Hello, 

My name is Valarine Ramani, and I am the co-founder of SwapCircle.

Ubunifu is a cornerstone for youth who desire to create change and have no idea where to start, or just want a hand to gently push them, as they did for us.

At SwapCircle, we host clothes swapping events where people bring their pre-loved items that are no longer in use for various reasons and swap. Essentially, discarding your clothes ethically and prolonging the life of your pre-loved clothes. It is like one big closet, as our community calls it. We founded the SwapCircle last year with a few friends.  We were tired of seeing people discarding good clothes that end up in dumpsites. Since we were already borrowing and swapping clothes from each other, we thought of how cool it would be on a much larger scale. And since our formation, we have had over 1,000 people attending our events and workshops. We have built a community of over 6,000 members across our social media platforms. We have successfully swapped over 3,500 articles of clothing in 2024 alone. The best part is that most of our community members have confessed to having stopped buying new clothes for over a year and only swap. We also conduct hands-on workshops, where we share skills that help you extend the life of your clothes, such as mending, repairing, crocheting, upcycling, and recycling.

Ubunifu has been the backbone of our journey. Having only known them for just over a year. When I heard there was a place that could host events for free in Nairobi, I thought it was a scam for sure! Like, what do you mean for free, in this economy?!

It became the beginning of a beautiful collaboration as we started hosting workshops, not just one but several at Ubunifu. From upcycling old clothes into canvas workshops to crochet classes. Ubunifu hub also gave us the space to hold sustainable talks, empowering our community members to take care of their environment in their own small ways. Through the youth fund they gave us, we were able to buy items that have facilitated our events, making them smoother. 

Ubunifu hub has really helped us grow as they facilitated our learning trip to Africa Collect Textiles, who are pioneers in tackling textile waste. Very pleasantly, after this, two of our members have secured internships there. Quite literally changing lives.

Through their continued support, we have met changemakers in the climate space. We have formed networks that continue to propel our success. Also, through their youth funds, we managed to buy essentials for our continued flow in events and that will generate more income for us.

Finally, I got the opportunity to attend the youth exchange program in Armenia this year. The experiences I had and the networks I formed are invaluable. From meeting like-minded individuals and comparing notes on climate issues affecting our countries, to seeing different perspectives in problem-solving, my time there was such a treat.

All these, Ubunifu has offered for free. It’s been a pillar to rely on for direction, strategy and sometimes rest or fun.

We are glad to have stumbled upon them and of course, that it wasn’t a total scam!


By Valarine Ramani, SwapCircle