Lack of market for cultural artifacts and beadwork business people in Nandi has been a major challenge to them despite their hard work in this field, and there have been calls for the County and national governments to chip in and help them find a platform to showcase their work.
Hellen Cherop Chebet, a 39-year-old single lady with five siblings from Mosobecho village in Kiminda location, Nandi county who is one of the famous people known for her work of making cultural artifacts, narrated how hard it is to find a market for her work given that it’s seasonal.
Chebet says finding a market to sell the beadwork is a major problem to her because no one is interested in buying her stuff except when cultural or traditional events are set up.
She learnt to use her talent of making beadworks from her grandma when she was still a young girl after developing interest and passion.
Chebet began this work in 2012 where she partnered with an old lady to open up a kiosk at Namgoi to cater for the work they were supposed to do. They even used to teach other young girls the craft, but later, she was forced to keep up the work alone after the lady passed away.
This work has raised her life from grass to grace and she can manage her day to day family life including her basic needs. However, she said that if she could find a good market, then things will be way better.basic needs asituation she cited that if could find a good market could be much better.
She deals with handbags, bags, flywhisks, walking sticks, trays, ties, belts, necklaces, key holders, earrings, and flower vases made out of beads.
Every item has its own price depending on the design and makeup, for example, a bag costs between Kshs 2800 to Kshs 3,000, walking stick Kshs 5,000, and fly whisks cost Kshs 500 among other main items.
She urged the government to find a market for them, especially in foreign countries like the United States of America.
So far she has trained a total of fifteen students from various parts of Nandi like Mosoriot, Kapsabet, Kapkole, Pemcha, Mosobecho and Tindiret and they’ve excelled in the trade.
For a fast learner, the training will take him or her a period of one week, while one who prefer slow learning, the period is two weeks. She dreams of assisting every interested person by enabling them to exploit their talents.