THE STORY
In Malawi mainly plastic bags are used for shopping. They are sold everywhere and come in different sizes. You rarely see someone with a reusable bag.
Sewing and tailoring is big in Malawi. Kids grow up with sewing. Mothers teach their children and also in school kids learn how to sew. Many Malawian youth have been educated in tailoring.
What if Malawians would sew reusable bags made out of fabric? We’ll sell these bags in Europe and with every sold bag someone in Malawi gets one free.
And thus our mission was born! Together, we’ll create jobs and reduce plastic in Malawi.
THE BAGS
Shopping fabrics in Malawi is like going to a candy shop. Endless patterns and colour combinations.
We mainly use fabrics from Mapeto – a Malawi based company that weaves and prints the fabrics locally.
Below you see some of the bags that we currently have in stock.
Buy a bag
Would you love to buy a bag? Contact us via hello@thechantuloproject.com and share your location. Currently we have points of sale in Germany, France, the Netherlands and on Lanzarote (Spain), but we can ship to other countries.
CHIEF CHANTULO
Last September I was in Malawi for a fundraiser cycle trip when I met chief Chantulo and his wife. Their story, humbleness and big smile touched me. We asked them if they would be interested in developing and executing the reusable bags idea with us. They said yes! The start of an incredible journey…
Chiefs play a significant role in Malawi. They are traditional leaders with roles deeply rooted in history and culture, functioning as heads of villages or communities. People listen to the chief and take him/her seriously. They can be key figures in promoting development initiatives within their communities. Chief Chantulo supports the project 200% and told ‘his’ people that he doesn’t want to see plastic bags anymore. Connecting with chiefs is the way to go!
IMPACT
So far 14 jobs were created. A professional German tailor is currently (as a volunteer) working on a step-by-step manual showing how to sew the bag, including tips and tricks. With this manual we hope to reduce the defective product rate, which is 60% at the moment. As soon as this manual is ready, we will teach more people in Malawi how to use a sewing machine and how to sew the bag.
So far 184 households did get a free bag. Our goal is to give a free bag to every household in Malawi. Another 4,122,518 households to go! 💪
Donations
Your donation helps us to expand the project. Selling the bags is going very well, but we are running out of bags. We have many opportunities to increase sales, which will result in more jobs and less plastic in Malawi. To upscale the bag production, we would like to teach more people in Malawi how to use a sewing machine, prepare a step-by-step manual showing how to sew the bags (since the defective product rate is 60% at the moment) and provide them with the needed tools (like sewing machines).
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