Naomi – Jewelry maker

Favorite design: Snare leaf earrings

'It’s like working with your best friends; constantly sharing stories and giving advice to each other. And I love meeting the international clients.' - Naomi Kanyemba

Naomi makes jewelry and has been trained in retail. As a young lady forced to leave school at Grade 9, due to lack of funding through being an orphan, she is beyond proud of her achievements. She is a mother of three; Memory, Yolam and Mia. Like many others in Mfuwe, Naomi wakes early to prepare meals for her children, clean her home and surrounding areas all before cycling to work. After a full day of work, Naomi shops, cooks and readies her children for bed. It's a full life but she is proud that her strong work ethic will give her children the education she dreamed of but wasn't afforded. The day Memory passed to high school was one of her proudest.

Naomi grew up as an orphan, her mother died from low blood pressure, and her father passed away from liver problems. Although these health issues are normally easily managed in the West, in a place where healthcare is limited, and money was lacking Naomi was orphaned because of them.

Before working at Mulberry Mongoose, she was living with her uncle for 2 years as a casual worker at an electricity company. It was incredibly hard for Naomi to survive on such small earnings. However, in 2015 Naomi was employed with Mulberry Mongoose and her life turned around. Now her salary and extra benefits give her security and she is empowered to learn new skills and grow her career.