WE ARE ZAWADI – Social Enterprise in Action!
BACKGROUND
Zawadi was founded at St. Aidan’s 16 years ago and has been running successfully ever since.
Who are we? What do we do? Why do we do it? Read our story below!
WHO?
Zawadi is a student led fundraising organisation, set up in 2007, run by successive teams of St. Aidan’s CE High School and Associated 6th Form students and identified by their distinctive orange hoodies.
WHAT?
Through enterprise, organisation, team working, problem solving and resilience, Zawadi has collectively raised over £50,000 for two charities founded by Susie Hart MBE – initially Neema Crafts, based in Iringa, Tanzania and latterly Artizan International which operates in the UK, Peru and Ecuador.
WHY?
Susie and her husband Andy built the now self-sustaining project Neema Crafts Centre to provide training, work and financial independence for local, differently abled people living in and around Iringa.
Starting by teaching three young deaf men how to make hand-made paper from elephant dung, the Neema Crafts Centre currently employs over 120 people.
Some have become skilled workers and have learnt how to weave, make paper and form beautiful beads out of recycled bottles whilst others design, sew and fashion stunning garments, bags, jewellery and greetings cards which they sell online and to hotels and visitor outlets across Africa.
Returning to the UK, Susie and her team then set up Artizan International, a Registered Charity providing further training centres in South America and the UK.
Susie was deeply moved by the large numbers of disabled people she saw begging on the streets in Peru and Ecuador and was excited by the potential for setting up a training and employment project in each country, based on the Neema Crafts model.
As is the case in Tanzania, no government support whatsoever is provided for differently-able people in Peru or Ecuador, so these bright, capable people become the most marginalised and vulnerable in their communities.
Since 2015, all Zawadi fundraising activities have supported Artizan International’s new ventures in Arequipa, Peru and Santo Domingo province, Ecuador. The student-led team raise money by organising many different fundraising events every year – both at school and across the community.
Every penny is given to Artizan International – and to date we have raised over £40,000. Artizan use our funds to buy equipment and resources so that more workers can learn skills enabling them to earn a regular wage, support their families, build their self-esteem and gain the respect of their community.
In October 2020, Artizan International opened their Harrogate town centre shop selling crafts and jewellery made by ‘Artizans’ in Peru, Ecuador and the UK.
Please support us, so that together we can help transform lives and replace isolation and invisibility with colour, creativity, friends and freedom.
You can get involved by:
• Buying a gift for family or friends from our Virtual Catalogue
• Making a donation
• Requesting an invitation to our AGM (held in May each year)
Contact us at: m.farrar@staidans.co.uk
