The Conversation

Women are still the ones expected to be on top of household organisation, so does that make tidying up a feminist issue? With the 'decluttering' trend going global, Yassmin Abdel-Magied discusses with two women from Kenya and Belgium, who help people to organise their stuff professionally.   Annelies Mentink became a professional organiser in 2016, following burnout from a stressful job in the banking industry and post-natal depression. 'I discovered that helping people to sort stuff was a real job and I love doing it.' She has since published a bestselling book in Flemish, Cleaning Up Makes You Happy! and started her own training academy for budding declutterers. As the youngest of 13 children, Faith Kaimba always had to be extremely organised with her own stuff. So it was a natural leap for her to go into the growing decluttering business in Kenya. She now trades as Faith the Organizer, and says because the modern African woman is expected to do it all, they need someone like her to help them reduce the household chaos. L: Faith Kaimba (credit: Dennis Kibaara) R: Annelies Mentink (credit: Wilfried Verreck Fotografie)