What started out as a desire to help end the cycle of poverty has translated into a full-time business, writes Viv Posselt, one that Esther Gathambo wants to grow.
Esther Gathambo, who runs her business Sawubona out of the Made precinct in Hamilton East, is fuelled by a desire to help African-based artisans improve their lives. Photo by Viv Posselt
Sawubona, a Hamilton-based social enterprise marketing traditional African homewares, is something of a ‘watch this space’ success story for the family charity that supported it.
When Kenyan-born Esther Gathambo first considered how she could help impoverished African communities by selling their handmade crafts here, she knew there would be challenges.
Soon after moving to New Zealand in 2018, she joined a settlement centre programme aimed at helping migrants and refugees, and while that did progress things to a degree, she sought more support.
That came via the New Zealand charity All Good Ventures, run by Hamilton-based business couple Heather and Rod Claycomb. As well as operating two successful and established businesses of their own, the couple launched the charity in 2018 aimed at supporting social entrepreneurs to start businesses where profits are directed to those in need.
Through a targeted one-year programme, Good Ventures supports social entrepreneurs by plugging crucial gaps around funding and business knowledge and offering 12 months of mentoring.
Esther Gathambo and her enterprise Sawubona, said Heather Claycomb, are an ideal example of what Good Ventures is all about.
“Esther has the passion that we look for in the businesses we support,” she said, adding that while that might be the driver for many social entrepreneurs, passion alone won’t make a business work.
“You need it to help people, of course, but you must be able to build business skills, make applications, handle human resources and so on for a business to survive. Those are two different skill sets. We only work with people for a year … our goal is to set them on a path with the skills they need to continue.”
Esther’s grit and determination shone through from an early age. She grew up in rural Kenya in a resilient, single-parent family, going to different schools, developing a love for literacy and becoming the first in her family to go to university.
“I watched my mother and grandmother run small businesses, but when I finished with my BA, I wasn’t sure what I would do. I was between jobs when I met my New Zealand partner and when an employment opportunity came up for me in Christchurch, I took it. My partner lives in Hamilton, so I moved up here.”
Esther Gathambo, who runs her business Sawubona out of the Made precinct in Hamilton East, is fuelled by a desire to help African-based artisans improve their lives. Photo by Viv Posselt
All the while, thoughts had been percolating around opening a business that would empower African-based artisans and their families. She realised what a privilege it was to have a job when so many millions did not and grew increasingly determined to create opportunities for them.
Sawubona – a Zulu word of welcome meaning ‘I see you’ – cut its teeth at local markets and now has space in Hamilton East’s Made market precinct. She sells handcrafted products fashioned by more than 75 artisans across various African countries, including Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa.
What started out as a desire to help end the cycle of poverty has translated into a full-time business that Esther wants to grow. There are still plenty of challenges, but she is determined to get to the point where she can return a more sizeable chunk of the profits to the artisans rather than have to spend it on business costs.
“It is also difficult to meet the weight of expectation that many people in Africa have,” she said. “They have perceptions of privilege. They think everyone living in first world countries is wealthy, and don’t always understand how things work. That can be challenging.
“But they have wonderful skills, and I want to showcase those at the same time as helping communities escape poverty if I can.”
Esther’s Sawubona represents one of few New Zealand businesses that approach Good Ventures during its annual applications round.
Heather said many of the 80 plus applications this year are from countries such as Nepal, Cambodia, Canada, South America and the like.
“We don’t get a lot of applications from New Zealand, and we don’t really know why that is,” she said. “We would like to see that change.”
Some of the many African-based artisans Esther Gathambo supports through her business, Sawubona. Photo: supplied
