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Sweet Salone→Impact Assessments→2023
Sweet Salone · Annual Impact Assessment

2023

A new artisan group joins — Largo Creations brings traditional natural dyeing from Bo, Southern Province.

0
Items produced
New disciplines added
0
Artisans
Active in 2023
0%
Female artisans
Of those interviewed
0%
Under 40
Of those interviewed

2023 introduced a significant addition to the Sweet Salone network: Largo Creations from the village of Largo Kissinima in Bo, Southern Province. The artisans in this group use traditional knowledge to dye cotton and raffia using locally-foraged materials.

Production Data

What we produced in 2023

17,453 items produced across 4 product categories, engaging 56 artisans throughout the year.

0
Total items
0
Artisans
· 25 artisans
0
Lumley Arts and Crafts Market
77% of total output
0
Lettie Stuart Pottery
11.5%
8 artisans
0
Brama Town Weavers
10.9%
20 artisans
0
Other
0.8%
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 2023 assessment.

100%

School fee payments for dependents or themselves

100%

Ability to save part of their income

The Year 2023

Who the artisans are

Demographic figures collected through direct interviews with the artisans in the 2023 assessment cycle.

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

The artisans
behind 2023

07 features
01 / 07Lettie 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 HoldersBowlsCups
02 / 07Brama 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 / 07Foday 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
DressesShirtsTrousersPillows
04 / 07Lumley 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
KeyringsBraceletsCoronetsNecklaces
05 / 07Mariatu 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
06 / 07Ibrahim Kollon
Country Cloth Weaving

Ibrahim Kollon

Ibrahim Kallon, originally from Freetown, is a textile weaver. At the age of 12, Ibrahim’s grandfather insisted that young Ibrahim join him every day after school and assist him in the practice of weaving. While he did not see the benefits of learning this traditional skill at that age, he could not be more grateful today for his grandfather’s persistence. Unlike many of his peers, he has the means to earn an income. Today Ibrahim Kallon can be found weaving in a small building adjacent to the Lumley Arts and Crafts Market, but only on his days off from university.

Products
PillowsBlanketsClothing
07 / 07Largo Creations
Natural Dyeing

Largo Creations

The Largo Creations group is a small artisan collective based in the village of Largo Kissinima, a village nearby Bo in the Southern province of Sierra Leone. The artisans in this group use traditional knowledge to dye cotton and raffia using locally-foraged materials. Lucy Parmoi, a village elder, was trained by her parents in these skills. Today, Lucy works with a group of five women in the village to pass along this longstanding local knowledge.

Products
Naturally Dyed CottonPillowsThrows
Their Words · 2023

Stories of change

02 testimonies
Baindu Amara
I
When I watched my aunt in the market making the bracelets I learned I could also do it. Then I started making them, first I made 10, then 20. When I finished making the bracelets I received my payment. I went straight to purchase the registration for the college. Since then the work has been helping me to attend college. Even my family has been able to buy land and start building a house so we can leave our rental someday.
Baindu AmaraArtisan at Lumley Arts and Crafts Market
Foday Sillah
II
I used to go to school but dropped out because I couldn't pay my school fees. Through the job at the pottery with support from the Aurora Foundation, I have been able to pay for my WSSCE (national high school) exam and for extra lessons to prepare myself for the coming exam.
Foday SillahPotter at Lettie Stuart Pottery
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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