COOL Crafts (Cheetah Outreach Optimizing Livelihoods)- Through our community development efforts, we have the potential to make a real and positive impact in the community. This is one of our key areas of focus here at Action for Cheetahs in Kenya, and a source of much success for our non-profit organization.
COOL Crafts.
COOL Crafts (Cheetah Outreach Optimizing Livelihoods) is a community-based program by Action for Cheetahs in Kenya (ACK) that empowers local artisans while promoting cheetah conservation. The initiative supports women’s groups, youth, and community-based organizations by helping them create and market handcrafted items such as beadwork, textiles, and eco-friendly crafts. These products not only generate sustainable income for rural communities but also raise awareness about wildlife and habitat protection. Through COOL Crafts, ACK strengthens conservation efforts by building positive relationships with local people, offering alternative livelihoods that reduce human-wildlife conflict, and fostering a sense of pride and ownership in preserving Kenya’s natural heritage.
Empowering Communities Through Conservation: The COOL Crafts Partners
Eric Crafts
Eric Crafts is run by Eric Mutuku. His work features finely polished cow bone, coconut, and beads strung on fishing line. He works out of his lodging in Mathare North, in Nairobi, and he has a workshop in Njiru.
Gigil Spinners & Weavers Ltd
William Murai opened his weaving business in Gilgil after he traveled around East Africa with an American artist who collected art for the Smithsonian Museum, and even lived in the US for a few years. When he returned to Kenya, he learned the craft of weaving and now has several room-size looms, which he and his sons built themselves.
JB Art & Craft
JB Art and Craft was created in the 1970's by master leather-worker, John Olander. John has been committed to passing on his skills to others by establishing leather workshops throughout Africa, starting in Sudan during their civil war. His workshop in Nakuru, Kenya empowers local communities to learn his skills to create sustainable livelihoods.
Moses and Esther Kirimi like to give back as much as they like to make crafts. Kichaka Poa Creations makes carvings from the jacaranda tree, an easily harvested, fast-growing, and non-indigenous species. They salvage wood from construction sites, which saves trees and feeds more people than simply using that wood for firewood. Their business sustains both the environment and their community by encouraging each artist's creative ability.
Kichaka Poa Creations
Mirak Enterprises
Tony Kiratu and his team weave bowls and baskets out of wire and glass beads. Mirak Enterprises understands that the quality of the environment affects people’s livelihoods, from the cost of materials
to the cost of food. 100% of the waste materials from the beautifully patterned bowls and trinket boxes
are recyclable.
Mwass' African Jewelry
Stephen Mwangi's dream is to create a modern kind of African jewelry, “the kind you can wear everyday. Not like traditional Masai stuff.” This artist has his eye on the future of Kenyan art.
Real Africa Crafts
Anthony Maina is the artist behind Real Africa Crafts. Anthony grew up in the Thika District of Nairobi, and when he started on his own, he had only twenty pieces. Now, his collection adjusts to what customers need.
Utamaduni Youth Group
“Utamaduni” in Swahili means is a term for culture, tradition and folklore. Ali Mohamud and the other men began selling traditional metal crafts to tourists in 2000. The men within the group have perfected the art of twisting, embossing and designing jewelry and other trinkets using a combination of traditional and modern designs.
Zakale Creation Project
“Zakale” in Swahili means “old”. Zakale Creation Project uses traditional arts to rejuvenate its community. John Mucheru Kang'ara founded the project in 2002, after he left the handicraft company African Heritage, where he got his training as a designer. He recruits young people in the Huruma slum of Nairobi from lives of crime or drugs, teaching them to create jewelry from garbage.
