African Hope Crafts
Bill and Anne Eames moved to Cape Town from Michigan after a short term mission trip. Both members of the couple felt God speaking to them individually. Imagine their surprise when they turned to their spouse and the other one mirrored the same enthusiasm for a move to Cape Town! They sold their home and almost all their earthly possessions and moved here in September 2004. African Hope Crafts was born in October of the same year.
Bill
and Anne were partnered with Living Hope when they first arrived, in
that they
had come to do job creation and their first employees were all members
of
Living Hope's support groups. (This is to say, all of their crafters
were and
are HIV+ and fell along a spectrum of health, poverty and prognosis.)
What began
as a small jewelry job creation program, run from one room, has grown
into its
own independent store front in a shopping mall, filling orders from
Australia,
England, the United States and, of course, South Africa.
Literally, every piece purchased
positively affects a
crafter's life.
They are paid per piece of jewelry they make.
Prices are purposely kept low to encourage people to buy more - it's
meeting and creating demand so that we can employ more and more people.
They
currently employ 14 crafters, but would love for it to be more! They
earn a very
fair living wage working far fewer hours than their employed peers. In
addition, Bill and Anne strive to meet any
need that arises beyond
basic employment. Some of the crafters have now been working
together for
four years and know
each other like family!
Living Way partners with African Hope Crafts in finding new opportunities for their products to be sold. In so doing, more people can be employed. This exciting initiative is truly changing lives on the ground. For more pictures of their wonderful work, please go to their website: www.africanhopecrafts.org.