Ida Horner

About Ida Horner

• Ugandan born• Lived through 20 years of civil wars• Got a scholarship from the Austrian government• Moved to UK, earned a degree in Housing Management and

development• Worked for large Housing Associations and Local Authorities• Ethnic Supplies came about following a visit to SW Uganda in

December 2006• She could not reconcile the beauty of this part of the country and the

poverty, women and children, carrying water on their head for long distances, no shoes, landscape is hilly and it can be very cold

• Ida resolved to do something about this situation and her return to the UK she quit her job as Housing Manager for a London authority and set Ethnic Supplies

About Ethnic Supplies

• Economic empowerment of African women involved in textile and handicraft production

• Our role is to ensure market access for the women’s work• We promote equitable trade terms- women producers determine

their own prices and this is what we pay• We promote and subscribe to the idea of trade not aid as this is

more dignified and sustainable. Handouts cannot sustain individuals or build economies so this our way

• We recognise that we are incredibly lucky to live in a country that is not at war, we do not worry about where our next meal is coming from and we have access a decent health care system so this is our way of contributing to those less fortunate than we are

Julia

• Julia is a Masaai widow from Tanzania and is pictured her with Mrs Mrema and Mr Muzee who run Hand Products of Tanzania (HOT)

• This group is made up 35 independent female entrepreneurs some and one of these a a group of women who are hard of hearing whilst some are HIV+

• Julia was expelled from her village by fellow Masaai women when she became a widow

• Today she is able to access buyers from the UK such as Ethnic Supplies through HOT which enable her to support a family of 12

• Her beading work ahs been very well received

Lillian Cydia Kyabagi  

•Lillian is 70 years old and is one of our weavers in Southwest Uganda. •Lillian lives around Lake Bunyonyi and the biggest change around the lake according to her is that bodies do not turn up in the lake as they used to do during Amin's time and that there has been an increase in tourism to the area. •Lillian is a widow and was left penniless when her husband who had three wives died. •She uses the papyrus on the shores of the lake to weave baskets and the arrival of a local co-operative to which she belongs, she had no market access for her baskets. •She is pleased that her baskets have found a new audience and that she is able to have an income from her weaving skills

Let them Help themselves out of poverty

•Having set up Ethnic Supplies Ida has been joined by friends and well wishers to set up a new initiative called Let them Help themselves out of Poverty  •The idea behind this is to bring all the issues that affect communities in which work such as health, Education and poverty under one umbrella  •The initiatives aims are to give communities the tools to address the day to day challenges in their communities  •This will be will be achieved through the collective effort of friends, business owners and experts who are willing to donate their time and expertise with these communities  •The first community that we working with is in SW Uganda and we have a fundraising dinner on 17th October at the Hilton Hotel in Cobham to enable us to get clean water into this community

some useful tools in ecommerce

• •Online shop • •Blogs • •Twitter • •Craig’s list • •Groovy cart• •• PR • •Give away stuff for free

• •Online shop • •Blogs • •Twitter • •Craig’s list • •Groovy cart• Networking

If you think you are too small to make a diffirence try sleeping with a mosquito