Innovation

"Skynket AB purchases african fabrics at the local market in Tanzania and bring them back to Sweden with help from traveling family and friends. We then use these fabrics to make trays, which are sold in Sweden and online. In order to give back to the people of Tanzania, a part of our profit goes to Nkinga hospital in Tanzania, where we are able to help out and pay patient fees so that the women can safely give birth at the hospital instead of in their homes, which can be in very poor conditions resulting in a high mortality rate." - Margareta Brandt, Founder and CEO

Inspiration

• The founders have a friend that has been working at Nkinga hospital in Tanzania for many years. She always told them how poor the conditions down there were, and how the hospital did not get enough money because of Tanzania's bad economy; therefore, the hospital had to rely on patient fees that the women were not able to pay, because they were also poor. This resulted in that many women had to give birth at home, under unsanitary conditions - resulting in a high mortality rate that is reflected in UN's SDG number 3.
• The founders thought: "is there nothing we can do?", and they then came up with the idea to make the trays and give some of the money back to Tanzania.
• The inspiration to continue the work comes from the joy they see in the women's eyes when they are able to help them. Because, according to Margareta "you feel happy in your heart when you get to help someone". This is what drives them to continue with the work.

Overall impact

With the help from Skynket AB, the Nkinga hospital have several of their departments that were not in proper condition to receive patients, including their neonatal department, as well as the child care department. They have also contributed to the building of a new roof when the old roof started to leak water into the hospital. They help women to have a safe place for giving birth, which ensures, to the best of the hospital's ability, that the conditions causing the high mortality rate are erased (including unsanitary conditions and lack of proper care for the mother and her child).

Their overall contribution also includes contributing to the economy by purchasing the fabrics from the local market instead of producing them in Sweden.

They also contribute to health education for the community in Tanzania, through Nkinga hospital.

Business benefit

• A part of the profit goes back to Tanzania, but Skynket still makes a profit out of selling trays here in Scandinavia. According to Margareta, they "sell more and more each year".
• They might also be an inspiration for other businesses, in the way that they give back to the community that supplies them with material for their products. If more businesses would do this, they world would probably look very different.

Social and environmental benefit

• The fabrics are bought at the local Tanzanian market, which contributes to the economy of the country and helps the fabric production business in Tanzania to endure. They could have chosen to make fabrics in Sweden with patterns similar to the african cloths, but instead they chose to support the local economy.
• As the fabrics are brought back to Sweden with friends and family that would anyways be traveling down to Tanzania, there are no extra shipping costs or impacts on the environment. The trays are handcrafted in a local factory in Sweden using Swedish birchwood.
• Through the work of Skynket, the hospital has also been able to travel out to villages and instruct women on hygiene and give them some tools necessary if they would not have enough time to come to the hospital and give birth. This way, Skynket also contributes to the health care education of women in the local villages in Tanzania.

Interview

Margareta Brandt, Founder and CEO