African wood mask, "Ashanti Bull"

With the help of his income from NOVICA, Kobina was able to support his children and their education. They are now grown up and able to support themselves. Kobina sees education as something very important to him and his heart breaks when he sees children walking around or working instead of attending school. He currently helps support four children of single mothers and pays for their education. The oldest one is about to graduate high school and it has been his dream to attend university. Kobina is working hard to save and gather funds to help him achieve his dream and further his education.

Most of Kobina's income is from NOVICA and, although sales have been good recently, a large portion of his income goes to supporting the education of four children. Paying for their education is a huge financial burden but is a constant motivation for him to create and sell more designs.

Kobina Asmah has received 8 microcredit loans with 0% interest from Kiva and Novica, the first for $100 and the most recent for $500. Proceeds were used to invest in a bulk purchase of wood, aluminum plates, and sandpaper.

Kobina is a conceptual artist, designer and finisher. He depends on carvers to help him bring his designs to life. Every product purchased helps support him and those he works with.

Kobina started out with very a very humble income and has now been able to increase it every year further enabling him to support himself and his community.

Kobina has two children of his own and helps support the education of four other children in his community.

This artist is an elder master and continues to actively practice their craft.