In 2000, Espérance, called Espé, was 12 years old when her father abandoned the family. Her mother, without resources, finds herself alone with 6 children to feed. Espé is the head of the family.
In January 2002, the Nyiragongo volcano erupts. The lava swept away their house and their meagre possessions. Espé and her family lost everything in less than 24 hours. All they had left were their clothes. The seven of them crammed into a temporary shelter of 4m2. A tarpaulin surrounds them, from the walls to the ceiling. This will last for a year.
Feeding 7 people becomes a question of survival. Without financial means, all the children are forced to abandon school. The same year, Espé joined a group of women who embroidered in difficult working conditions, they were rarely paid and could not get by.
At the beginning of 2003, Espé was 15 years old. With 6 other women, she decided to take the bull by the horns and knocked on the door of Nicole, project coordinator of the Belgian non-profit organisation “En avant les enfants”, who lives in Goma. This group of embroiderers unknowingly initiates an extraordinary adventure that will become KISANY.
Espé brings along Kavé, her 14 year old sister. Between them, they earn their first salary, which they devote to buying boards to protect themselves from the rain. And with this salary comes the hope that there will be another one and that life will go on!
Meanwhile, Espé and Kavé are fighting to find their plot of land buried under metres of lava. Together with the rest of their family, they are smoothing out the ground by hand. Within a few months, Espé was able to give work to a carpenter to help him move their wooden shelter.
In September 2004, Espé and Kavé have the means to send their younger brothers to school. It is a heavy burden but they take it on. Espé also dreams of completing her secondary education! She waits until September 2005 to do so and chooses a catch-up option to do 2 years in one!
In the meantime, KISANY is making a name for itself in Europe, and a collection of linen and home accessories is being created. The team in Goma is growing. The team in Goma is growing and it is necessary to be organised in order to meet the orders, and to do so, a manager is needed. In 2006, Espé was elected! With Monique, the second in command, they learn on the job how to manage stocks, teams and prepare reports so that the women can be paid.
In Goma, the conflicts never stop and the population is getting poorer. KISANY welcomes women without resources who come forward and Espé will organise their training.
At the end of 2007, Espé obtained her secondary school certificate issued by the State but she knows that there is still a long way to go. She realises that school has given her the minimum education but that there is so much to learn!
She does not forget her family: she continues to invest in the family home so that everyone has a little space, a bed, clothes and food. It is only later, with a gift from KISANY that she builds her room!
And Espé takes her marks to literally take off in 2012. At KISANY’s request, she left for Kenya. She has never left Goma and has to organise a pass because it is impossible to get an identity card, let alone a passport. By bus she goes to Kigali and gets on a plane! She was very scared but, as she says, “I felt capable of doing something”. In Kenya, it was a revelation! She realised that she was capable of being autonomous, independent; she felt free!
With great enthusiasm, she trained 22 women in embroidery and supervised a large order for a client. 11 more women were added when the operation was repeated in 2013. Her visa allows her to stay for 3 months to train in one of the ateliers, in quality control. She was asked to stay but said her mission was back home in Goma, where hundreds of women needed her.
At the beginning of 2014, at the head of a team of 30 women, she manages more than 10,000 orders per year! It is a daily challenge to make high quality products in Goma and she never gives up. She asks for an interest-free loan to buy a plot of land because, the same year, KISANY received a donation from the SELAVIP Foundation to build 20 houses. Espé is 30 years old and becomes a homeowner, a reality almost inconceivable for a woman in Goma.
Finally, in 2015, thanks to the support of the Sisley d’Ornano Foundation, Espé received training in IT and leadership. Since then, she has never stopped working to help her group of embroiderers become autonomous. Shy but generous and enthusiastic, she does her best to help. And she concludes: “KISANY is everything to me! If I have confidence in myself, if I don’t depend on anyone, if I have the strength, it’s thanks to KISANY. I am proud of who I am.
KISANY is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, so take a look at the key figures of our achievements with our craftsmen. All this is obviously possible thanks to your support. Thank you for your support!
To mark the launch of its Masque Exfoliant Enzymatique, Sisley has partnered with KISANY to create a face band made in Goma, DR Congo, by our team of artisans using local cloth and their legendary know-how. Sisley and KISANY share a common value: the desire to create a positive social impact. Moreover, the 2 brands …
We are excited to partner with Make Mothers Matter (MMM) this May as many parts of the world celebrate Mother’s Day. MMM is an international NGO established in 1947 at the UNESCO in Paris. They advocate for the recognition and support of mothers as changemakers. To achieve their mission they work to understand the realities …
It all began in 2002 in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While the region was devastated by ethnic conflicts, the Nyiragongo volcano erupted and wiped out a third of the city of Goma in a few hours. 300,000 people have to flee, taking only what they have on their backs… Seven embroiderers: Anne-Marie, …
The story of Espé
In 2000, Espérance, called Espé, was 12 years old when her father abandoned the family. Her mother, without resources, finds herself alone with 6 children to feed. Espé is the head of the family.
In January 2002, the Nyiragongo volcano erupts. The lava swept away their house and their meagre possessions. Espé and her family lost everything in less than 24 hours. All they had left were their clothes.
The seven of them crammed into a temporary shelter of 4m2. A tarpaulin surrounds them, from the walls to the ceiling. This will last for a year.
Feeding 7 people becomes a question of survival. Without financial means, all the children are forced to abandon school.
The same year, Espé joined a group of women who embroidered in difficult working conditions, they were rarely paid and could not get by.
At the beginning of 2003, Espé was 15 years old. With 6 other women, she decided to take the bull by the horns and knocked on the door of Nicole, project coordinator of the Belgian non-profit organisation “En avant les enfants”, who lives in Goma. This group of embroiderers unknowingly initiates an extraordinary adventure that will become KISANY.
Espé brings along Kavé, her 14 year old sister. Between them, they earn their first salary, which they devote to buying boards to protect themselves from the rain.
And with this salary comes the hope that there will be another one and that life will go on!
Meanwhile, Espé and Kavé are fighting to find their plot of land buried under metres of lava. Together with the rest of their family, they are smoothing out the ground by hand. Within a few months, Espé was able to give work to a carpenter to help him move their wooden shelter.
In September 2004, Espé and Kavé have the means to send their younger brothers to school. It is a heavy burden but they take it on.
Espé also dreams of completing her secondary education! She waits until September 2005 to do so and chooses a catch-up option to do
2 years in one!
In the meantime, KISANY is making a name for itself in Europe, and a collection of linen and home accessories is being created. The team in Goma is growing. The team in Goma is growing and it is necessary to be organised in order to meet the orders, and to do so, a manager is needed. In 2006, Espé was elected! With Monique, the second in command, they learn on the job how to manage stocks, teams and prepare reports so that the women can be paid.
In Goma, the conflicts never stop and the population is getting poorer. KISANY welcomes women without resources who come forward and Espé will organise their training.
At the end of 2007, Espé obtained her secondary school certificate issued by the State but she knows that there is still a long way to go. She realises that school has given her the minimum education but that there is so much to learn!
She does not forget her family: she continues to invest in the family home so that everyone has a little space, a bed, clothes and food. It is only later, with a gift from KISANY that she builds her room!
And Espé takes her marks to literally take off in 2012. At KISANY’s request, she left for Kenya. She has never left Goma and has to organise a pass because it is impossible to get an identity card, let alone a passport. By bus she goes to Kigali and gets on a plane! She was very scared but, as she says, “I felt capable of doing something”.
In Kenya, it was a revelation! She realised that she was capable of being autonomous, independent; she felt free!
With great enthusiasm, she trained 22 women in embroidery and supervised a large order for a client.
11 more women were added when the operation was repeated in 2013. Her visa allows her to stay for 3 months to train in one of the ateliers, in quality control. She was asked to stay but said her mission was back home in Goma, where hundreds of women needed her.
At the beginning of 2014, at the head of a team of 30 women, she manages more than 10,000 orders per year! It is a daily challenge to make high quality products in Goma and she never gives up.
She asks for an interest-free loan to buy a plot of land because, the same year, KISANY received a donation from the SELAVIP Foundation to build 20 houses.
Espé is 30 years old and becomes a homeowner, a reality almost inconceivable for a woman in Goma.
Finally, in 2015, thanks to the support of the Sisley d’Ornano Foundation, Espé received training in IT and leadership. Since then, she has never stopped working to help her group of embroiderers become autonomous. Shy but generous and enthusiastic, she does her best to help.
And she concludes: “KISANY is everything to me! If I have confidence in myself, if I don’t depend on anyone, if I have the strength, it’s thanks to KISANY. I am proud of who I am.
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KISANY’s social impact in 20 years
KISANY is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, so take a look at the key figures of our achievements with our craftsmen. All this is obviously possible thanks to your support. Thank you for your support!
SISLEY x KISANY
To mark the launch of its Masque Exfoliant Enzymatique, Sisley has partnered with KISANY to create a face band made in Goma, DR Congo, by our team of artisans using local cloth and their legendary know-how. Sisley and KISANY share a common value: the desire to create a positive social impact. Moreover, the 2 brands …
KISANY celebrates Mothers this May with MMM
We are excited to partner with Make Mothers Matter (MMM) this May as many parts of the world celebrate Mother’s Day. MMM is an international NGO established in 1947 at the UNESCO in Paris. They advocate for the recognition and support of mothers as changemakers. To achieve their mission they work to understand the realities …
KISANY… a beautiful story of women and meetings
It all began in 2002 in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While the region was devastated by ethnic conflicts, the Nyiragongo volcano erupted and wiped out a third of the city of Goma in a few hours. 300,000 people have to flee, taking only what they have on their backs… Seven embroiderers: Anne-Marie, …