To business owners who have heard it all before, Teki Paper, a bag manufacturer in Ethiopia developed by deaf women, is not speaking, but using sign language.
The company certainly has the figures to back it up.
With nearly 1 million handmade paper bags sold, the organization is slowly weaning the country’s bustling capital, Addis Ababa, off plastic bags, while simultaneously empowering the deaf community.
Even while other countries in east Africa, such as Rwanda and Kenya, are leading the way in eliminating single-use plastics, Ethiopia has experienced a steady increase in both plastic consumption and production since 2011.
It is a situation that has particularly affected Addis Ababa, where plastic bags are clogging the waterways, causing floods in the rainy season and polluting the land.
“Plastic bags are cheap in Addis Ababa,” charismatic Teki comanager Mimi Legesse said. “So business owners will give you a bag with every product you purchase.”
Persuading business owners to choose a more expensive alternative is a challenge, but lecturing people about the environment does not necessarily have the desired effect, Teki cofounder Clement Piguet said, adding that he believes that if they can also provide a clear social benefit along with the environmental effect, business owners are more likely to invest in a greener alternative.
“With our paper bags, we want to provide people with the opportunity to change the lives of deaf people, and through this create an alternative way to fight plastic,” Clement said.
Teki interpreter Meskerem Beyene believes that empowering deaf people to engage with clients has had a positive effect on the business.
“When someone who can hear tries to sell the bags, people tend not to listen,” she said. “But when Mimi uses sign language, people lend us their ear.”
Piguet, who is not deaf, believes that sign language is a powerful communication tool.
“Sign language has a special power when you use it well,” Piguet said. “It has a universal aspect, because we all have two hands. The way you move them — it fascinates people.”
Four years ago, this fascination led Piguet to visit the local Alpha Deaf School, where he met Legesse, then a student, who had developed her talent for design while growing up in an orphanage.
Legesse, like many deaf people in Ethiopia, had struggled to find regular employment.
“Most business owners are not open to hiring deaf people because they do not want to hire interpreters, so deaf people usually remain in their homes,” she said.
Their serendipitous encounter had an immediate effect on Piguet.
“I saw from the way she was using sign language that there was something powerful about Mimi, and when she started to tell me about the crochet bags that she designs, everything started to make sense,” he said.
Today, Teki has 18 full-time deaf employees and two interpreters, and services more than 50 clients.
It has moved to a more central location, making it easier for clients and employees to visit.
Anis Ahmed, a local business owner interested in alternatives to plastic, came to pick up some samples, and after a whirlwind tour of the office, he departed visibly impressed.
Despite their success, Clement and Mimi believe that they are just at the beginning of their journey.
“Our dream at Teki is to initiate the hearing impaired, not just in Africa, but all around the world to fight plastic,” they said.
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