Turqle Trading is committed to creating jobs in a country with astounding rates of unemployment: 60% of black women in South Africa and half of the nation's youth are unable to find jobs. This means many families lack sufficient income to provide themselves with food, shelter, and education for their children.
Not only does Turqle Trading provide employment for nearly 500 South Africans, but it encourages them to develop their skills and knowledge through various educational classes such as health care and personal budgeting. These classes enable the employees to better plan for the future of their families and to prepare for unexpected expenses.
Bombolulu Workshops is located in Mombasa, Kenya, and works with over 100 disabled men and women artisans to help them overcome their physical limitations and empower them economically and socially to become fully integrated members of their communities.
Bombolulu started in 1969 as a rehabilitation project sponsored by the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya. Bombolulu Workshops provides artisans with training in jewelry making, screen printing, wood carving and crafting to provide them with a dignified way of earning an income. They also provide housing and assistance with medical care.
Bombolulu's motto is 'Disability is not Inability.' Serrv has been working with Bombolulu since the mid-1980s.
Trinity Jewellery Crafts is a small jewelry-making business located on the outskirts of Mathare Valley, one of the most impoverished areas of Nairobi. Joseph Muchina, the director of Trinity, grew up in a Nairobi slum, which gave him a strong desire to find a way to reduce poverty. Together with two other founding members of Trinity, he was trained by the National Christian Council of Kenya in jewelry making, and they started a small business to employ others in need. In addition to their monthly income, the jewelry makers who work at Trinity all participate in a profit-sharing plan and 10% of their earnings are set aside each month in a pension plan. Joseph says that when they have orders,...
