Friday, March 15, 2019
Maasai Sandal Shopping
On Monday, Janet and I went to the Maasai Sandal Factory to
order some custom-made sandals. It’s not far from Kundayo but down a little
alley that looks impassable. There are several cinder block buildings—some
without roofs—which make up the “factory.”
During the rainy season, they move to an indoor room. Everything is really really dark and I don’t
know how they manage. (Ignore the shoes. They were in the way.)
The men cut out the sandals and put them together. There was only one guy when I was there but usually there are more.
The women do the beadwork… again, in a dark room. Notice how the woman in the left picture picks up beads on her needle which is in her mouth. She was very fast.
When we got there, we were shown all the strap designs that
we could order in whatever color combinations we wanted. What's your favorite?
I tried on a pair…actually I tried on several so it was hard
to decide what I wanted.
Janet ordered three pair—a baby pair for her 2-year-old
granddaughter; and, a gigantic pair for Luke, the baby’s father. She didn’t
seem to have much trouble deciding which design to order. I, on the other hand, saw too many choices.
But I finally decided. On Friday, I picked them up.
Beautiful! Here’s my pair….
Here are some fun facts about this factory. When I went back on Friday to get the sandals, John went with me. He certainly knows what questions to ask.
He asked "How many sandals do people order at one time? One hundred?"
Noel answered "Oh, no! Maybe 400." (!!!!!! Can you imagine those people making 400 sandals at a time? All by hand!)
John then asked, "Who buys them?"
Noel mentioned a company and a place somewhere else in Tanzania. He thinks they're distributed to other countries like Malawi.
John asked how many Masaai sandal making factories were in Arusha and Noel thought there were five. WOW!
I'm so glad I could get factory-direct-handmade-custom-ordered sandals.
