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ABATAKA
Website
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Shop ABATAKA
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ABATAKA on FaceBook |
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Empowering Women Through Art |
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| ABATAKA - a pan-African
term meaning community, belonging, "we are
all one" - is the name given to the beading
program organized by Mary Fisher. As part of
her commitment to enable HIV-affected women
in Africa to support themselves and their
families, Mary taught women in Rwanda and
Zambia to hand-bead bracelets brought to the
U.S. market by Fair Winds Trading, Inc
through partnership with O, The Oprah
Magazine and Macys.com. Early styles and
designs, first brought to market in 2007,
sold out in a short time, leading Mary to
believe that a project could be started in
Africa that would provide a sustainable
income for HIV+ women. |
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 Each woman that
is part of the
beading group is
also a member of a
support group
through
CIDRZ, the Center
for Infectious
Disease Research in
Zambia. These
women have each been
taught all of the
designs that are
currently part of
the ABATAKA
collection.
Conditions of
participation in the
ABATAKA program
include regular
attendance in the
support groups, as
well as cervical
cancer screening,
and financial
contributions to the
support groups. Each
woman is encouraged
to open a bank
account and learn to
budget their new
income.The
ABATAKA
project has allowed
more than 30 women
to send their
children as well as
multiple extended
family members to
school and to
purchase and prepare
healthy and regular
meals. Some have
started small
businesses on their
own. Take time to
read the biographies
of the women in this
HIV/AIDS support program. It has been
life altering for
all of them.
When you buy jewelry
from The ABATAKA Collection you befriend
African women on a journey. With your help,
they will rise from poverty to empowerment;
from AIDS and despair to health and hope.
Click here to Shop The ABATAKA
Collection. |
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