Mama Africa - our partners

Over the years, we have developed partnerships with several grassroots initiatives and artisan communities in Zimbabwe. They are groups of talented, motivated and trust-worthy individuals that Marcia, president of Mama-Africa, has met through her travels and international development work in Zimbabwe, and by whose generosity and strength Marcia has been inspired.

Thirty-two women formed BACC in 1992 to overcome the hardships resulting from HIV/AIDS in their village. Under the leadership of Ms. Gladys Mukaratirwa, a teacher at St David's Girls' High School at Bonda Mission, Zimbabwe, BACC addressed behavioral change in a society where women lack empowerment and are burdened with the responsibility to care for those affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS. The women trained in hand production of “sadza” batik fabrics to earn a living. “Sadza” batik uses the Zimbabwean staple of corn meal and vegetable dyes to produce traditional decorative forms on Zimbabwean cotton.

As the number of village children orphaned by HIV/AIDS grew, BACC formed the Chiedza Community Based Orphan Welfare Organization, to which they dedicate 25% of their revenues to provide for the children and school fees. The women co-operate to share batik production and farming to have nutritious food for the children and themselves. The success of the business in the 1990s converted doubting male villagers to believers in empowerment of women, particularly when they saw the women making 60,000 bricks to build a production facility-showroom.

The Art and Craft Centre is also a meeting place where responses to the HIV pandemic are put into action. Surrounding villages have learned how they too can provide for their children orphaned by AIDS.

BACC is a living example of community mobilization to address the problems of living in the post-HIV era through the incorporation of the views of community members on how to resolve problems by behaviour change.

BACC has grown into the Chiedza Community Based Orphan Welfare Organization from September 2005 to gain registration and official recognition of its support of orphans in the Bonda community. In addition, four respected Chiedza volunteers do outreach into surrounding villages to raise awareness of HIV issues, particularly as they relate to caring for the orphans of HIV-AIDS. Four communities now meet regularly and are interested in developing income generation projects that will enable them to care for their orphaned children. Mama-Africa Foundation is assisting the communities to write proposals for support of the initial project investment, and to support continued outreach work by the Chiedza volunteers.

The Batsiranai Craft Project is a cooperative of mothers with disabled children living in the Dzivarasekwa township in Zimbabwe. The word “Batsiranai” translates from the Shona language to mean “helping each other”. Helping each other is just what this project is about — the women work together to support each other emotionally and help their families economically through their artistry in handicrafts.

These strong, hardworking women live under extremely challenging circumstances: most are lodgers, all use public transport or walk, some are widowed, some are single mothers, many husbands are unemployed, HIV+ is rate is greater than 25%, and the children require complex medical, emotional and educational interventions.

Volunteer advisors assist with the project, but all proceeds go directly back to the cooperative. Batsiranai is a Fair Trade Organization registered through the Rokpa Trust. Purchasing Batsiranai handicrafts is the way you can help support and empower these mothers and children.

The students and accomplished artists of the Dreifontein Art School and the village weavers in Chirumanzu District, Midlands Province have marketed their work through St. Theresa Mission Hospital’s Dr. Richard and Loretta Stoughton. Their unfailing efforts to sell the works during visits home have raised funds to support the orphaned children as well as to provide income to the artists and crafts people. The Mama-Africa Foundation has extended the market area to Canada, where buyers provide a fair price for the beautiful representations in jacaranda wood (an invasive species that is not ecologically threatened) and for the woven items, which include baskets, plates and purses.

The distant land of Nyanga is home to some of Zimbabwe’s best sculptors. “Zimbabwe is the only African country where there is significant sculpting in stone. This is original, fine art created entirely by hand. No power tools of any kind are used. Each sculpture exhibited is created out of a single piece of stone. The astonishing range of colour and texture in the sculpture, creating the impression sometimes of different stones that are joined together, is achieved by using different carving techniques, leaving parts of the stone unworked, and by polishing other parts. Many of sculptors rely on hand-made tools, using bits of scrap iron, because they can afford nothing better.

The artists explain that polishing always holds an element of surprise for them, as it makes vivid the subtle colours deep within the stone. No colouring is added; the variety of colours and patterns in the stone is all natural. There are more than 200 documented types and shades of Zimbabwean stone. The ones used for sculpting range in hardness from about 4/10 to 8/10 — all much harder than what is what is colloquially known in the Northern hemisphere as Soapstone.” www.african-millennium.com "Romancing the Stone"

The sale of the artwork supports the artists as well as children orphaned by AIDS. 25% of each sale is contributed to orphan care, including school fees.

The women of Nyanga, Zimbabwe have been producing Gudza crafts for generations using fiber made from the bark of the Musasa/Munondo (Brachystegia/Julbernardiaspp.) trees. The primary producer of gudza crafts is a community group, which sustainably harvests the fiber from the woodland. These producers also dye the fiber using natural dyes (e.g. Berchemia discolor bark).

Studies of Shona folk art today focus primarily on modern stone sculpture and paintings, overlooking the important production of folk crafts. Shona "artistic genius" was traditionally expressed through other mediums such as metal, wood, textiles and clayware. Pre-colonial textiles included gudza (bark fiber) cloth, reed mats, basketwork, pipe-production, pottery and ceramics.

Wool rugs are also made by Mrs. Naboth Chandaringa, a reknown stone sculptor whose works are available through Mama-Africa Foundation.

The sale of the artwork supports the artists as well as children orphaned by AIDS. 25% of each sale is contributed to orphan care, including school fees.