African Flare represents Wendo Self Help Group -a small organization built to support our members through tapping into their skills. In Kikuyu and Akamba tribes, ‘wendo’ means love. We express our love though weaving and knitting kiondos.
Our Story
We are proud of the African Heritage
We share common trends and strategies for improving your rental income and making sure you stay in high demand of service.
Each promising business is motivated by a problem and African Flaire was no exceptional. While the world has turned towards the African heritage and culture, the people who make its complementary culture have not benefited from it, as they should.
We understood the root of problem –the culture of Africa has been transformed into a seasonal pleasure. It is enjoyed at particular times and sidelined in others, which allows well-connected elites to undercut and unfairly benefit from the African art at the expense of women who have spent decades perfecting their weaving skills.
From our Founder
How We Got Here
I’m Ann Mukuria (Pictured), and I’m the founder of African Flaire.
Since I was a little girl, I have watched my grandmother, my mum, and their colleagues in the village passionately weave and knit traditional baskets, natively known as Kiondo. Much of their effort ended up being used in their homesteads to substitute paper bags, which were too expensive to purchase regularly, sold to few women in the community, or given away as gifts during traditional ceremonies.
We found a solution to the problem. Teaming up with the skilled women and look for a reliable way to benefit from their expertise. This was the beginning of “Wendo Self Help Group”, trading as African Flaire. We first focused on Kiondo, then bead products, and other organic products.
The little income we get has had an impact on our members, empowering them economically and enabling them to educate their children and meet their daily needs.
We are guided by an African proverb “ka muingi koyaga ndiri” – “Together, we can”