• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.104-116
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• 2004

Kanga is a type of cotton clothes with splendid patterns that East African women throw on their bodies. It first appeared in the East African shores in the mid-nineteenth century. A new style of squared handkerchiefs brought to Africa by Portuguese merchants for the first time was referred as to leso of which early designs were in a basic form of white dots on dark background. Consumers called such material by kanga as they began mentioning its craftiness and comparing its elegant nature to a sociable red rooster and graceful feathers. From the early 1990s, Swahili characters have been embroidered in designs of kanga, mainly consisted of proverbs. Kenya's kanga products are widely known and well represented whereas Tanzania makes the best use of it for political and social events. Fascinating and practical kanga has established its position as an essential part of East African cultures that is being well received as a fashion style there in these days.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2022

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychological well-being (PWB) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in workers of a multinational company. Methods: Employees (aged ≥18 years) were recruited from Latin American, North American, New Zealand, and European sites of a multinational company operative during all the pandemic period. The self-reported Psychological General Well-Being Index was used to assess the global PWB and the effects on six subdomains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, and vitality. The influencing role of age, gender, geographical location, COVID-19 epidemiology, and restrictive measures adopted to control the pandemic was explored. Results: A total of 1335 workers completed the survey. The aggregate median PWB global score was in a positive range, with significantly better outcomes detected in the Mexican and Colombian Latin American sites compared with the other worldwide countries (p < 0.001). Among the European locations, a significantly higher PWB score was determined in Spain compared with the German and French sites (p < 0.05). Comparable geographical trends were demonstrated for all the PWB subdomains. Male workers had a significantly better PWB compared with females (p < 0.05), whereas a negative correlation emerged with aging (p = 0.01). COVID-19 epidemiology and pandemic control measures had no clear effects on PWB. Conclusion: Monitoring PWB and the impact of individual and pandemic-related variables may be helpful to clarify the mental health effects of pandemic, define targeted psychological-supporting measures, also in the workplace, to face such a complex situation in a more constructive way.