Zawadi and Neema Crafts
Thank you for visiting the Zawadi site, if you are already familiar with us feel free to browse the shop for a friend/relative or check the blog to read about the latest news or past events. If you are not so familiar, here is some information about what Zawadi is and what we do.
Neema Crafts is a crafts centre in central Tanzania. It was set up in October 2003 by Susie and Andy Hart, two CMS missionaries from St. Mark's Church in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Neema Crafts is not like any other craft centre in the area though. Its purpose is two fold: to provide handicrafts training and employment for deaf and physically disabled people throughout the Iringa region of Tanzania; and also to change negative attitudes towards people with disabilities in the local community. Local employers are invited to see how skilled the workers at Neema Crafts quickly become when given the opportunity to fulfil their potential. The high quality work produced at Neema Crafts is changing the attitude locals have towards disabled people.
After recent work to improve the centre, Neema Crafts now provides permanent workshops, physiotherapy rooms, and conference rooms for teaching - as many of the disabled workers are unereducated. With the money raisd for Susie and Andy, they also try to buy equipment locally wherever possible, which further benefits the local community.
This is where Zawadi comes in! Zawadi is a charitable organization, set up three years ago by a small group of pupils from St Aidans Church of England High School who knew Andy and Susie and wanted to support the Neema Project by raising funds to improve its workers lives. These students were in Year 12 so as they left the following year the batton was passed onto a new group of pupils to manage Zawadi.
Zawadi, meaning 'gifts' in Swahili, aims to raise money from around the Harrogate area in order to provide medical equipment, medical treatment and workshop equipment for the disabled workers at the Neema Crafts centre.
Although we have sucessfully raised over £9000 for Neema Crafts over the years, money is still needed for the centre as now it is able to employ more then 100 extra disabled people as out-workers.
We are hoping to develop links with more schools and churches and as we have just brought in the next generation of ‘zawadians’ to carry on the good work after this year, we will be holding many events to show them how it's done.
Thank you for visiting our site and reading this passage. Please do not hesitate to check out our shop and buy a much needed piece of equiptment for these disabled workers - we, and they, are hugely grateful for any you can make. Thank you.
