SASIK is the brainchild of a divorced women,her son and her daughter who had to make a plan in order for them to survive the hardships of everydaylife.it all started in 1993 when the trio came up with the idea of making patchwork cushion covers and selling them to thepublic.What started out as jus an idea in their small living room evolved into an amazing empowerment project focussing on divorced women with children who had no means of income.

The first covers were sold to a well-known hotelier on Zanzibar who in turn sold them to tourists and guests visiting his hotel. With the profit from those few covers sold they continued making more covers and today sasik cushion covers are sold all over Tanzania and as the United States. Currently the Iadies are working on an order 0f 400 pieces destined the American market.

As you look at the covers it is evident that animmense amount of skill and craft goes into the making of each and every item. The handwork and designs are truly beautiful and the colous used very vibrant and rich. The designs range from simple patterns to very intricate designs inspired by Arabian folkore, the nature surrounding Zanzibar and even ISLAM. material is the single biggest expense; the fabric is purchased on Zanzibar and then hand-dyed by women. An intricate pattern on a small cushion can easily take up to theer days to coplete - imagine the amount of work going into a patcwork bedspread!

Typical problems affecting these women's productivity are their children or themselves falling ill. Being low-income single parents, it proves to be impossible for most of them to be at work when their children are ill and in nursing. However despite these drawbacks they still manage to meet the demands for their product by working at home when they are anable to go to the worlshop.

SASIK has come a long way since the living room days and these days and they also boast a small showroom in Gizenga street behind the old Fort which they opened in 1996. Depending on the design,prices for cushion covers start from 3 500/= each up to 23 000/= for the large continental pillow covers. The price for bedspreads range between 50 000/= and 80 000/= each , while curtains sell from 35,000.

Watcing Mama saada while she proudly shows us the photos of various covers they have produced and sold,you sense that Sasik is more than your aderage local crafts enterprise. Sasik, in our opinion, is about the empowerment and upliftment of those who are in dire need of exactly that . Of the 30 women employed by them today, 15 of them are busy building their own houses. Considering thecareer possibilities there are for dilvorcedwomen with children on Zanzibar, what they have achieved is phenomenal.

We urge you to support these hardworking women; they are the ones making a difference out there by teaching not only their own offspring but also their neighbour'schildren that there will always be a solution for your problems -depending on how willingly and how hard you search for it...

Sasik - RIZ is proud to be associated with women of your calibre!

The woman group.

To gether working.

On Cussions.   

Ussually We Stert On These Price List:

45 US$ For Wall

50 US$ For Single Bed

100 US$  A Bed

More Details You Can Send E-mail,Also We Use To Post The Goods.