Traditional Craft Making
The women of G.O.T. have been trained by a local expert in the art of basket weaving. They are honing their skills with support from the Girls of Tomorrow Foundation to continue to evolve their craft and preserve the tradition of cultural handicraft. Hopes are carried of passing this knowledge along to the next generation. These high quality handicrafts have potential of creating a self reliant income for the artisans.
G.O.T. offers a week long annual training session for the women so that they can develop new basket weaving styles. G.O.T. provides the women with access to a Canadian market space alongside our commitment to paying a fair price directly to the women for their art. Additional profits made from the basket sales in Canada are used to buy handicraft materials for the women on a monthly basis, and pay for annual training sessions.
Ebibbo Baskets, as seen below, are made from banana leaf stalk fibres as well as raffia. Other plant fibres, native to Uganda, can be used in Ebibbo Baskets as well. These materials include ruffle, njulu, and bukeddo. Dependant on the design in mind an artisan may dye fibres using natural plant based dyes sourced seasonally in Uganda. The art of basket weaving is truly an art of movement as the women encircle plant fibre upon encircled plant fibre to create the intricate patterns and shapes we see!
