Siphiwe is the backbone of her homstead. She left school after falling pregnant and began weaving to support her child. Together, Siphiwe and her husband had six more children, building a life at his homestead.
Then one day he sold all their cattle and left. He did not return for four years. Siphiwe had to leave her husband’s family homestead. But with her income from Gone Rural, she was able to start her life again; building a new house and buying animals.
For decades now the Gone Rural mission has been to empower local Swazi women by providing educational, health, and social resources. Gone Rural now assists over 770 women in 13 groups spread across Swaziland creating various woven products. Gone Rural’s organization boMake (meaning ‘mothers in their local language SiSwati) gives back by sponsoring the education tuition for their children, providing access to clean water, and offering free health clinics.
Gone Rural’s innovation to preserve local handcraft traditions while creating new and exciting art & designs is already impressive on it’s own, but their commitment to making a social impact in their community makes Gone Rural and boMake truly role models for how businesses can become impactful social enterprises.