A six-year partnership connects lives

DHL’s deliveries for ME to WE Artisans program helps empower women all over the world.

Since 2012, DHL has played a key role in the success of ME to WE’s Artisan program.

It started with an unplanned trip to Kenya, where Hazel Valencia, head of Marketing and PR for DHL Express Canada, was first introduced to 60 Maasai women who were using their traditional beadworking skills to earn extra income for themselves and their families.

“Walking away from that, I really took to heart how I could play a pivotal role in making even a small difference in that setup and structure,” she remembers.

Founded in 2009, ME to WE Artisans pays skilled female artisans for every piece of handcrafted jewellery they create, providing them with an income and access to an international market. The accessories are inspired by traditional designs and sustainably produced using locally sourced materials.

By providing in-kind shipping for their products, DHL has helped the program grow from 60 women in Kenya to nearly 1,800 artisans in Kenya and Ecuador. Under the leadership of DHL Canada CEO, Andrew Williams, the partnership has proven to be much more than a series of transactions. Delivering over five million handmade pieces of jewellery all over the world, it has become a vital means of creating connections for women across the world. Today, thanks in part to that partnership, women are empowered to sell their creations to an international market, earn a living income and send their children to school.

For mothers like Lorna Saoei Pulei (Mama Toti, as she’s popularly known) and Judy Cheborkei, being a part of the Artisans program has meant the difference between surviving and thriving. Lacking formal educations and employment opportunities, many depend on small farms to feed themselves. For both women, being able to monetize the Maasai tradition of beadworking has allowed their children greater access to education than either of them ever had.

“I didn’t finish primary school, so I never thought I’d have a job,” Cheborkei admits. However, both her girls have a chance at finishing secondary school and attending university.

“In Kenya more than 36 per cent of the population is living below the national poverty line,” says Roxanne Joyal, CEO and co-founder of ME to WE. “Having worked alongside these talented women through ME to WE Artisans, I have witnessed firsthand how a woman empowered is the strongest force for change. Every dollar earned by a woman goes straight to her household, her children and her community.”

The impacts of the partnership have been felt within DHL as well. Through the WE Champions program, DHL employees are empowered with campaign planning and fundraising resources to help them take action on the causes they’re passionate about in their own communities. Even if its organizing support for local disasters, employees now have the opportunity to engage with their co-workers and family members and spark the changes they wish to see in the world.

In 2018, when Valencia returned to Kenya, she was able to bring some fellow colleagues with her. They got to meet face-to-face with women whose lives had completely transformed because of their involvement with the program.

The opportunities provided by the Artisan program have allowed them to prosper as farmers and leaders in their community, and they are passing on the skills they’d learned to a new generation of women and girls.

“It was like a splash of cold water, but in the best way possible,” said Valencia. “I was just so overjoyed and so overwhelmed.”