my dresses that I had made for myself.

As a special guest, we invited the Minister of Gender. Typical of Malawi, she was over four hours late, however this did not dampen anyones mood. Friends, family and future students were invited to the event. There was various pieces of entertainment to keep everyone busy such comedy/drama sketches and a DJ, as well as an exhibition space with the students work for very one to view.

Once the ceremony began, the ladies danced their way in to their chosen song, they were seated at the front at which they were then presented with their certificates by the Minister. There were speeches all round, including myself as a Mayamiko representative.

The ceremony, organisation and cause was received incredibly well by everyone, especially the Minister of Gender who herself is promoting womens economic empowerment within Malawi.

Sadia x

June 7, 2012
by cristina
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‘DESIGNERS OF THE FUTURE’ – POP UP SHOP FEATURING EMERGING ETHICAL DESIGNERS

As an ethical designer, Mayamiko would like to give you the opportunity to participate in our Pop-up shop. This is an opportunity for you to sell stock, promote your brand and help us raise awareness for ethical fashion. We will have small food stalls on the day and will have walk through fashion parades with opportunities for designers to participate. Once you have booked and payed for the stall costs you will be included in promotional material, advertising and in our social media campaign.

DATE: 27th & 28th October 2012

TIMES: Saturday 11am – 6pm Sunday 11am – 6pm

LOCATION: The Rag Factory (Just off Brick Lane) – http://www.ragfactory.org.uk/what_s_here/

ADDRESS: 16-18 Heneage St, London E1 5LJ

COST: £65 per day or £100 for both days – includes venue hire, table, chair, lighting, insurance. Mayamiko asks for a 10% commission on sales which will go to the charity and help us cover costs of promotional material. Please note that patrons will not be charged anything to enter the store.

Mayamiko are committed to promoting ethical and sustainable design practices and want this to be an opportunity for us all to showcase our work. We aim to produce high quality events and hope that you will be able to join us for this exciting weekend.

Please express your interest by emailing lauren@mayamiko.com by 15th of June and we will send you through a booking form.

Many Thanks,

from the Mayamiko team x

June 6, 2012
by cristina
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Sadia’s Diary…Workshop update

Training is going very well. The students all feel confident in their sewing skills and have been making more homewear items, such as peg holders, tea caddies and are now starting on shirts, which I think will be their biggest challenge.

The group are also planning a graduation party, which they have been saving money to buy fabric to make dresses from. I will be taking them to the market to pick their own fabrics. They will then make their dresses to their size for the graduation. During the graduation we will be putting on a big BBQ, there will be our friend who is a journalist for Zodiac radio there and a few other contacts which Elizabeth knows.

The ladies are really excited about this and have been saving for a few weeks and i’ve been told that they have raised the money already.

In the workshop we have a good system in place. Elenor washes the fabrics and presses them when they come in, she then assists Briony with cutting when she is finished. If there is no power or the tailors have free time they also cut. There is only space for two people to cut at one time, which is why we have keep the tailors on sewing for now, especially with the volume of work!

Thank you all for keeping up to date with our progress in Malawi!

Sadia

May 21, 2012
by cristina
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Meet the ladies…

Over the next few months we will be posting a few short interviews with the lovely Mayamiko ladies in Malawi. That way, you can get to know them a little better and see how they are empowering themselves through skills training and education and striving for a better future. First, we will meet Mayamiko’s teacher, Charity Chilombo.

Name: Charity Chilombo

Age: 24

Children: 0

Marital Status: Single

What did you do before this job?

Before I started teaching the ladies, I was working as a tailor. I was making all things I know, like baby wear, national wear, toilet sets, kitchen sets and many more. I also studied under the TEVET course where I did my Level 1 and now training in Level 2.

Now I am working with the ladies and their performance is very high, because they know what they are doing and after this course they don’t want to be the same as they were.

I like this job very much and I enjoy it. At first as it was my first time teaching, I thought it was difficult for me but after starting and as time goes by, its easier and good because I am achieving what the ladies want to achieve.

What has been the highlight so far?

My highlight in teaching is interior decoration, baby wear and girls dresses, because here in Malawi people like to buy curtains and children’s clothes. This is why I also want the ladies to know the simple things like these.

What do you want to do when Level 1 finishes?

I would wish for all the ladies to go to Level 2, so that they can learn more and become self employed.