Hand-carved wooden kitchenware adorned with intricate beading and paintwork, chic handwoven baskets in brights or neutrals, soothing teas, delicious sauces and more — Kenyan-born Esther Gathambo is offering Kiwis a stylish, sustainable and ethical taste of Africa via her homeware store Sawubona.

“Sawubona is a social enterprise with a beautiful collection of handcrafted homewares curated from African countries,” she says. “We’re on a mission to provide customers with quality, long-lasting homewares while improving the quality of life of African artisans, their families and communities. A lot of artisans were left without income when Covid hit and have continued to struggle throughout the pandemic due to a lack of support from the government, so I started this business to open a market for them overseas. I’m hoping to keep working with more artisans as the business grows.”

Esther says Sawubona’s story starts “with two women who are so dear to me”, her mum and grandma in Kenya. “They didn’t finish high school, so jobs in the formal sector were out of question for them, instead they turned to the ‘informal sector’ of traders and artisans or jua kali, as we call it, which loosely translates to ‘hot sun’. This is because most people in jua kali work outside... in the hot sun.

“Most people in this sector have little to no education or can’t find any employment so are much more vulnerable to poverty. Research shows that there is still a large population of people in African countries living on under $2 a day... some are living under $1, and it’s even worse now with Covid.

“My mum and grandma weren’t artisans but they started small businesses in the informal sector to escape the throes of poverty and this was able to provide an income for their families for so many years.”

Esther currently works with more than 40 artisans from around Africa. “When a customer buys a product, they’re directly providing an income to the artisan and, in turn, they’re able to afford food and medical care and to take their children to school, among other wellbeing benefits. I’ve been living in New Zealand for four years now so this is also my way of giving back to my community.

Hamilton-based Esther travels to the Bay each month to set up shop at TLBM, which she says are “quite unique in the sense that there are high-end and well-made products, which fit well with what I sell”.

“I travel once a month to engage with the community here, plus the people here are so lovely, and I love the beaches, food and markets.”