A community-based handicraft workshop to empower Maasai women and preserve the Maasai beading tradition, was celebrated recently on International Women’s Day (March 8).

The handicraft workshop project, launched by the Basecamp Maasai Brand (BMB), started in 2003 and currently comprises 160 women. It provides the women with a space for beading, training, quality control, as well as outlets for them to sell their products.

The theme on International Women’s Day was ‘Innovation and technology for gender equality’, which was in line with BMB using technology and embracing digital platforms to market and sell the women’s products, bridging the digital skills divide and enhancing opportunities, as online sales now account for 70% of their total sales.

With the earnings from their beadwork, over half of the women have been able to install solar panels in their homes, educate their children to secondary school level, and bought water tanks for rain harvesting as well as having access to modern healthcare.