ana antami

I am Sherleen Tunai, founder of ana antami, a not-for-profit organisation rooted in the empowerment, visibility, and dignity of people with albinism. While our work spans human rights, climate justice, and health equity through programs like Nihamasishe, Nilivyo, Maliza Cancer, and Linda, it is our fashion and design training program Hatua Mpya that currently beats at the heart of our mission. Hatua Mpya, which means A New Step, is more than a training. It is a life-altering runway toward self-worth, skill, income, and identity, and it is led by, and for, people with albinism. We currently have eight participants living on campus, all from diverse counties across Kenya, enrolled in our 9-month full-time residential training. Each of them came in with a story shaped by exclusion, but today, they are being transformed into designers, artisans, entrepreneurs, and storytellers in their own right. The training covers three pillars: 1. Technical fashion and design skills – from hand-sewing to industrial machines, sketching, cutting, pattern making, and garment construction, learners master the full production chain. 2. Entrepreneurship and branding – participants are guided in turning their talent into sustainable businesses, understanding costing, marketing, client management, and digital visibility. 3. Confidence and expression – through photoshoots, public speaking, and personal styling, participants are taught to take ownership of their narrative, a deliberate act of reclaiming space in a society that often silences them. In Debut 1, they made bags and basic garments. Now, in Debut 2, we are entering the intermediate stage: structured skirt designs, pocket placements, waistbands, sleeves, and zippers. Each piece tells a story of growth and potential. By the time they reach Debut 3, they will be staging a full fashion showcase, with pieces that will not only walk the runway but also challenge the world to redefine beauty and power. The goal of Hatua Mpya is twofold: 1. To equip young people with albinism with a tangible, income-generating skill that gives them dignity and economic freedom. 2. To use fashion as a tool for visibility and advocacy, flipping the narrative from passive beneficiaries to celebrated creators. This is not just a vocational course. It is a platform of resistance, identity, and visibility. Long-term, Hatua Mpya will become a model design institute for people with albinism across Africa. We are already laying the foundation to scale it into a national centre for inclusive fashion with professional certification, industry linkages, mentorships, and scholarships for future cohorts. The dream is to have our graduates not just join the fashion world but to lead it, reshape it, and claim space unapologetically. Every stitch, every garment, every photo captured in this journey is an act of activism. Hatua Mpya is proof that when we equip the right people with the right tools, they don’t just rise, they soar. And we are only getting started.