Hadithi is a Swahili word that translates to “story” This is a story of the strength behind the beads. Hadithi Intercultural was founded by Ruth Waruiru (CEO) and Brenda Noosim (Ruth’s daughter) who is half Maasai and half Kikuyu from Kenya.
We named our company Hadithi because there is a story behind the beadwork. Our beadwork is designed by Ruth the (CEO) and handcrafted by women of the Maasai tribe in Kenya. The Maasai Tribe has some traditional practices which are harmful to women. These practices include Female Genital Mutilation (FGM); forced early marriages of young girls to elderly men in exchange for livestock; marginalization in education; lack of property ownership and lack of inheritance. This makes them very vulnerable with no voice within the Maasai community.
We started this company with a mission to help improve the living standards of rural Maasai women through the use of beads, which happens to be one of their expressions of art. We hope this will lead to a campaign against the abuse of women’s rights. We think this will help them to become socially and economically empowered to rise against exploitation and other life challenges. Also, 50% of what we get from our sales goes to pay for children’s tuition fees in Kenya, to promote and improve education and living standards in the fight against poverty and social exclusion in society. Every purchase of our products helps our organization fulfill its mission.
