Our Projects create self-sustaining businesses for the women who care for AIDS orphans.

Basket Making

The most successful of the projects has been making traditional Zimbabwean baskets. What began as four groups and 52 women in 2000 has now become 28 groups of approximately 250 women making beautiful baskets. Basket making is a traditional art form and we are encouraging the caregivers to involve the orphans in the process to keep the tradition alive.

The Foundation buys the baskets from the projects to complete their business cycle. The baskets are then sold in the United States and abroad with all the profits returning to the villages to pay school fees for our identified orphans. In 2000, we paid school fees for 108 orphans; now we are paying fees for 1,000 orphans as a result of these basket projects! You can help:

Gardens

There are garden projects in all 14 villages where we work. The "families" caring for orphans are given plots in the community garden space for their use. The vegetables grown are used for family consumption as well as income. The Foundation supports these efforts by providing seeds, fencing, and arranging education programs by the agicultural extension agents in the area. There is a great deal of friendly competition among the groups and an annual Garden Show gives prizes to the best gardens. Though rains were good last year, severe drought is a constant threat to the success of the gardens. The need for irrigation systems remains critical.

Help start a Garden Project
 

Sewing

There are six groups of caregivers involved in sewing projects; these groups have grown and prospered. Originally The Foundation provided a sewing machine per group and the

materials needed to create school uniforms to sell. With their continuing success and the support of a donor, the groups are making children's clothing, choir uniforms, and sports uniforms for the schools. Recently, groups used some of the profits to subsidize the purchase of more sewing machines.

Help start a Sewing Project

In all our projects, caregivers are organized into groups focused on specific businesses that can generate income, provide food, and create a sense of empowerment to these previously disenfranchised people. The groups first develop a straightforward constitution addressing regulations and guidelines, second, they set up committees to oversee different aspects of the project, and finally, they develop a clear, self-sustaining business plan.