Used magazines are recycled to make simple paper bead creations, such as bracelets, earrings and necklaces.
Even better; Elephant poo paper is made into A4 sheets and postcards.
ABOUT THE LADIES
Neema Women’s Group was started in 2011 by six women, it now has over fourteen members. Mwachabo is a dry and dusty place, without any water supplies or electricity. This women’s group was started by the women to earn some income from the making of paper beads in the hope of helping their children and other family members.
The overarching mission of Neema Women’s Group is to teach their community members the importance of conserving the environment and to help prevent human/wildlife conflict. Therefore at the end of 2013 the group started making elephant poo paper. As elephant dung serves as the ingredient for a cash income for the group, it means elephants can be considered an asset rather than a threat.
ABOUT THE PAPER CREATIONS
From colourful used magazines the Neema Women’s Group makes paper beads. They cut and roll pages taken from the magazines before varnishing them to create beautiful and unique end products. Most popular are the single strand paper bead elastic bracelets and the paper bead earrings.
The group also explores another paper art… recycled elephant poo paper. As elephant dung is free and abundant in this area, it makes a good base for recycled paper with a fun and wholly African twist. Elephants are poor digesters of their food and therefore kindly do the first stage of any paper making process: providing the fibres. The group recycle the poo into (clean and crispy!) paper, which Wildlife Works uses in their soap factory for packaging their organic soap. The group is quickly evolving, exploring different paper creations that can find their way to the market - so one can soon expect a new collection!
The front of our postcards has ‘fingerprint art’, for a quite literal handmade touch. We started with an elephant and giraffe design.