ERINA MBAHITA is a basket-weaver from the village of Bufuka. She is not sure when she was born, she estimates that she is 50 years old. All she remembers of when she was a child is that there were a lot of locusts - judging from this, she could be around 65. She has a husband and five children. Her mother taught her how to make baskets and trays that she sells. It takes her a week to finish a basket, which she makes using a needle, papyrus and grass that other people collect for her or that she sometimes buys. She uses her income to buy food and employ workers for digging. She has to look after three orphaned children.
JOVENTA KAKURU was born in 1974. She is married and has five children. She makes baskets out of papyrus (it takes her four days for one) and hats from thread that she buys at the market (two days). She uses her money for books, uniforms and pencils for her children who go to school in Kitooma, where they all live.
MOLLY KABATORO was born in 1970, she lives in Bufuka, has a husband and six children. She learned how to make crafts from her mother. A medium sized basket with a lid will take her three days. She also makes bags out of banana fibre and they take her a week. Her third product are table mats. She uses the money she earns for food and exercise books for her children.
HOPE KAANA was born in 1966. She lives with her husband in Mugyera, Bushure and they have seven children. Hope makes hats, table mats, baskets, bracelets and mobiles. The materials she uses are banana fibers, papyrus, millet straws, rafia grass and thread. The last two materials she must buy, while the rest she collects herself from around Lake Bunyonyi. It takes her one and a half to two days to make a basket.
The money made from her only job, craft selling, goes towards school fees, clothes and scholastic material for her children. She hopes to earn enough money to buy some land and other home assets (goats etc.).
FRANCIS MUSIMENTA comes from Rwabihindu village (Bunyonyi). He was born in 1974, has two wives and five children. He completed Senior Four and then, in the search for a job, started craft making. He is a self-taught artisan producing a series of wooden crafts - pots, canoes and animal and human figures.
Francis buys branches of omungo and uses a panga (local machete) and knife tool called oruhazo. The ornaments are burnt in with a heated blade. Francis needs one to two days to make a pot.
ALLEN TUKAMUHABWA, born in 1976, is married and has children. In her village Mugyera she makes baskets of all sizes, and the small ones only take her a day to make. She collects papyrus from around the lake and uses local made natural dyes to get the colours. Her other products are mobiles and hats. The former take her two days and the latter three days. They are both made out of banana leaves. Her mother taught her how to make her crafts. With the money she earns, she buys clothes and pays labourers to help her dig.
JENEROUS TUMUSIME was born in 1976. She is single and comes from Mukirwa village. She makes bags, purses and hats out of banana fibers, palm leaves and rafia grass. She has not had any schooling but learned making crafts from friends. To make a bag, she'll need three days, for a purse only one. The money she earns goes into food, clothes and household utensils.
ELDRAD BENON KYOMUKAMA, a drum maker from Kagarama, was born in 1952. He was an accountant, a local technician and Church lay teacher before he learned how to make drums in central Uganda. Some of his ten children are helping him in the time-consuming process of preparing a drum (three weeks, including cutting the tree).
JOLLY TURYAMUREBA, born in 1970, is a widow and lives alone but she looks after two children. She makes baskets and table mats out of papyrus that she collects from around the lake. It takes her two days to make a table mat, a skill which her friends taught her. She uses the money she makes to buy clothes and pay labourers for digging.
MIRIKA KATUREBE was born in 1976, she lives in Burimba with her husband and five children. She didn't attend school. Her mother taught her how to make the crafts she sells, which include baskets, photo frames and hats. It takes her a day to make a photo frame out of banana leaves. With the money she earns she buys clothes, food and uniforms for her children.
KELLEN TWIKIRIZE was born in 1976. She has a husband and four children and lives in Katoma village. She finished primary four and her aunt taught her how to make crafts. She makes baskets out of papyrus, that take her four days, and table cloth with thread. She uses the money she earns for soap, salt and clothes.
) 
