Uganda Crafts Ltd. is a Ugandan owned Fair Trade craft retailer providing employment and training for the disadvantaged—particularly widows, youth, the disabled and those living with HIV/AIDS.
The Kroo Bay Initiative exists to help realize universal primary education in Kroo Bay, the largest and most marginalized slum in Sierra Leone by covering the costs of school fees, providing scholarships and constructing schools. Awava and KBI have formed a partnership with a two-fold advantage. Awava's artisans in Uganda are provided with more work and income benefiting their families while helping out others across the continent through the sales of their beautiful products.
Barefoot Power Uganda is a Ugandan social enterprise focused on distributing Firefly™ solar lighting systems to people at the base of the global economic pyramid. Through a specialized “business in a bag” training program, dedicated entrepreneurs develop micro-franchises enabling them to make a living distributing safe, affordable, healthy alternatives to kerosene and candles. BASE Technologies also partners with solar dealers, non-governmental organizations, community organizations and micro-finance institutions that provide outlets for product sales, awareness-building activities, innovative financial support systems and after sales warranty service. For more information on BASE Technologies or the Firefly™ products please contact info@basetechnologies.ug.
The Community Mercantile at 901 Iowa Street in Lawrence, Kansas is a member-owned natural foods grocer committed to promoting community ownership that encourages personal, community and environmental health. "The Merc!" and Awava formed their partnership in January 2010 and you can find many of Awava's beautiful products throughout this magnificent store!
Pryde's Old Westport (115 Westport Road in Kansas City, MO) is a family owned kitchen and home accessories store in the heart of historic Westport in KCMO. Housed in an original brick building built in 1922 for the Helen Thomes School of Dance, Pryde's has been offering Kansas City a staggering array of kitchen and household goods for more than 42 years. Awava is honored to have many of their wonderful products in stock inside this landmark store.
The "Keep It!" Campaign mobilizes young people to make a sustained, focused commitment to developing their capacity as social entrepreneurs. The idea is to provide organizations that have well-established track records of success with a steady stream of youth volunteers who are willing to make a more substantial commitment to helping those organizations achieve their goals. The mission is to help build a community of hope in Ivory Park, South Africa by connecting individuals throughout the United States with opportunities to support the following initiatives by members of the Ivory Park Community: 1) the building of a comprehensive Community Center in the heart of the township; 2) the building and support of a library; 3)income generating projects; 4) youth programs and 5) intergenerational programs. Awava has partnered with The "Keep It!" Campaign giving our beautiful products the opportunity to not only empower the women making our products, but products purchased through "Keep It!" also benefit the beautiful community of Ivory Park.
The United Future Fundation (UFF) is an Australian non-governmental organization operating in Uganda. UFF is "breaking the cycle" of poverty through education, building a combined primary school and vocational training center in rural Uganda based on a strong belief that education is the means to creating lasting change.
UFF is focussed on making education and skills trainings accessible to Ugandan yough in poverty-stricken, rural and remote areas.
UFF has partnered with Awava to develop tailoring and crafts courses for their Technical and Vocational Education Training Program (TVET). This partnership aims to provide UFF with a foundation of skills and experience that will not only assist in developing crafts and tailoring skills for the UFF TVET Program, but will also increase the scope in which UFF and Awava can work together to create sustainable development for women across Uganda.
As of October 2010, UFF and Awava have adopted an open-ended partnership agreement that will allow UFF to work with the Awava team to open the Australian market for Awava UFF craft products. While UFF develop their TVET Tailoring Programs, the partnership agreement will allow UFF to raise funds through the selling of Awava products in Australia, while simultaneously contributing to the employment and continued sustainability of Awava artisans.
Both UFF and Awava share a mutual commitment to sustainable poverty eduction through skills education, access to resources, and linkages to open markets. As partners, UFF and Awava are committed to empowering women, families and communities by utilising these opportunities, in turn increasing
sustainability and quality of life.
Awava now has a nice selection of products at the new Elevate: Mind, Body, Peace massage and yoga studio at 1403 Massachusetts Street in beautiful downtown Lawrence, Kansas.
Elevate's proprietor and massage specialist, Autumn Magiera, had the opportunity of visiting Awava on the ground in Uganda in June 2010. Stop in, get a massage and ask about the artisans!
Owl & Thistle General Store is a modern take on an old-fashioned concept of a community oriented store offering a wide variety of products under a single roof.Nestled in the heart of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Owl and Thistle specializes in local, sustainable, and fair trade items at a reasonable price. Their mission: help you to feel good about what you buy by giving you the piece of mind that it is made with love in an ethical and environmentally sustainable manner.
At Owl & Thistle, we scour the globe as well as our own backyard to bring unique items to Brooklyn. From locally made frocks and edibles, to organic soaps and play dough, we strive to provide sustainable goods at fair prices – without sacrificing quality.
He trained in Kyambogo University majoring in Sculpture and Painting. Prefering to be called an artist without boundaries, Wasswa creates his work through experiments studying the behaviour of different materials in relation to his subjects.
A proprietor of Artpunch studio where he works with a number of different artists ranging form photographers, musicians, poets, fashion designers, ceramists and sculptors, Wasswa is also a member of the Weaver Bird Artists’ Village.
He strongly believes that each art discipline greatly contributes to the strength of the other so working together with other artists is enough to be inspired to create.
Awava is honored to be partnering with such an inspiring talent and can assure lots of exciting future collaborations!
In 2008, Fair Planet Founder Janalee Morris-Wales travelled to Uganda to work with women with disabilities on a research project. Many of these women were artisans and small business owners, but they met difficulties in running their businesses. Women with disabilities in the developing world face stigma and discrimination, extreme levels of poverty, and are highly unlikely to get an education (only 2% of women with disabilities in the developing world are literate). This translates into problems with making a living - they are discriminated against in the markets, they lack capital to start and maintain their production, and because most of them have never been to school, they struggle with basic tasks like counting money and making change.
Out of their stories came the idea for this business - and Fair Planet was born. In the many times Janalee visited these women since 2008, they have never failed to impress her with their desire for a better life for themselves and their families. Fair Planet was conceived out of her desire to provide immediate, tangible, and sustainable development assistance to those women. Since then it has expanded to include fair trade artisans from around the world.
Mzuribeads is a community led creative enterprise producing unique, beautiful and socially responsible loose beads and jewellery. Designed in Uganda to inspire and boast a contemporary African style. The range includes many shapes, colors, indigenous and recycled materials with fabulous textures.
Products: Barkcloth, banana leaf, cow horn and recycled paper and glass beads.
Mzuribeads is one of several Ugandan community initiatives moving away from charitable aid and onto the concept of enterprise for sustainable development. The number one object of Mzuribeads is to generate a sustainable income by offering our customers top quality, fashionable and ethical beads by focusing on quality control, design, and seasonable colors. In addtion, Mzuribeads has an ongoing commitment to invest any accumulated profits into social, environmental and economic developmental projects.
Additional monies accumulated through sales are directed towards the establishment of a healthy and active cooperative, involving alternating leaders, quality controllers, global marketeers, product developers, etc. The goal is to generate sufficient funds to develop a sustainable and diplomatic business structure.
Stand Tall partnered with Awava in 2011, using Awava products for fundraising efforts in Canada!
To find out how to become a partner or set up a wholesale account, please email Kate!
