Girl With The White Balloon: Kinabuti gets Down & Dirty in Bundu

Hellooo again guys and dolls, it’s the girl with the white balloon here, armed and ready to throw more beacons of fashionable hope your way.

So... if you’ve been with me and listening from the very beginning, you may remember a post I did pretty early on about a fashion label with a conscience called ‘Kinabuti’, inspiringly thought up by a lady named Caterina Bortolussi. You can give it another read here if you have a little time and fancy learning about Kinabuti’s mission more in depth.

In a nutshell, Kinabuti is all about using fashion as a vehicle to help people who could do with a hand up. And it’s not about giving money or aid, but rather providing communities with lifelong skills that they can transfer to their own lives, and create a sustainable living for themselves and their families; no longer needing to depend on others.

Just a few weeks ago, the Kinabuti Fashion Initiative (KFI) - like the absolute troopers they are - got Down & Dirty in Bundu, Port Harcourt, at the crack of dawn to clean out gutters, alleys, and take out lots and lots of garbage; alongside the old and young, male and female, youths and community leaders: all in a bid to shape up the living conditions within the waterfront communities.

Not only did the KFI leave Bundu spic & span and with a renewed feeling of a blossoming communal spirit; but they also finally put Bundu on the map for a weekly rubbish collection and so permanent bins will now be placed in the area – something that hasn’t managed to be achieved thus far, until the KFI stepped in and saved the day. Needless to say, this day was a moment in history for the local community. I don’t know about all of you guys out there, but here in the UK, the shit really hits the fan when the bin men don’t turn up for one week, never mind not turning up at all. I can’t even imagine it. There’d be anarchy enough to make last summer’s riots look like a peachy picnic.

And this wasn’t where they stopped. Oh no. Kinabuti also organised a silk-screen training workshop which was targeted at training single mothers in this skilled area of art & design (it’s a lot of fun, let me tell you. Major flash-back to A Level textiles... Oh those were the days. If you haven’t ever done it, find someone to give you a quick beginners sesh NOW). All participants are taught how to print in silk-screen on many different surfaces using the local and easily accessible materials of their natural environment. The aim of this project is to develop these women in a vocational skill to earn a living and support and care for their loved ones in a sustainable manner.