Xoomba fulfills Heather and Nils conviction that their artistry and business grit must be put to a positive use in the service of needed change. They have both individually and jointly managed and marketed independent businesses, (see Home Again) though they both consider themselves primarily artists (see Perplex and Nils Nusens) In the beginning of 2009, the couple set out, with their two children, on an exploratory tour of regions in West Africa that produce organic cotton. They concluded that Burkina Faso offered the most fertile ground for their ideas to take root in. They especially appreciated Bobo Dioulasso for the human connections they made there, and a year later Heather returned alone to forge ahead with the project. After her two-month stay, she returned with prototypes of fabric that showcase the ability of weavers in Bobo Dioulasso to body forth the intentions of the Xoomba enterprise.
Some people dear to us have generously supported the project financially or with their time and hospitality. Below is a list of Xoomba Givers, and those who help illustrate the Xoomba story also have their portraits featured below.
Anne Delanney
Linda Bryant
Brienin & Shael
Polakow Suransky
David and Kathy Kirk
Anne Chaplet
Babacar Diop
Seydou Traore
Sekou Djabate
The Oubda Family
Boureima Sanou
Ibrahim Sanou
Elizabeth Slate-Rutledge
Pierre et Kersti Chaplet
Seydou was my host and steadfast companion for the 2 months I spent in Bobo Dioulasso working on prototype fabrics. He graciously welcomed me in the family court in the heart of Bobo Dioulasso. Throughout that time he enthusiastically drove me wherever I needed to go and followed the progress of the project attentively. All of his hours of help he offered and emphatically refused any compensation. This year he has been able to work for the project and be properly compensated. His involvement in the project is precious.
Seykou Djabate, who lives in the neighboring court to Seydou Traore, generously helped me for hours with the arduous task of dying the threads for weaving. As he is a batik artist, he was already equiped with basins and a clear work space. Each morning I would meet him early to beat the heat of the sun and would work several hours to create corals, chartreuses, magentas. He was attentive and detail oreinted, a pleasure to work with.
Babacar Diop, an activist for just development in Senegal, spontaneously hosted me for the whole of my trip to Senegal just based on our internet communications. His thoughtful perspective and steady support is an important element in bringing this project to its feet.
Boureima Sanou is an admirable activist for sustainable farming in Burkina Faso. He is president of "The Young Farmers of the Region of Bobo Dioulasso". he has led educational campaigns to educate his fellow farmers of the dangers of genetically modified seeds. He has fought and won the battle for urban farming to be permitted in the city of Bobo Dioulasso. For Xoomba, he has organized the experimentation of using other fibers that can be locally and organically grown including Urena (similar to hemp) and Kapok (similr to cotton). He knows and is known by people all over the region and has helped us to establish local connections.
This is Ibrahim Sanou gazing out over the country side he so loves. He has for the past 20 years, worked as an engineer in the cotton industry and is now the director of the centrallized cotton seed press in Segou Mali. However, he is now leaving this line of work to establish himself in the countryside close to Bobo Dioulasso where he grew up. He is passionate about finding sustainable solutions to answer today's needs. He will be the director of the micro spinning mill that we hope to put in place. He has also been a gracious and generous host as we travelled through Segou in Mali.
I must express a heartload of gratitude for the earnest encouragement from my precious friend, Brienin Polokow Suransky, who passed away in December. Despite her frail condition, Brienin's spirit spurred the project along, setting off a little landslide of generosity. Despite staggering medical expenses, she invested in Xoomba, and furthermore, introduced the project both to her mother, Linda Bryant, who made an important contribution, and to Anne Delanney, who supplied an important amount of the seed money it took to begin researching the project. I wish my friend could be here to see the progress this chain of generosity she initiated has brought about so far. Her energy continues to motivate me.
