Selina Amana
Paper bead jewellery
A paper-bead jeweller who now runs a small shop serving her own community.
“I have learned about business, and now I have a small shop where I sell things to the community.”
Selina was born in Lodwar and moved to Kitale with her parents during the tribal clashes of 1982, eventually settling in the Kipsongo slum. She married young, but her husband died of a waterborne disease caused by poor sanitation. Left to provide for herself and her seven children, she looked for food in dumpsters, and when that was not enough she started selling alcohol, a trade constantly interrupted by police arrests. It was not the life she wanted for her children.
When she heard about the Baskets and Beads group she was eager to join, and the group walked with her. She stopped selling alcohol and began making beads and baskets, and she excels at paper bead necklaces and bracelets. She is now one of the leaders in the group and a respected member of her community, which has inspired other women to find their voices and push back against injustice. Her dream is to move out of the slum and finally have a place to call home, and to help other women change their lives.
In Selina’s words
“To learn more about money and business and how to grow, and to get a place my children can call home.”
Stand behind Selina
Gifts go into the group’s shared table banking pool and the programs that support every woman in the circle: materials, literacy, medical help, and school fees for their children.
