Introducing Whales to a Landlocked Country
Product development at Ndara is much more than an item on a to-do list – it’s a cornerstone of our mission. Every week, the team devotes two full days to creating new products. This keeps our boutique fresh and interesting for our clients while challenging our artisans to stretch their imagination and refine their technical skills.
But how do you come up with new products in a place like Bangui? Unlike in other parts of the world, our team isn’t constantly scrolling through Instagram or traveling to far-away places to find inspiration. Access to smartphones, the internet and social media is very limited: only three of our thirteen artisans own a smartphone, and just one has ever left the Central African Republic. Exposure to new ideas comes down to our artisans’ daily lives in Bangui, through streets, markets, church, family life, and our boutique. Yet, inspiration is all around – it just has to be cultivated!
Take Nadia, for example. Last week, on product development day, Nadia went home and asked her husband, who owns a smartphone, to help her get connected to the internet. Nadia comes from the Yakoma people – a riverine ethnic group who fish along the southern shores of the Ubangui river. She had seen images of whales before, which sparked her imagination to create a stuffed animal for the boutique.
Nadia bought a data package and googled images of whales on her husband’s phone. Back at the workshop and with access to a computer and printer, she enlisted a colleague to find the same image on Google and to print it out for her. That printed photo became the foundation for her first prototype of an animal whose natural habitat is thousands of miles away from this landlocked country. Within a day, Nadia had sewn her first prototype. Although the initial shape wasn’t perfectly proportional just yet and resembled a fish, two prototypes later, Nadia has crafted a realistic whale that will now be sold in our boutique. This not only provides much-needed income for Nadia and her family but also equips her with a new skill that she can share with other artisans, enabling them to benefit from her expertise.
By staying curious and innovative, our team grows stronger, our products evolve, and our mission endures. Ndara is here for the long term – and it is our artisans’ resourcefulness that will sustain us for years to come.