The social project Ladran Tanzania supports the development of women, who are at risk of social exclusion, from various Maasai tribes in the Ngorongoro Valley (Tanzania) and in southern Kenya. We also adapt the traditional Maasai handicrafts to the products in our catalogue, supporting a unique and highly characteristic manufacture and giving it greater visibility in other places.

HOW DID THIS ACTION COME ABOUT?

After visiting the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater and all the species that live there, during a trip to Tanzania, we went to see the Mangola Project; a beautiful mission run by the priests Pepe and Miguel Ángel, true adventurers; two examples of absolute dedication. It has been 40 years since they established themselves in that place where they have created a macro-community with a school, hospital, church, communal areas, housing, etc.

Visiting the village and the facilities that, with so much work, they built up, we learned about the history of the women’s cooperative of the Maasai tribes and the typical products that they made to sell to the tourists who came on a photo safari. In these tribes, historically and culturally, women have had a completely secondary role, being in a situation of social exclusion, they have taught them to have a trade, giving value to what they know how to do. The Maasai wear very colourful clothing made of small balls, or beads, sewn to pieces of skin.

It was then that we saw the opportunity to create a beautiful initiative to collaborate with these women. We were able to adapt the typical designs of their clothing to the products of Ladran Gaucho, a brand that we had just started with production in Argentina and Spain: and that is how the Ladran Tanzania collection was born!!!!

The cultural life of the Maasai is full of celebrations and both men and women wear these colourful clothes during these festivities. They sing and dance, jumping all in a row. The small, warm-coloured beads that compose these designs make the dances even more eye-catching. That is why we want our pets and ourselves to wear the designs from the Ladran Tanzania collection to celebrate, as a tribute to these women and the Maasai culture.

The social project Ladran Mexico supports the indigenous Mexican culture in various regions and their handicraft manufacturers, and in fact we have been awarded with the quality stamp “Manos Indígenas” (Indigenous Hands) by the Mexican government. In this way we help the economy of these Mexican regions by generating jobs and promoting the beauty of the Mayan culture.

HOW DID THIS ACTION COME ABOUT?

With the Tanzania collection already up and running for several years and with the pleasure of making our social project with the Maasai known through the products of the Tanzania collection, we came across the Mayan culture and the beautiful handicrafts made by indigenous women with wool yarn.

We had seen these handicrafts adapted to fashion products such as bags and, once again, we said to ourselves, why not animal fashion? We started working until we found the Mexican handicrafts we were looking for. After a lot of hard work and long conversations with a time change, we finally gave shape to the designs of the Mexico collection.

With the Mexico collection you will be supporting our artisan manufacturers, the women weavers who manufacture the designs with impressive skill, the Mayan culture and its indigenous crafts, the economy of these Mexican regions and the promotion of this culture.

In this collection, besides being beautiful for its colourfulness, we decided not to use animal leather, a demand from some customers who preferred to use synthetic materials such as leatherette for their animals and their wishes are our orders.

The social project Ladran Ghana was the third of our social projects. With this project we support Ghanaian women who suffer from a lack of opportunities to develop their craft skills. Our mission is to build a future where the talent and creativity of these women will be appreciated by the whole world and become a source of income. To do this, we integrate traditional techniques and designs into our ‘Ghana dog beds or baskets’ made with elephant grass; a typical material of the area, similar to wicker but softer, stronger and more comfortable for our pets. In this way, we are not only offering a high quality and original product, but we are also contributing to the preservation of Ghana’s cultural richness, generating a positive impact both economically and culturally.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

HOW DID THIS ACTION COME ABOUT?

When we started making dog beds, it was very clear to us that we wanted to have another social project for this product, as we were already doing in Tanzania and Mexico with collars and leashes.We got to know the Elephant Grass material and the decorative products that were made to be exported all over the world.So, once again we said to ourselves: why not adapt it to animal fashion?

We went to the city of Kumasi, also called ‘garden city’ because of the variety of plants around the area. There we met Aysha, an enterprising woman who showed us the rich Ghanaian culture and the cultivation of elephant grass.

She explained to us that elephant grass is a plant commonly used by local farmers as cattle feed, due to its fast growth. It also has amazing properties: it is durable, strong and smooth in texture. She then showed us how some twenty women made products, mainly home decoration, from the dried grass. It was then that we designed our bed-baskets, also choosing the patterns and colours.

Thus was born the Ghana collection and our social project in this country and with its culture. A social initiative dedicated to supporting Ghanaian women artisans and promoting their products. Over time, our dog baskets have become a success, contributing to the sustainable economic development of the region.