In my first blog post about the beaded women of northern Kenya (A Shameless Pitch, November 10, 2013), I observed that “pastoralist women are neither empowered nor liberated.” Last week I discovered how quickly empowerment can occur given some economic leverage and I experienced the independent and determined nature of these pastoralist people.

The women bead crafters in Kalama and Sera went on strike. They refused to sell NRT the beadwork we had ordered.

When you envision such a strike, erase the image of placard-carrying, protest-chanting union workers. Replace it with rail-thin, ebony women, a quarter of whom have babies swaddled on their backs, dressed in a cacophony of brightly colored kanga (long pieces of cloth) and elaborate beading from head to toe. In the dust, underneath an acacia tree they cluster around a single, besieged man and alternate between staccato, hand-waving complaints and stony, expressionless stares. Despite obvious poverty, they will not part with their strings of beaded bracelets, key rings and coasters.

The chairman starting the meeting.