Our current featured artist is actually a group of artists far, far away from Cape Breton. This the story of the African bags we sell in support of the African women (widows & grannies) who make these bags in order to take care of their children and grandchildren. Jane Mwaura, who attended the Coady Institute in Antigonish, organizes the women in Nairobi. The bags they make come to Cape Breton through Robbie Sutherland to be sold by our guild at the Scotsville School of Crafts as well as the Inverness Arts Centre, Bellemeade Farm, the Herring Choker Deli and the Coop in Antigonish. In the fall our guild collected clothing for the women and Robbie took the clothes to Nairobi.

	Planting the sisal crops
	Sisal leaf, which will be pounded down into the fibers the bags are woven out of.
	Men from the village tan cowhides, which are used to edge the bags and create handles.
	Here is the shop in Nairobi where the bags are taken to be finished.
	Finishing the bags is the last step in a long process.
	The bags are shipped to Cape Breton, where they distributed to local stores. It is a unique feeling to have crafts partners so very far away!
	Robbie distributes the many gifts our Guild gathered to the women.
	One of our little gifts was flashlights for the women - a cause for great curiosity!