UNIQUELY NAMIBIAN

OMBA’s roots go back 20 years when founder Karin le Roux developed a range of textiles with a group of unemployed women in a small rural village in the south of Namibia. From humble beginnings, we are today the largest operation in the country marketing Namibian craft exclusively. We partner over 600 producers in ten regions of Namibia and market several ranges of unique Namibian handmade craft.

Our quality products are rooted in culture but always with a contemporary twist. We specialise in baskets, ostrich eggshell jewellery and San contemporary art. Our masterweave baskets transcend craft and become art and are exhibited in galleries locally and abroad; each design is unique and a testament to the skills and creativity of remarkable women. Our range of ostrich eggshell jewellery made by Jo/'hoan San, whose ancestors were the original hunter gatherers of southern Africa, has been shown on the ramps of Johannesburg Fashion Week and in gallery shops abroad.

We are passionate about the people we work with. In a country with over 50% unemployment, our work offers women, in particular (who are largely illiterate) a chance to earn an income; we are changing the lives of people, one crafter at a time. Training is done in remote villages, under trees, in church halls – wherever we can find some shelter.

"Our knowledge and expertise + producer’s skills and creativity = jobs, food on the table, healthy children and confident adults. This is OMBA."

Karin Le Roux - Director