Kila Siku
Kila Siku – meaning "Every Day" in Swahili – is a high-end embroidery project based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that aims to empower African women by providing them with a critical income to support their families. Over 40 Congolese ladies embroider fine Belgian linens daily at a spacious workshop in the city of Goma. The final products, including table cloths, towels, toiletry bags, cushion covers, are then sold in situ, at private sales events in Europe and the US, and online.
Why was Kila Siku started? At the heart of Africa is the DR Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal war in which millions have died. It is Africa’s Great War.
The conflict has profoundly affected the women in the country, especially in the east. The country’s economy has been decimated, infrastructure has been destroyed and violence has driven out investment and business. Many women have lost male relatives to the war and are now left to support their families.
Women and girls have also endured unspeakable horrors as a result of the conflict. They have been victims of war, murder, torture and mutilation, forced migration, starvation, rape and sexual violence. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health states that rape in Congo has metastasized amid a climate of impunity and has emerged as one of the greatest human crises of our time. Today, according to the United Nations, life expectancy in Congo is 50 for women and 47 for men, as compared to 79 or more for many developed nations.
Threats to the lives and livelihoods of the women of eastern Congo come not only from the war, but also from the natural order. In January 2002 the Nyiragongo Volcano - one of Africa’s deadliest volcanoes – erupted just outside the city of Goma, killing dozens and forcing over 300,000 people to flee to neighbouring Rwanda. Swathes of magma up to 50 meters wide oozed down streets, burning everything in their wake and finally pouring into Lake Kivu, contaminating the water with poisonous ash. The eruption wrecked about 40 percent of the town, and large parts of the city were actually buried under the lava. For many people living in this war-torn region, this was another event of catastrophic proportions. Thousands of people were left utterly destitute with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.
It is within this context that Kila Siku was founded in 2002 by a group of mainly Congolese women who were determined to repair their lives. Since the project began these women have embroidered high quality linen products, creating annual collections that have been sold across the globe and have provided the women with an income and a future.
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