Dreamer & Co.

Photo courtesy of Dreamer & Co.

Dreamer & Co. is a US-based shop that partners with an artisan co-operative called Riyo Rumoday in the Horn of Africa. These artisans are mostly female and started out as a group of mostly-single women in their young 20s. Their group stayed together until many members were married with children, but in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world, the group morphed back into a co-operative of mostly singly 19-34 year old women who hail from vulnerable and low-income families.

Now, instead of sitting at home, they are gainfully employed by making paper bead and fabric jewelry. They earn a fair wage and have shifted into empowered community members with incomes and spending-power of their own. Members who have children can now afford to send them to school. Since pairing with Dreamer & Co. and subsequently by being featured here at Ethos Kolekto, demand for the products that these women create has increased. This increase has also doubled their wages and has further enabled them to pay for things like shelter, electricity, transportation, and fresh foods.