I’ve been hunting on etsy for the perfect diaper bag.
I had the same bag for both Eli and Lucy and sold it at a resale event in Portland before coming to Africa. I think my line of reasoning went somewhere along the lines of “if I have another baby, it won’t be in Africa, and having another baby will probably happen after we return to the States, so that could be a while, so I better sell this.” If I remember, I didn’t do so bad either when I resold that Petunia Pickle Bottom bag.
I’ve found a few bags on etsy that I really like. But then I chicken out and don’t buy them because I run through my mind how much shipping to Africa will add (no, I don’t have one of those sweet embassy postal boxes that get me past the custom taxes added to packages coming into the county) and how long it might take for the bag to get here….and so on.
Then, today, I found it!
A bag that is functional, yet has just enough funk to suit my fancy and not SCREAM “Diaper Bag”!
I found it at Amani Ya Juu (see the link over on the right of this blog).
Here is a picture of it:
Kakuma Bag
There are quite a few enterprising individuals here in Kenya that have made various items including purses that repurpose old rice sacks, coffee sacks and so on. This purse, is named after the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya where many refugees fight to survive and provide for their families. They receive food from relief agencies, including grains and sugars. The women of Amani have incorporated these empty sacks into their product lines: thus my diaper bag that is lined and embellished on the outside with parts of a Saudi Sugar bag. I love that the handles and entire lining are made of this waterproof plastic material, and that it adds durability to it.
The best part? The price. I paid $15 US for it, buying it on the spot, the same day I saw it, because in Kenyan if you see it once, you might never ever see it again….so BUY, BUY, BUY! Much cheaper than the Etsy bags I’d been eyeing, very Kenyan, and NO shipping or customs taxes!
It made my day. If I admit it, there is a tiny bit of American consumer left in me yet. But not much.