【Partner】Bereesera (Ms. Yoshino)

It is our pleasure to introduce Ms. Akane Yoshino, a founder of Bereesera.

Bereesera provides opportunities for women in Uganda to support themselves by producing beautiful handicrafts made from leather and kitenge, local colourful fabric.

Ms. Akane Yoshino with beautiful products

“Bereesera”means “shiny”and “attractive” in Luganda (the local language) and is a wish that their original crafts produced by leathers and colorful and beautiful “kitenge” (African cloth) will be attractive and shiny forever for customers.
Here is the link https://www.facebook.com/Bereesera/

This following message is from Ms. Yoshino!

<Reasons for starting this activity>

I started up this volunteer group “Bereesera” as a continuation from an activity led by a Japanese volunteer who left Uganda in January 2015. The activity involved the production of handmade goods made by combining Ugandan leather and traditional African cloths with the aim of supporting single mothers by increasing their income. Although I had been working with an NGO in Japan, I had no experience in handcrafting. Together with a single mother called Najuma who was trained by the Japanese volunteer, we eventually started this activity from zero after taking over the pattern paper they had been using and necessary equipment for the leathercrafts.

Ms. Yoshino and Ugandan women who are making leather crafts 

Thanks to the tremendous support from other Japanese people, the activity has been developed successfully.

We have been working since 2018 with an NGO called “KISINGA WOMEN’S GROUP,” which became independent from another women’s NGO group we had been supporting, and using their work space has made it easy for us to focus on the crafts.

We do not limit the group members to single mothers, but also include single women and even those with spouses. In Uganda, women do not usually have control over family finances and having spouses itself does not help them to be economically independent. Therefore, instead of limiting members to single mothers, we currently welcome and support all women who want to become economically independent through this activity.

Cute smile!

<Uniqueness of Bereesera products> 
The uniqueness of our products stems from the elaborate hand stitching carefully sewn by our single mothers. The hand stitching makes each product unique as well as ensures that more women can be involved. The combination of the best leather and kitenge fabrics produces attractive products that will appeal to a variety of customers.

Ugandan women is making a leather item carefully

Working with her cute baby!

This is a hard work because this leather is thick...!

Our product line is gradually developing each year. A recent hit from our products is the Shoebill key ring. The Shoebill is a prehistoric looking bird which lives in some of our swamps and is also becoming popular in Japan. Since Uganda is famous for its Gorilla trekking tours, gorilla key rings are also among our best-selling products, and our bags in all sizes, cases for glasses, and small purses are in great demand as well. For those who live in Uganda, we make custom-made products with their choices of leather and cloths, which make them the only one in the world.

Shoebill key ring!
You can meet shoebills in Ueno Zoo, in Japan.

Mountain gorilla key ring!

<Relationship with the women’s group>
Since I came to Uganda to accompany my husband for his work, I will have to leave here someday eventually. The group members will have to take over the work I am currently responsible for and I need to keep supporting them to make this activity sustainable. There are still many tasks that Japanese volunteers are in charge of and that the group members are expected to learn, such as purchasing of leather and fabrics, quality management, development of new designs, communication with customers, and sales preparation. In order to share these roles, we need to train more women and continuous support will be necessary.

We are hoping that the existing members would be the trainers for new members and that more women in Uganda can earn a stable income by having this handiwork opportunity.

Event in Uganda.

We still have a long way ahead for them to become independent, but their skills have been remarkably developed and they are more committed to the quality of their products. We sometimes hear them saying “kawaii” (pretty, cute, lovely) when they make fine products.

Since we do not own our shops in Uganda, the major funds are from sales at events or sales on consignment. We are very thankful for the sale of our products in Japan through Global Bridge Network (GBN) and it has been a great encouragement for women in Uganda.

　　　　　　　　　

Bereesera,　Ms. Akane Yoshino

Thank you very much, Ms. Yoshino!
Have a look at Bereesera's stock list from here!
If you have any questions or inquiry, please contact us from our web page.

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