Hanging paperstone candle lamps with copper wire (left). Henriette Oldhoff (right) of Afrodutch Paperstone. PHOTOS | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU
Ruth Jepchirchir had been a humble cook and housekeeper for a departing American couple when she met Henriette Oldhoff, the Dutch woman who was to change her life.
It was 2011 and Henriette was taking a three-month break from her job as a hospital administrator in Holland to pursue what she called a crazy idea, namely to start a small business to “create beauty out of waste.”
Using waste
Having worked on and off in Africa [in Kenya and South Africa] with the Dutch NGO ‘Help a Child’ for several years, Henriette didn’t want to lose touch with the region so she dreamed up the idea of using other people’s waste to create attractive and useful items for the home.
“Henriette had arranged to move into the Americans’ house, so they suggested I stay on to work for her,” says Ruth who was surprised to hear this independent woman explain that she had always done her own house cleaning, but they could arrange something.
“That is how Afrodutch Paperstone got started,” says Henriette whose ‘crazy idea’ involved offering Kenyan women work and a sustainable wage to transform waste into beautiful eco-friendly home décor items, including bowls, lampshades, vases and even jewellery like necklaces, bracelets and rings.
The process would involve an innovative yet labour-intensive technique, adapted from a traditional method once common in Europe, of using sheep’s wool, water and soap to make the textile called Felt.
Arduous process
Henriette’s plan was to exchange wool for shredded newspapers mixed with water and either sand or coffee residue.
Then, in place of felt, after an arduous and long process of pounding, kneading and ultimately blending the paper, water and sand (or coffee grounds), the mixture would be moulded into the desired form, and laid out to dry in the open air.
“After the water evaporates, one is left with a material that we call paperstone,” said Henriette who invited Ruth to help her start up a business in which they’d be partners.
“Ruth is the one who runs the business now,” explains Henriette who still commutes back and forth several times every year to help Ruth when they sign up to showcase and sell their paperstone ware at craft and Christmas fairs.
Initially, the two started off slowly, experimenting with various designs.
“But then we made a set of Christmas angels that I took back to Holland, and they went over so well, both among friends and in the media, that we saw our paperstone had immense potential.
“It wasn’t long after that I quit my [cooking] job and started training my sisters, aunts and neighbours,” says Ruth who initially was trained to knead the paper product like bread dough from her Dutch partner.
“Only it takes a lot longer to knead the paperstone than flour and water,” injected Henriette who added, “Yes, I trained Ruth but now she is much better at the process than I am.”
Create employment
Noting that the technique involves between 90 and 95 per cent newspaper, which is normally donated, Ruth said they get the coffee grounds from the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden which gives them to the women for free.
“Then we collect the sand anywhere we can find black cotton soil,” she added.
“When I was initially thinking about the plan, I wanted to do something that created employment and was eco-friendly, but also one that didn’t require lots of capital,” Henriette confessed.
In that regard, Afrodutch paperstone is a success, especially as she says she doesn’t want the business to get too big.
“We are happy to move slowly,” Ruth says. Nonetheless, the women can hardly keep up with the demand for all the orders they get for their durable paperstone ware. In addition to its being decorative as well as functional, their paperstone products are virtually unbreakable.
“The only thing that will damage them is liquids, since the material becomes solid when all the water is removed. So we recommend people not use our items to carry liquids because they won’t last long after that,” says the ‘mother’ of this ingenious new medium.
She suggests their bowls be used, for instance, to hold edible items like nuts or crisps or any other dry items. They are also useful for holding things like towels and tissues, candles or dried flowers.
Cultural tradition
A year ago, Ruth introduced gourds as an item that could be coated on the outside with the earthen-hued mix and then sun-dried.
“Our new calabash bowls have proved to be very popular,” says Henriette who is glad Ruth has drawn from her own cultural traditions to develop new items for them to sell.
“Not long ago, I was given a set of old letters from a friend who said she couldn’t bring herself to destroy her grandparents’ love letters,” recalled Henrietta who saw the letters’ texture was perfect for making paperstone.
After that, she upcycled those letters and gave them back to her friend in the form of a beautiful earthen-toned vase.
In addition to Ruth and Henriette taking part in various craft fairs, they recently took part in the Afrika Handmade Symposium and Gallery 2015 at the Alliance Française.
To find out more about their business, contact them at info@[email protected]
