Advertisement
Ethical Shopping

Neema Crafts gives Tanzania’s disabled population a hand up

All of the profits made from Neema Crafts’ UK products go to its housing project in Tanzania and you can pick them up from The Big Issue Shop

In just 15 years Neema Crafts has helped 120 people with disabilities find their way off the streets.

Founded in 2003, the Neema Crafts Centre was part of the Anglican Diocese of Ruaha project in Iringa, Tanzania, a country where around 10 per cent of the population are classified as having disabilities, according to the country’s 2012 census.

What started as training three young deaf boys, Josephat, David and Godfrey, to make paper from elephant dung and maize leaves to produce greetings cards has grown into a business which, since 2013, has been self-sustaining and no longer dependent on charitable donations. From its elephant dung beginnings, Neema Crafts Centre now boasts a workshop, a crafts shop, a restaurant and café and even a 10-bed guest-house – all staffed by locals with disabilities, making Neema Crafts a beacon of hope for the disabled population in the region.

“As well as the tangible benefits like a better wage and standard of living, Neema Crafts has raised the profile of people with disabilities in Tanzania,” said director Susan Tomes.

“We want to actually change attitudes. One of our workers recently came into the office and was delighted because his neighbour had asked for a loan.”

Advertisement
Advertisement

You might wonder whether being asked to lend money was a positive thing, but as Susan explained, the craftsman had grown to be known as a person of good standing in his community.

“He told us before Neema existed that would never have happened. But now, he’d taken on a status as a respected village elder rather than an outsider,” she says.

As well as boasting its many Tanzanian-based projects, Neema Crafts is one of our newest additions in The Big Issue Shop!

Its bold designs are screen-printed by hand onto stylish cushions, tote bags and wash bags all made using eco-friendly materials like sustainable teak, glass, recycled paper and of course, back to where it all started, elephant poo!

100 per cent of the profits made from its products sold in the UK go towards one of Neema Crafts’ most recent projects, a housing project that assists Neema Crafts staff in building their own homes.

Find the Neema Crafts collection here

Advertisement

Become a Big Issue member

3.8 million people in the UK live in extreme poverty. Turn your anger into action - become a Big Issue member and give us the power to take poverty to zero.

Recommended for you

Read All
Designer and activist Katharine Hamnett on fast fashion, the planet and photobombing Thatcher
katherine hamnett
Second hand September

Designer and activist Katharine Hamnett on fast fashion, the planet and photobombing Thatcher

I have worn second hand clothes my whole life. I don’t know why anyone would shop new
lesley wearing her second hand finds
Second hand September

I have worn second hand clothes my whole life. I don’t know why anyone would shop new

Coffee that fights homelessness: Nespresso’s new £1m partnership with social enterprise Change Please
Three Change Please baristas promoting their Nespresso partnership
Sponsored content

Coffee that fights homelessness: Nespresso’s new £1m partnership with social enterprise Change Please

'The system is killing us': How B Corps are fighting injustice with socks, coffee and handbags
Ethical shopping

'The system is killing us': How B Corps are fighting injustice with socks, coffee and handbags

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue