African Artisans

When you come in to check out our Kenyan soapstone sculptures, make sure you see what other treasures Africa has to offer, among them our handwoven baskets from Botswana. Despite its economic deprivations and harsh climate, women in north-western Botswana chiefly support their families through basket weaving. Basket weaving is a traditional art which made a resurgence in the early 1970's. One weaver is Mahurero Diyeve, who fled war-torn Angola in 1967. Ms. Diyeve, who never attended school, says of her trade, "I make a lot of money from baskets. I don't know what I'd do for money without basket-weaving." Because of their mother's livelihood, Ms. Diyeve's three children have opportunities their mother never had, "All my children are in school, and my daughter is at university. I want them to become teachers or office workers, not just basket makers."

                    

Make your Valentine's gifts fair trade! Meet Juliet Brago, a member of the Ghana-based Kuapa Kokoo cooperative, which co-owns Divine Chocolate. As she says, "It makes us all very proud to supply the best cocoa for the best chocolate and because we own it, we receive profits which help the whole village." Chief among these is a corn-milling machine, which reduced what had been an hours-long task into five minutes.

Work with Dignity, Quality Products

Mango Tree Imports is proud to feature Kenya for the month of January! Stop on by and get 10% off Kenyan-made cards, jewelry and soapstone sculptures.  Soapstone is a smooth, soft rock gathered from the earth without the use of machinery.  Artisans live on the land where they mine, design and sculpt the soapstone.  In a country where about 38% of the population lives in poverty, workers receive a living wage.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#Economy



        



In a country marred by dictatorship and war, Ugandan women are gaining economic independence through coffee production. Oliva Kushera, a mother of seven, became the first woman to join her coffee co-op. Since then, Kushera has helped other women join Gumutindo Co-Op and started a women's group with a small savings and loan program.




Save the date for Ballston Spa's next First Friday on February 7th! Mango Tree Imports is particularly excited to be part of  our first annual Chocolate Fest and showcase our own fair trade chocolate. In an industry that can be rife with abuse and corruption, we are particularly proud to sell Divine and Equal Exchange Chocolates in a wide variety of flavors.