Irene's Story

Irene is one of the women supported by Carakana Program and here shares her story: Irene shares her story of transformation through Cross Stitching. "I am a 33-year-old married mother of three and currently imprisoned at Lang’ata Women’s Prisons. I started cross stitching in 2016. The money I have received has been sent home for my child’s school fees. I also use some of the money to meet my personal needs in here. At times I use the money to buy medicine when I fall sick. With stitching, I'm assured of an income hence I no longer think about doing any illegal trades."
Carakana supports marginalized women using the art of cross stitching. Women in prisons, people living with disabilities and those recovering from substance abuse generate an income by converting needle and a thread into a beautiful pattern. Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery in which a stitch is made by crossing two threads in the form of an X. The stitches are of uniform size and appearance.Traditionally, cross-stitch was used to embellish items like household linens, tablecloths and dishcloths. In modern days, the patterns are stitched on pieces of fabric and hanged on walls for decoration framed or unframed.