About two dozen people recently took a break from the spending, sipping and schmoozing that characterize a Saturday afternoon in Cherry Creek North, to hear Bridget Meyer talk about her native Zambia and its elegant Makenge baskets.
This traditional artform reveals stories about African family and life. The baskets have found a following among lovers of ethnic crafts and eclectic decorating. And few people are better suited to talk about that than Meyer, who comes from the tiny Songwe Village near Victoria Falls and was the first woman there to graduate from high school.
Room recently caught up to Meyer to find out more about her philanthropic import business, Toka.
What are your memories of growing up in Zambia?
I have several but one of the main ones from growing up in the village was being with the family and always sharing things together, like going to the field and working alongside my mother. There were big gardens where we grew corn and millet. Mostly we did subsistence farming where we grew food for the family, and (kids) always helped.
How is home life different there than in the United States?
It’s very different. Here, everything is done inside one house. Where I grew up, we have a house where the adults sleep, and a separate building where all the girls in the family would sleep. I used to sleep there with my two sisters and one cousin. There was also a separate building for the boys. Then we had a separate house where food was prepared, another small building where the harvest – ground nuts and other things – would be stored, and another small building where the chickens would be.
My father made all the houses out of wood posts and grass. My mother would collect the grass that would be used for thatching the roof. My mother also would make the walls out of clay. We would collect the clay and mix it with water and that’s what we would use for the walls and the floor. Sometimes we had to redo the walls because heavy rain would make the clay erode. It was always fun to watch my mom putting designs in the clay walls.
What do you most want Americans to know about Zambia and Makenge baskets?
One thing that I would like to share is the fact that African people like beautiful things, just like Americans. We are similar in that respect.
(Zambian) women make these beautiful baskets. They don’t have very much. They are poor people. But the basket is one luxury they can afford. And they have meaning. There are weavings that symbolize family, or the family circle. On these baskets, the circles are all woven together to symbolize the family and that space together.
There are also designs of marriage. This is symbolized by the weavings that come together, meaning as the couple grows in their marriage, they should expect problems, but always try to work things out together.
Is there a mission behind your business?
Our mission is to try and help the people (of Zambia) without changing their lifestyle. Oftentimes I think we Americans feel like other parts of the world need to be like us. That’s not always true. Some people are happy the way they are, they just need a little enhancement in their life. That’s why we buy our products right from the homes of the women who make them. They don’t have to travel to a city to work in a factory. They can sit under a tree and make a basket, and they always have children around them. So when its time to prepare a meal, they put the basket away and they cook for the family. They are very grateful to be able to earn money while they live on the land. To me, it’s very important to see that people can still live on their land, and we are able to help them earn an income and support their family. They use the money to pay school fees for their children, and to buy school books and medicine.
Read more about Bridget Meyer and her company’s imported Makenge baskets at
