Nandi women have been told to embrace their culture fully by engaging in cultural activities including molding gourds, and traditional attires in order to earn a living. This is according to Mrs. Joan Letting, a resident of Kamurguiywo village in Chesumei constituency, Nandi county who has achieved her dreams through the making of gourds and traditional attires.She said she acquired the knowledge from her mother-in-law.
Speaking to West Media at her home in Kamurguiywo, Mrs. Letting who is a mother of two, revealed how she has benefited a lot from the work of her hands i.e traditional artifacts, urging women from the Nandi community to learn from her and embrace their culture.
She narrated that she started the project in the year 2007 after getting married. “I used to sit next to my mother-in-law and watch carefully how she made her milk gourds and eventually I was able to learn the techniques very well,” she said.
Mrs. Letting normally makes a total of ten milk gourds daily, with two traditional attires made from skin, and above all, she also makes the traditional medicinal milk powder that is normally added to the milk, common to the Nandi community.
She was invited to the Bomas of Kenya through the office of Trade and Small Enterprises Nandi to showcase and exhibit her artifacts in the year 2014, and she made a large number of sales, something which encouraged her further.
The price depends on the size of the gourds e.g a 2-litre gourd costs a total of Kshs 300 while the biggest is sold at a price of Kshs 1,000.
She has the passion for the work which has helped her provide for her family without many problems.