Upper Intermediate

Keynote
Reading text Review 2: Krochet Kids

Make your own hat When American teenager Kohl Crecelius’s older brother taught him

how to crochet, neither of them knew what that simple skill would lead to. Kohl and his two

friends Travis and Stewart didn’t care that crochet wasn’t a typical ‘boy’ skill – they just

wanted to make their own unique and personalized hats to wear when snowboarding and

skiing at the weekend. Soon they had a steady supply of customers among their school

friends and they featured in a local newspaper under the headline of ‘Krochet Kids’.

Pass your skills on Fast forward several years, and the three friends had moved to different

colleges, but they kept in touch. Stewart spent a summer working in Uganda with people who

had been living in government camps for more than twenty years. These people were looking

for ways of earning money and becoming independent. By the following year, the three

young men had set up Krochet Kids as a non-profit company and had recruited a group of

women in Uganda to make the colourful woollen hats that had been so popular with their

American school friends several years earlier.

Make a difference Since 2008, Krochet Kids has expanded its operation to employ 150

women in Uganda and more in Peru. The company is committed to a business model which

provides a job, an education and a mentor scheme for the women and their families. The

statistics are clear. For the average woman making goods for Krochet Kids, her personal

income has increased as much as ten times. She is able to save up to 25 times more money
than before. Her children are 25 times more likely to have increased their school attendance.

Increased earnings lead to better access to health care, and so families are five times

healthier than they used to be. Some of the effects of having an income are unexpected: the

incidence of domestic abuse has fallen by 40 per cent for these women and they have become

more involved in decision-making in the home. Meanwhile the product range has expanded

to include scarves, bags and clothing, ensuring the long-term future of the company and the

families it supports.

mentor (n) a person who gives a younger or less experienced person help and advice over a

period of time, especially at work or school