A woman on a mission.
Pandu is one of nine women known affectionately as the Mwani Mamas.
Zanzibar is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean about 15 miles from mainland Tanzania.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
Community members sleep in this floating house when they need to monitor a fish trap or a seaweed farm.
A cut mangrove tree in the water off the southeast coast of Zanzibar.
Clearly, this is a big problem for the women of Zanzibar.
A group of the Mwani Mamas gathered around a dhow, a traditional trading boat used off the coast of East Africa. From left to right: Salama Muharam Jaha, Patima Haji Pandu, Maua Silima Iddi, Fauzia Abdulla Khamis, Hadija Nassor Mwalim, Ruth Dodo, and Maua Mohammed Yussuf.
Klara is Dutch but was born in Zimbabwe and spent a large part of her childhood in Mozambique.
One month after her move, she met Andrewa born-and-raised Zanzibarianand the two hit it off.
Today, the Mwani Mamas are the first generation of women in Zanzibar to achieve financial independence.
Community members sleep in this floating house when they need to monitor a fish trap or a seaweed farm.
As a result, theyve become respected leaders in their community.
backup houses they can move to if and when their husbands leave them.
The mental peace these houses have brought them is priceless.
A cut mangrove tree in the water off the southeast coast of Zanzibar.
So if you cant afford to build one, its really stressful because you dont know where youll go.
And then you just move.
And its so freeing.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
Mwanis positive impact on the community is a testament to the high quality and success of the product itself.
After all, its difficult to give back if you dont have anything to give.
A basket of freshly harvestedeucheuma spinosumseaweed.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
Mwani’s MW macroalgae extract in the making.
But their success did not happen overnight.
It was always about:How can we get them out of this?
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
How can we give them options?
The answer to that eventually became clear: They would transform the Mamas into local artisans.
It was a radical idea.
A basket of freshly harvestedeucheuma spinosumseaweed.
Mama Patima Haji Pandu weighing out ingredients for a batch of face & body skin superfood.
Theres a Swahili phrase, pole pole, which translates to slowly, slowly.
Dont assume that faster means better.
Mwani’s MW macroalgae extract in the making.
The best things in life take time.
Making the products is a precise science that has taken the whole team years to perfect.
Think: measuring and weighing ingredients, stirring oils, checking temperatures, and cutting soaps.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
And there were also various cultural hurdles to overcome along the way, too.
In other words, they would never work for a foreigner again.
What does she have to offer?
Mama Patima Haji Pandu weighing out ingredients for a batch of face & body skin superfood.
Ultimately, you really have to immerse yourself in the way that its done here, she said.
And that idea of coming back every day and trying to do better is really big here in Zanzibar.
I dont know how to emphasize that enough; its the biggest way to gain trust.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
That continuous mindset to just keep going upwards, to just keep learning and growing, is huge.
Were not here to create something thats European or American.
Were here to create something thats distinctly Zanzibari, something thats reallyfromhere.
Both varieties of Mwani’s handcrafted soaps, including the macroalgae and lemongrass soap, and the macroalgae, cinnamon & turmeric soap.
Thats exactly what theyve done.
The same goes for the facial cleanser and mask, which is filled with local mangrove honey.
Local is actually local.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
But fear not, .05% certainly does the job.
(What did you do differently since I saw you last?!
she wanted to know.)
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
Mwanis co-founders, Andrew Anthony and Klaartje (Klara) Schade.
And, true to theirpole polestyle, it took four years of dedicated experimentation to reach a conclusion.
But thats the mindset here, and it led to us producing something that other people havent produced.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
The products are high quality, which in turn provides a higher quality of life for everyone involved.
Instead, she turned quite pensive.
If you really do love a place, the question becomes:What would you do for it?
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
So thats what we have a go at do at Mwani.
We feed our people.
We take care of our people.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
We wouldnt do it any other way.
I have my own ball now, my own money.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
A collection of ingredients that go into Mwani’s products, including the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory compound phycocyanin (blue powder), mokate oil (yellow oil),ulva reticulataseaweed (green powder), mafura butter, mangrove honey, and the MW macroalgae extract in one of its early stages (in the flask).
Mwani’s co-founders, Andrew Anthony and Klaartje (Klara) Schade.
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
Photo: Lee-Ann Olwage
