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Sweet Salone · Annual Impact Assessment

2022

A record production year — 17,052 items across 55 artisans, as the Lumley Arts and Crafts Market receives high volume orders.

0
Items produced
Record output year
0
Artisans
Active in 2022
0%
Women artisans

2022 marked the programme's strongest year to date. The Lumley Beach Market group alone produced 14,900 items. Pottery output exceeded 1,300 items, and the country cloth weaving continued to grow.

Production Data

What we produced in 2022

17,052 items produced across 4 product categories, engaging 46 artisans throughout the year.

0
Total items
0
Artisans
· 15 artisans
0
Lumley Arts and Crafts Market
89% of total output
0
Lettie Stuart Pottery
7.8%
8 artisans
0
Brama Town Weavers
2.8%
20 artisans
0
Other
0.3%
3 artisans
Artisan Impact

How artisans use their income

Artisans reported using their Sweet Salone income in the following ways — data collected through direct interviews during the 2022 assessment.

100%

School fee payments for dependents or themselves

100%

Ability to save part of their income

The Year 2022

Who the artisans are

Demographic figures collected through direct interviews with the artisans in the 2022 assessment cycle.

Gender ratio (% female)
Under 40 years old
Have dependents
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
40%
65%
85%
The Groups

The artisans
behind 2022

05 features
01 / 05Lettie Stuart Pottery
Pottery

Lettie Stuart Pottery

Lettie Stuart Pottery is a unique place, not only in Sierra Leone but in all of West Africa, as it is one of very few places that is capable of producing high-fired pottery. It was founded by the Sierra Leone Adult Education Association (SLADEA) and named after Dr Lettie Stuart the founder of SLADEA. It was established to help adults and youth who hadn´t received formal education, to acquire the necessary skills to be employed as potters.

Products
VasesCandle HoldersPlatesBowlsCups
02 / 05Brama Town Weavers
Basket Weaving

Brama Town Weavers

Brama town is located 30km south of Freetown, with just over 700 habitants. Basket weaving is one of the main economic activities in the area, alongside vegetable production. The group of weavers is headed by the Chief of Brama Town, Samuel Walker Mansaray, who taught most of the others the traditional art of basket weaving.

Products
LampsBaskets
03 / 05Foday Thoronka
Tailoring

Foday Thoronka

Foday Thoronka is a tailor in Freetown. Foday has acquired new skills from training received through Aurora Foundation. Working as a tailor producing Sweet Salone products has helped him to save enough income to build his own house from a single room to multiple rooms and he is now planning to build a dedicated tailoring shop.

Products
DressesShirtsTrousers
04 / 05Lumley Beach Market Artisans
Accessories

Lumley Beach Market Artisans

Hidden behind the Tourist Board of Sierra Leone facility off Lumley Beach is a small market called Lumley Beach Market. Here you can find various goods and souvenirs made by both the sellers in the market and other artisans across the country and sent to Freetown.

Products
BraceletsKeyringsCoronetsScrunchiesNecklaces
05 / 05Mariatu Koroma & Alusine Bangura
Country Cloth

Mariatu Koroma & Alusine Bangura

Mariatu is a textile weaver and a mother of four children. She is based in Grafton, outside Freetown. There she has her weaving loom amidst her community of kontri kloth weavers. She is the main weaver for all the Green Giraffe products. Alusine is a tailor with grand ambitions and is currently also attending university. He has been the leading tailor for the Green Giraffe products, and that is how he has been able to finance his university education.

Products
PillowsPouches
Their Words · 2022

Stories of change

04 testimonies
Dorcas James
I
[Working with Aurora] has changed so many things in my life, I was a woman with a child, my sister and my mother were also looking to me. I have been able to manage my family. Before, my kids might sit at home when we don't have school fees, but now with my little things I can always pay for them and the other things they need for school. People have respect for me because they see me go in the morning and come back in the evening. Now I am not depending on anyone. I see myself as a great woman. I am proud of myself.
Dorcas JamesPotter, Lettie Stuart Pottery
Lamin Kamara
II
I pay my children's school fees, school materials, and feeding from the money I make weaving baskets. From my weaving I sponsor my vegetable gardening. At first [my community] was looking at us funny because we were doing traditional skills, now they see they can make money.
Lamin KamaraBrama Town weaver
Massah Dukalay
III
This work has changed my life, has changed my story. Before I was in a panbodi (tin) house, now I am in a block house. Even now I want to buy my own land. I want to save my money so I am able to buy land. Even in my shop people admire me because my shop is better than it was before because I have money to buy good products. Even in my area people ask where I get my money. I tell them I work hard for it.
Massah DukalayLumley Arts and Crafts Market artisan
Amie Julius
IV
With Aurora we have learned a lot, that we need to be creative and focused. Aurora has empowered us. Aurora is an example to teach us to be serious and focused on our business. Now I don't depend on someone I only depend on myself. I work hard because that is how I will be paid. Now I have more money than before, and I have smart phone that I can research things myself.
Amie JuliusLumley Arts and Crafts Market artisan
Global Goals

Contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The Sweet Salone programme directly contributes to the following global development goals through its focus on artisan livelihoods, skills training, and community outcomes.

1
No Poverty
4
Quality Education
5
Gender Equality
8
Decent Work & Economic Growth
10
Reduced Inequalities
17
Partnerships for the Goals
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