Shanga

Shanga began in 2007 with fabric necklaces made for a Christmas fair in Arusha. Orders from safari businesses and gift shops helped turn that experiment into a workshop employing people with disabilities. The enterprise now works from Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge on Dodoma Road, where an open workshop sits alongside its shop. Glassblowing and weaving are part of the work visitors can encounter there. Sewing and bead-making provide other routes from raw materials to finished objects. The range includes jewellery and glassware, with homewares offering larger purchases than a necklace or pair of earrings. Recycled materials are used where possible, rather than promised for every component of every product. Shanga describes profits as being reinvested in employment and development of the enterprise. Its own story records joining the Elewana Group in 2017. For a visitor comparing souvenirs, the workshop setting provides a chance to connect a finished object with the process used to make it.