MADE51 UNHCR Design Project • Marketing, Social Media & Photography

I travelled to the Mantapala refugee settlement as a representative of Tribal Textiles, where I helped bring together a group of artisans with a shared mission: to harness creative craftsmanship as a path to sustainable impact, while introducing beautifully handcrafted, refugee-made products to the global market.

Since 2017, Zambia has opened its doors to refugees fleeing ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By 2021, Mantapala had become home to over 17,000 Congolese refugees working to rebuild their lives.

The process of establishing the artisan collective took around a year, and the project continues to thrive today.