From her real Natacha Kanzié, this young Burkinabè girl is much better known under the name of “Lena Pearls”, a name taken from the combination of her first name (Natacha) and that of her loving mother (Léonie) whom she loves so much. Formerly a professional basketball player and even a model, Natacha Kanzié now evolves in the making of pearls, more specifically those that women attach to the kidneys known as “Bayas” and sometimes on the feet and hands. Attached to pearls since her early childhood and driven by the rage to gain financial independence, she gave herself the means to no longer depend on her mother, the only parental figure since birth. Burkina24 zooms in on this fighter…
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Natacha Kanzié is the only child of her mother, Léonie! She didn’t have the chance to live with her father. With each passing day, she saw her mother day and night fighting and sacrificing herself for her in order to give her a better life.
So, over the years, Natacha has thought long and hard about what she could do to support her mother and no longer depend on her. Bingo! She finally remembers the pearls she has always loved since childhood. Thus, she begins to weave small bracelets that she sold at school between 200 and 250 CFA francs. Facts that date back to 2011 when she was in 5th grade.
« I am an only child and I have always been with mom. I saw how it was going, how it was not going and the fact of always taking money with her it bothered me. And at some point, precisely on my 5th, I said to myself that I will do something with my ten fingers so as not to be entirely dependent on her. “, she reveals.
Lena Pearls
Lena Pearls
With a little creativity and luck, her bracelets were easier to buy, because her classmates admired them so much. One day, during a conversation with one of her relatives, he suggested that she diversify her creations and especially the ordinary if she really wanted to get by with this task. Natacha will thus embark on the making of necklaces and chains that women, especially young girls, wrap around the kidneys and feet commonly called “Baya”.
One step having led to another, the love of the thing takes place and imposes itself. Very imaginary and ingenious, her necklaces and chains go around the Burkinabè capital and even beyond. She set up a shop located in Cissin, a district of Ouagadougou where she makes, exhibits and resells her collections. Since the class of 1time so far where she finished her degree in communication, Natacha Kanzié supports her studies thanks to this activity.
The time taken to make a necklace or a chain depends on the model requested by the client, explains the promoter of Lena Perles. « There are models that I make in 5 minutes if it’s simple enough. On the other hand, there are others that can last an hour or even a whole day, it all depends on the order. “, she supports.
To sell her production, she says she has a circle of friends on social networks who, in addition to buying for themselves, also help her to share with their friends and acquaintances. She reports that her items are sold more on social networks than at the store. ” It’s through social networks that I can easily sell, my shop isn’t really well placed, I’m in a six-meter zone, it’s mainly my circle (of friends, editor’s note) that pays more “, she says.
As these are women’s items, you immediately understand that Natacha Kanzié’s clientele is mainly made up of women. ” My clients are all those who are in love with pearl accessories, more precisely bayas. Who really love to adorn their arms, their hips, their feet with anything made with beads “, she argues.
Natacha has been able to bring a special touch to her collections thanks to small artificial stones that are very rare on the market but highly coveted by women, with whom she creates models.
Contrary to speculations that we hear in our communities that bayas are often satanic objects that appeal to genies or night husbands, Natacha says she heard about it but for her it is “hearsay”.
« I heard it calls for geniuses. That if you wear them you will be possessed and others say you can attract a man through it. In our grandparents’ time, grandmothers wore this (the baya, editor’s note) to support the loincloth so that it wouldn’t fall off.
It allows (baya, editor’s note) to know that we have gained weight or lost it. And in the long run, we saw that it was pretty, we tried to add a little thing to embellish it and gradually, women understood that men liked little things like that “, she defends.
Most of the raw materials that Natacha uses come from Nigeria and Ghana. This is also one of the major difficulties it encounters. There is also the scarcity of these materials. This causes it to lose certain markets because it happens that it does not honor certain orders.
« To order, you have to pay 50% of the amount before I start making. In the beginning, there are people ordering maybe a dozen, and you take your money, invest, buy everything you need, and craft.
At the end when you call, it is hardly if you pick up. So what I do now, I take 50% of the sum, before making and depositing. Right now I know that even if it’s next year the client will come to collect and I don’t lose “, she confides.
Natacha Kanzié admits that she is doing well thanks to this job. ” There are days when God is gracious I can go home with 40,000 or 50,000 FCFA, we don’t complain “, she admits. However for the moment she works alone in her shop but she hopes to take someone who could help her with certain tasks.
Natacha Kanzié has several hats. She was a professional basketball player. In 2016, she joined the Burkinabe national women’s basketball team. But too bad she won’t go far in this adventure. A knee injury ended his career.
Then she decides to go into fashion. From the height of his 1.83 centimeters and his beautiful physique, an artist offers him to try modeling. An idea that she likes and she commits to it. From her first casting, she was selected. This adventure will not prosper unfortunately. However, she continues to participate in filming clips.
« I happened to leave school, go to my fashion shows and come back to finish my order. There are also times that I let it go, I do my parades and I go to school. I can honestly say that in Burkina fashion does not feed its man. We come into the industry because we love, we are passionate about it, otherwise, if it’s for the money that we come to fashion, the 20,000, 25,000 shows that we have every two months don’t feed our man. This is why I turned to my current activity “, she attests.
Elfride Tougma, is a client of Natacha, she says she discovered her products on TikTok and since then she has remained faithful. ” She has exceptional pearls, which are not found everywhere in Ouagadougou. Since I started paying bayas, she is the first person I find who has exceptional models, she does what only comes to her mind and when you take it is very nice achievements “, she sells.
On the other hand, she blames him for the fact that she cannot take advantage of social networks to make herself known more. Natacha remains for her a model, a source of inspiration, she prays for the prosperity of her company.
As for Aïna Traoré (assumed name), another Natacha client and a great lover of her chains, she says that her husband likes them. In addition, she confides to us that some of her married comrades have let her know that there are bayas which make it possible to maintain balance in the home and above all to attract her man to her.
To young girls who embark on entrepreneurship but who, due to difficulties, want to give up, she encourages them to hold on and not give up. ” Not every day is rosy. There are days when you wonder who sent you in, but as long as you love what you do, I think you’ll be fine, you have to know how to move on and fight to make it okay “, she says.
As a project in the future, Natacha Kanzié wishes to see her shop grow and open a training workshop in weaving necklaces.
Micheline OUEDRAOGO (Trainee)
Burkina24
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