Untold International’s mission is clear: to empower underprivileged communities with language arts education following our motto: “Storytelling unlocks imagination which unlocks innovation.” We do this through language arts centers we establish in rural communities, our first one being in Asisiriwa, Ghana. That said, I’m always on the lookout for ancillary ways that our operations can benefit these communities—side benefits we can provide as a byproduct of what we need or are doing anyway. One of the ways I have done this throughout the years is to buy items from local artisans in Ghana to sell in our fundraisers back in the United States. My logic is that we need to do fundraising anyway, so why not support the people in the communities we care so much about at the same time?
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked with our local staff remotely to collaborate with five seamstresses and tailors in Asisiriwa (Jennifer, Emilia, Frimpong, Antoaneth, and Rebecca) to design comfortable and adjustable face masks out of African fabric, which our staff then mailed to our director of development in the US to sell as a fundraiser. This was during a time when there was a shortage of masks in the US and people were complaining about them hurting their ears; the people of Asisiriwa actually saw this as a way to help Americans who had been helping them. It was a beautiful idea, but the fundraiser was only moderately successful for several reasons, not the least of which was how time-bound the demand for masks was. The nice thing about such an initiative, however, is that no matter how successful the fundraising is, local artisans feel supported and connected to Untold’s efforts to empower their community.
That’s why in 2021, as face mask sales were dropping, I approached our local staff and the seamstresses of Asisiriwa with another idea: tote bags. More specifically, the idea was to design a heavy-duty bag made of this beautiful Ghanaian cloth that was reversible, could be worn on the shoulder or carried in the hand, and which could be used in either culture as a reusable shopping bag. We workshopped this design back and forth for months, creating prototypes and editing them until we landed on a design that would work. I bought Ghana-made cloth from a friend in Accra, who shipped it to Asisiriwa, and the seamstresses got to work.
The finished tote bags then sat in storage until I was able to return to Ghana in 2023. During that time, I
also commissioned a handful of laptop cases from a local tailor named Abraham, using Ghana-made foam
in the center. I took all these to an embroiderer in Accra named Barbie, who embroidered the Untold
International logo on all of them in whatever colors she thought fit the individual bags. These bags then
had a long journey to Germany and then the US, where our board members Kenzie and Anne
collaborated to list them on our Etsy store, where you can now buy them!
The tote bags have the following features:
- Roomy! They measure 22″ x 18″ and are designed to expand to hold a lot! You can easily fit a day at the beach, groceries, the kitchen sink, and a small family pet in here. But seriously, the capacity is very
generous. - Side pocket for your water bottle.
- Reversible—features two different brightly-colored West African fabric. Not only does that give you
variety of colors, it increases the bag’s strength. - Has two different sizes of handle straps so you can carry it on your shoulder or in your hand.
- Handles are double-stitched for strength and durability
- Embroidered with our logo (many of the bags when reversed also have the embroidery reversed)
- Made to last: you will find yourself replacing all your other lower quality bags with these. Our testers
certainly have!
The laptop cases are also quite handsome. In addition to being made entirely from African materials,
they feature a zipper on one long edge that also comes partway down the short edge (making it very easy
to slip a laptop in and out), and a fingerloop on one end (making it easy to pull your laptop out of your
backpack). They also feature a different cloth on the inside and the outside, though they aren’t reversible
like the tote bags. Please note the measurements in the pictures and compare them to your own laptop
before you buy one!
The coolest feature of these items, of course, is that 100% of the proceeds from the sales go right back to
Ghana in the form of language art education provided by Untold. To put it another way, the money we
raise from these items will provide library access, workshops, and classes to the children and siblings of the seamstresses who made them. Click here to check out the Etsy shop and see what we have in stock.
If handmade textiles aren’t your thing, don’t forget that we also have a Threadless online store where
you can pick up other Untold International merch beautifully designed by our co-founder, Kaitlyn Medina
. This is a great year to stock up on Untold swag, since we’re now saving up to build our
second language arts center in the town of Bunkpurugu! Please consider buying something or simply making a donation toward our goal.
Yɛda mo ase ne mo mmoa! Thank you for your support!
