Abby Anderson had been living internationally doing humanitarian work in Nigeria and the Philippines, seeing and experiencing the poverty and specifically being touched by the struggles of women.
She learned that in Nigerian culture, when a woman’s husband dies, his family has rights to all of the man’s property including his house, money, his children and often his wife. If the family chooses to take everything, the woman suddenly finds herself with her life and children taken from her. Usually she has no education or skills which makes her unemployable and desperate to survive. Many Filipinos find themselves living with the stark reality of poverty, unable to support their families and send their children to school.
With no experience in running a shop or importing goods into the US, Abby began creating partnerships with the women in each country to help expose their hand-crafted bags and bring them to a larger global market. All bags are made from discarded and factory defective material (like drink boxes!). Báko purchases these bags which provides women with income that brings food to the table, provides school fees for the children’s education and hope for a better way of life. In Nigeria, all of the women working with Báko have been able to pay for school fee’s for ALL of their children due to the Báko partnership!
“At Báko we focus on women helping women by providing a market for selling high quality, unique, handmade bags. Behind each product is a story, behind each woman artisan is a story that Báko wants to share. ” – Abby Anderson, Founder.
Bako Bag images Báko’s Give Back Program sends 10% of the company’s profits back to the areas in which the bags are made to further assist the programs they support and the communities where the bags are made.
Why Bhakti Chai loves this project
Báko and Bhakti have so much in common! Abby and Brook (our founder) found themselves traveling internationally, were inspired by communities of people they were connecting with, and came home ready to make a difference. We love Abby’s tenacity and passion and — WOW, these bags are AMAZING! Gorgeous colors, durable, and they support women who are focused on changing the course of their lives.
