Noah's Ark empowers artisans in Moradabad, India to break the cycle of poverty. They are dedicated to paying a fair wage and offering vast support in areas of health and education. Specific social programs include elementary schools providing free education for children of artisans, tailoring training programs and other workshops for women, clean water storage tanks and filters for artisans and their families, and more.
Currently the organization works with 49 artisan groups throughout the city, and "graduates" artisan groups as they are able to become independent businesses.
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,...
Kisii, a city in western Kenya, is surrounded by soapstone quarries and is well-known both for the quality of its soapstone and the skill of its carvers. Nyamarambe, a rural village near Kisii, is the home of the 150-member Nyabigena Soapstone Carvers Cooperative. This civic-minded group provides work for its members while also giving back to its community.A source of great pride for the cooperative is the Nyabigena Mixed Day Academy, an elementary school which they opened in January 2007 which now educates 150 students from the proceeds from the sales of soapstone crafts.
The sustained work of Sasha Association for Craft Producers with more than 100 crafts groups has helped to revive dying arts and skills, provide artisans with a livelihood, and revitalize craft communities. Sasha's success has been in combining community development with handcraft marketing. The non-profit marketing arm finds needed outlets for handcrafts, while capacity building and other development projects are coordinated by the Sasha Enterprise Development Foundation. Sasha represents crafts producers from rural and semi-urban areas, mostly in eastern India, who benefit from health campaigns, improved working conditions, and stable incomes. Nearly 70% of the producers Sasha works with are women. Sasha's unique model of organizing groups into larger crafts consortiums means that groups specializing in different aspects of textiles,...
Nobunto
Nobunto is a South African Fair Trade company that creates high quality hand-painted candles, ceramics and handcrafted greeting cards with the utmost attention to detail using mainly African inspired designs. Their mission is, in a region with high unemployment, to alleviate poverty, not only through development of industry but to be socially, ethically, and sustainably responsible.
