The Iowa Uganda Alliance is a campus organization designed to improve the mutual understanding of the Iowa State Uganda Program among faculty and students.
The Uganda Program, which operates under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, collaborates with citizens and institutions in Kamuli and Kampala, Uganda, as well as Makerere University, according to their website.
Faculty, staff, and students within the program actively engage with the Ugandan community to enhance educational opportunities, promote nutritional food security and support income stability.
The Uganda Alliance will hold a craft sale from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday in front of Curtiss Hall.
Harper Clark, a senior studying microbiology and the vice president of Uganda Alliance, said crafts for sale include wearables such as beaded jewelry and hats, as well as tote bags, baskets and trivets, which are metal or wooden objects placed between a serving dish.
“The main thing is raffia-based products, like bowls of all of all sizes and colors, and they make baskets,” Clark said. Raffia is a species of palm tree native to tropical regions of Africa, and raffia fiber can be used to make woven baskets, mats and dyes.
Clark said most crafts fall under the $5–15 range.
“The most popular things that people buy, like bracelets and things, are $4 earrings or three bags for $15,” Clark said. “Baskets and bowls depend on the size you buy, but the largest bowl would cost you $20.”
Clark said while cash and checks are the only payments accepted at this time, the club is hoping to include cashless methods in the future.
“All of the proceeds, except the little that is needed to keep the club running, go to supporting the artisans,” said Sydney Pottebaum, a senior studying environmental science and president of Uganda Alliance.
Pottebaum said each craft is made by hand by members of the Tusubila craft group in Kamuli, Uganda, with sales supporting their families with food, school fees and other needs.
The crafts group, whose name translates to “hope,” first emerged in 2015 from Nutrition Education Centers in Uganda, run by the Iowa State Uganda Program.
Clark participated in the service learning trip to Uganda through the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in spring 2023 and said students work with members of the Tusubila group to transport crafts overseas for sale.
“[The craft sales] are kind of like a storefront for them over here, so they have another customer base to buy from,” Clark said. “It’s people who travel to Uganda through the ISU program who bring the crafts back with them.”
