Work Of Our Hands: SMILE BOX

Five Rand Squatters Camp Okahandja Namibia

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KIND OF A NIFTY WAY TO COMPOSE PHOTO DISPLAYS

Work Of Our Hands: Okahandja, Namibia; I moved with my husband to Namibia from the USA in December 2002. Seeing the poverty and unemployment motivated me to make a difference if I could. SInce the only thing I'm really good at, is art , and also craft design, it made sense to start there. I began teaching a small group of unemployed ladies to make paper mache bowls, and another group to do bead work. I was inspired by a development project named Zenzele in South Africa. Zenzele teaches employment skills to the unemployed in the Khayelitsha community, a Cape Town squatters camp of at least 1 million people. While touring their facility I commented that I wished something like it existed in Namibia. I'll never forget the answer. My guide said, "well it started here 15 years ago with one lady and a sewing machine."The message was clear, no excuses, just start! And as they say the rest is history :) Today we have the jewelry making going strong, and my translator Isabella is production manager. This enables me to manage the newer ceramic bead making project, which we hope to expand into pottery . This year 2010, we began doing a bit of export. Germany, United Kingdom, and U.S.A.