Three Months of Building a Circular, Connected Future as Wana Mwanga.

What vision, opportunity, or community need inspired your action? Help readers who may not know your community understand what you're building toward and why it matters.

The Wana Mwanga Initiative is a women-led movement empowering women to move from survival to abundance through a blend of business development, storytelling, and mindset transformation. Along Kenya’s coastal region, many women are the primary breadwinners for their families, running small food kiosks, retail shops, and mangwe (palm wine) businesses; a traditional and vital source of income. Others express their creativity through handmade crafts or depend on manual labour to sustain their households.

Wana Mwanga seeks to illuminate their efforts, connect them to new opportunities, and nurture a culture of regenerative enterprise and collective growth. Built on the belief that every woman has the capacity to thrive economically and socially, the initiative has integrated local markets, an online sales platform, and educational programmes that blend both online and offline formats.

Its pillars include women-led business development and branding, physical and digital market access, and mindset coaching that empowers women to step into confidence and growth.

What took place during the action? (What activities, events, or processes happened?)

Our engagements began as a conversation about the need for a safe space where women in business could openly share their thoughts and ideas; a space that nurtures both personal growth and collective progress in business and community life.

We began by sharing what drew each of us to this space and what it meant both personally and professionally. This openness set the tone for our early activities, from a cookie tasting session featuring Flora’s homemade cookies, where we brainstormed new flavors, to a mindset workshop and a product development exercise that helped Careen transform her passion for braiding hair into a tangible product: handmade hair bows crafted from Ankara fabric offcuts, the by-products of our clothing production.

Uploading image...Careen demonstarting the idea she had of a hair bow during our meet-up and product development session. This the by-product of that idea presented as a hair clip bow that was bought during one of our Satruday activities. Careen has created 20 handmade hair clip bows now available for purchase at Temple Point and at our physical shop at Horsebay Ventures. Our goal is to help increase sales so she can earn a sustainable income beyond providing hair services in person.

We also engaged women from Kirepwe Island (a secluded island in Watamu with a small community of about 400 people). Many of them have limited access to information and training opportunities, so our focus has been to involve them in hands-on learning activities and workshops that build practical, sustainable skills beyond Wana Mwanga, such as sewing and carpentry.

Today, we continue to meet regularly to discuss our products and actions with other community members, who support us by purchasing our goods and offering valuable feedback that helps us grow.

What truths or insights did this action reveal?

Our weekly activities have revealed the power of collective support and shared purpose. According to Flora, brainstorming with other women made it easier for her to put her ideas into practice. This is something she had been doing on a smaller scale but was able to expand through Wana Mwanga’s encouragement and structure. It became clear that together, we can achieve much more in turning our ideas into tangible outcomes.

From our engagement with the women of Kirepwe Island, we also learned what true community unity looks like. Their close-knit relationships and collaborative spirit reminded us that empowerment doesn’t always start with individuals, but with the strength of the group. They thrive when working together, so our goal is to continue supporting them as a collective, helping them build skills and execute projects such as gardening and carpentry as a unified team.

Gift to Community: What enduring tool, method, or story emerged that others can benefit from?

Our greatest gift to the community has been the creation of a safe, collaborative learning model that blends business development with storytelling and mindset transformation. Through Wana Mwanga, we’ve learned that growth happens when women feel seen, supported, and connected both as entrepreneurs and individuals with valuable experiences to share.

The simple practice of coming together to learn, make, and reflect has become a powerful tool that others can replicate in their own communities. Whether through cookie tastings that spark business ideas, product workshops that turn passions into income, or group reflections that inspire personal breakthroughs, the Wana Mwanga approach demonstrates that regeneration begins with relationship.

Next Steps / Call to Action: What comes next for this project? How can your community or Bloom network support you?

Our next step is to strengthen the foundation we’ve built by expanding our workshops and creating a more consistent pathway for women to turn their skills into sustainable income. We plan to grow our physical shop at Horsebay Ventures into a vibrant hub where women can display and sell their products, host community learning sessions, and exchange ideas with visitors and partners.

We’re also working to deepen our engagement with the women of Kirepwe Island by equipping them with the learning tools and materials they need to develop group-based enterprises in sewing, gardening, and carpentry.

We invite the Bloom Network community to support us through mentorship, funding partnerships, and knowledge exchange, especially in areas like product design, regenerative business modeling, and digital storytelling. Together, we can strengthen Wana Mwanga’s vision of transforming women’s creativity and collaboration into lasting systems of abundance.