Rwanda Woven Carrier by Kapanyi Mponda
A pair of twill woven shorts featuring slanted front pockets, buttoned back pockets, a zip pocket, buttoned waist, and keychain loop.
Discover the charm of the Rwanda Woven Carrier from Dilwana.com! This delightful handcrafted piece, woven by African artisans, features intricate patterns that reflect the rich heritage of Rwanda. Ideal for light storage, stylish home decor, or a thoughtful gift, it measures 11x25x25 cm and weighs just 306 grams, blending practicality with elegance. By purchasing, you directly support these talented artists—shop now and bring sustainable African artistry into your space!
Artist: Kapanyi Mponda
Kapanyi was born in 1968 in Botswana, in Etsha 9. She is married with two girls and a boy. Her children don’t like going to school and often take a day off. She left school after four years because her parents had chosen a husband for her and she was married when she was only 14. She weaves baskets in order to earn money to support her children and to send them to school.
Kapanyi learnt weaving from her mother who wove patterned baskets during the 1970’s. In those days to sell baskets they had to line them up the day before in long rows at the village centre. One had to spend the night next to one’s baskets to prevent anyone from stealing them. There were also long lines of traditional wigs and skirts (both very rare today), drums, thumb pianos and reed mats. People were very poor and food was scarce, and they were all worried that prospective customers would run out of money before they reached the end of the queue. People could die of hunger at that time due to the drought.
As Kapanyi’s weaving skills improved other women became jealous of her. Her baskets were bought first even if she was at the back of the queue because they were of such high quality. She is still scared of their jealousy today because there is a lot of witchcraft in Etsha. All the weavers were frightened a while ago when a jealous person started a fire in the Etsha Weavers Group compound.
Her favourite traditional design is the flower. She prefers to weave open baskets because they are quicker to complete. Her favourite colour combinations include orange and black.
One day Kapanyi went to collect the root bark of a tree that is used to make a black dye. It grows a long way from Etsha, and one has to dig deep to reach the best roots. This involves a lot of work because one has to take a little bit from many different trees so as not to kill any of them. Kapanyi was in the last stages of pregnancy at the time, and while digging she was attacked by a swarm of bees, and stung many times. When the bees finally left her she had been stung all over and was bleeding and in pain. She was worried that her baby would die, but three days later she delivered a healthy baby girl! She was glad that she didn’t deliver the baby while away from home, as sometimes happens to women who are collecting basket-making materials.