Bringing Uganda to America: East African Businesswomen Got the Goods

Harriet Zaffoni, a Ugandan-American businesswoman, runs Ugandan Merchandise with Rwandan entrepreneur Mary Wanja.

By Rebecca Harshbarger– 

Although visitors to Uganda today are often enchanted by its batik prints, artisans’ use of bark cloth, and ornaments made of local wood, Harriet Zaffoni was not too impressed while growing up in Najjankumbi with her grandparents.  “As a kid, I wasn’t into crafts,” she told Ugandans Abroad.  “As girls we learned how to sew, weave, craft, even if it wasn’t our passion.” 

Even though her grandmother was a homemaker who earned an income from crafts, Zaffoni never took the products too seriously.  Little did she know that she would carry on the business herself—and in the United States. 

Everything changed for Zaffoni in January 2009, when she lost her job in the recession.  She originally moved to the United States in 1996 to visit her brother in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, though she now lives in New Jersey. 

“I came over here and never left,” Zaffoni said with a smile.  “I felt my brother needed me, he was isolated and lonely.  I wanted to be with him and cook for him everyday.”  She wasn’t, however, impressed with Brooklyn. 

“Some of the buildings in the neighborhood were burnt down, others had graffiti; it was terrible,” she said.  “I would only leave the house to work and do grocery shopping.”  Zaffoni’s first job was a cashier position at a green grocer. She later worked as a salesperson on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.  She pursued a degree in nursing, and then took on different jobs that interested her, ultimately landing at an architectural firm. 

But in 2009, the New York-based company laid off 75 percent of its staff, largely because of the recession. 

Ugandan Merchandise 

Crafts from Ugandan Merchandise.

Zaffoni soon founded her company, Uganda Merchandise. She began by selling Ugandan merchandise through an online store, as well as showing products at charity events.  She started with tea, coffee and spices from Uganda, but found marketing the products to be difficult.  However, when she introduced crafts into her business, people warmed up. 

This year, she decided to expand her operations with her business partner, Mary Agaba, a Rwandan woman who grew up in Uganda and now works for United Nations. 

Besides selling their original work that they design, the duo also sells crafts made by women living with HIV and those affected by gender-based violence in Rwanda and Uganda through a NGO called Support HIV/AIDS Victim Rwanda.  

All of the proceeds from these crafts go towards the women artisans, while Zaffoni and Agaba earn profits from their original work which include bags, dresses and wallets.  The mix of the two sets of merchandise is enabling Zaffoni and Agaba to grow their business and sustain themselves, even as they play a big role in the lives of those afflicted women. It gives these women back home a source of much-needed income. 

“Most of these women are sick,” Agaba told Ugandans Abroad.  “They need to know people care about them and that they can still do something.  In Africa, they’re waiting for your time to die when you are in such a condition, but you can work and put your kids in school.  The women love it—we always get stories from them, they write letters and love it.” 

Typical products that Zaffoni and Agaba sell.

Crafts & Other Goods 

The most popular items Ugandan Merchandise sells are products made with bark from fig trees, which is used to make purses, tablemats, and book covers.  “They like bark,” Zaffoni said.  “That’s number one.  We’re introducing [to them] virgin materials—bark material is unique.  They think its leather… it brings a smile to their faces.”  Another popular product is Ugandan dolls, which Zaffoni says illustrates Ugandan culture.  “People laugh at me, my son laughs at me” Harriet admitted.  “They say, do they really like those dolls?” 

Although Zaffoni is excited about the reaction Ugandan Merchandise gets at charity events, street fairs, and showcases, she hopes to take her business further by opening up American department stores to Ugandan products.  “In five years, I hope that we shall be shipping container after container [to the U.S.],” Harriet said, smiling. 

Mary Agaba, a Rwandan entrepreneur who grew up in Uganda.

Working with Agaba, who moved to the United States in 2006, has been particularly fun, and Zaffoni says she’s inspired by the diligence Rwandan women put into weaving crafts.  She’s also learning Kinyarwanda.  Both enjoy their lives in the diaspora, though they are also familiar with the challenges African immigrants face when they arrive in the U.S.  “I had a baby, it was hard to begin a new life,” said Agaba, who is married and has a five-year old son. 

Like Zaffoni, Agaba wasn’t into crafts as a child, either though she loved to help the needy.  Her family returned to Rwanda in December 1994, less than a year after the genocide.  Eighty percent of Agaba’s family was in Rwanda during the genocide, and 60 percent of them passed away. All businesses had been destroyed, but her father, a Rwandan businessman living in Uganda at the time, wanted to go back home.  “I was born and raised in Uganda until I was fourteen,” she said.  “I went to school in Kabale.  I was sad to leave Uganda but like the say east and west home is best.”  

Wanting to support Rwandan women and her ancestral country is a major reason why Agaba has gone into business with Zaffoni.  “We are bringing happiness into people’s lives,” she said. 

This Friday, those in New York City can see the work of Rwandan and Ugandan women at a showcase sponsored by Ugandan Merchandise, at Cafe Nunez Food International House on 35^{th t}Street, between 7^th and 8^th avenues.  “Support and attendance will not only give meaning to the event, but it will also show that these women are not alone in this fight,” said Zaffoni.