All for Africa
August 6, 2009 by Cyndi Lavin
Filed under Artist Communities, Other Bead & Jewelry Sites
All For Africa is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve health, education, clean water, micro-financing, community development, and skills training on the African continent.
Part of this mission is being accomplished by the newly opened online shop, which promotes products made by fair trade community cooperatives and vocational training programs in Africa. Two of the programs of special interest to the beading and jewelry community are outlined below.
The Atteridgeville Jewelry Project is located outside the city of Pretoria in South Africa. It was the first project established in a black township to offer historically disadvantaged individuals free training in jewelry manufacture and design. Generally, graduates of the training program have an 80% success rate in future employment, while the project has allowed for entrepreneurs to flourish in their own right.
Khuts Exclusive Designs was founded 10 years ago in the Western Cape, South Africa, by Khutala Mayosi, a Xhosa woman. She desired to introduce her communityʼs traditional flare and beadwork to modern couture by using Zulu and Xhosa beading techniques combined with innovative designs. Khuts Exclusive has transformed unemployed South Africans into some of the countryʼs most skilled and creative craftspeople.
