If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

A group of over 20 women sit in the dappled shade of a baobab tree.

Singing and laughing, the talented artisans don’t even look down at their hands as they skim over the dried sisal, weaving it together effortlessly.

Each shade can take up to 7 days to complete. But hours have gone in even before the weaving begins – the sisal has been dried for over 3 weeks and then dyed carefully by hand in large cooking pots using dyes from plants and vegetables.

The women – many of who have babies strapped to their back, or curled up next to them – talk about their children, their farming businesses or about nothing at all.

Even in the dappled shade, the bright colours that they wear are vibrant against the rust coloured earth.

Their way of life is defined by the Bantu word ‘harambee’. Quite literally, it means ‘pull together’ - mutual assistance, mutual effort, mutual responsibility and community self-reliance.

So the African proverb goes – if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Let’s go far ♥