Uhunzi

© Uhunzi
Genre : Production
Status : Private company
Principal country concerned : Column : Arts and crafts

Uhunzi a small Kenyan company devoted to recycling. Based in the highlands just north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, Uhunzi employs seven people on a full time basis, all from different parts of the country and different tribes and backgrounds. Each bring there individual skills and ideas and make Uhunzi the vibrant and dynamic company that it is.


Uhunzi works with mostly recycled scrap metal that is collected from the slums around Nairobi and provides a living to the people who collect it.



The scrap metal is melted down in a home made clay furnace that is powered by recycled waste engine oil. The molten metal is then poured into sand moulds, utilising waste sand from the glass industry, which is usually discarded by the Glass companies once they have extracted silica from it for making glass. Uhunzi utilises this waste sand, mixing it with molasses as a binder and making our moulds from it.



Once the casting process is complete, each item goes through a very labour intensive finishing process that involves skill, time and effort, before the item can be packed and marketed. From creating the mould through to casting and polishing, each stage is done by hand which makes each product unique and special.



Uhunzi is also now working with recycled glass and plastic and developing new ideas and products that support the environment, create jobs and produce some great products!

Source: Uhunzi

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

With the support of