HELPING HAND

This year has flown by and as we close the last chapters of 2009, I just wanted to thank you for all your support and bring you up to date with our helping hand programme.

2009 saw us adopting a shea co-op in Gumu - Northern Ghana. We set a target to raise enough funds for this co-op on 8th October and managed to hit the target (100.2%) by 8th December. Thanks to your support and a very kind donation, the total amount raised so far is 120.7% of our target.

These are some photos showing progress:

 

We hope to purchase their first shea production early next year.

Vele is a young disabled boy from Swaziland who we support through education and recently received these photos including his school report. We are very proud of him.

After waiting for what seemed eternal, I finally signed documents for the formation of our Ghanaian based company [NGO/Charity]. This will be to help meet the psychosocial needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

 

As we say in Ghana, mi daasi paa. Thank you very very much.

ON THE R A D I O!!!

WOW, I am so grateful for answering a phone call last week even though it was "outside" my working hours. I had a lady on the phone inviting me to be her first guest.

You are cordially invited to a radio interview on 8th December 2009 at blogtalkradio.com/africanwomenineurope
Tune in at:
20:30 Western Europe GMT +0:00 (UK, Ireland, Portugal)
21:30 Central Europe GMT +1:00; Malta, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands
23:30 Eastern Europe GMT +2:00; Latvia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine.

EMPOWERMENT

2 days ago, I received some pictures and just wanted to share the story behind these with you.
As some of you may recall, my rather hectic trip to Ghana in October 2008 included a soapmaking class for members of the shea co-op that I am very proud to support for the last 6 years and will continue to do so. Well, after so many phone calls with ideas being shared, I finally got a glimpse of the fruits of our labour. I am so proud to be a Ghanaian and even proud to learn that everything [mould, stamp, etc] used in the production is made in Ghana. I also received a picture of a recently erected shed. This was from the donation we made in addition to the money being raised through our shea butter fundraising campaign:
So don't think I am being cheeky next time you see me grinning like a Cheshire cat - I am so proud of these women and of course the men who help to make the tools.
We believe in empowerment
We believe in quality
We believe in ethical trading
We believe in communities.

NOVEMBER NOVEMBER

November is a great month. Not only is Cioccolatina 7 years old this month, it also good to see a little bit of sun shining through the silver clouds with russet leaves falling down. Well, we are on the lookout for Cioccolatina's biggest fan :) Let your voice be heard and you could win yourself a £10 gift certificate.

Don't be harsh on your skin this winter! What will be in your survival kit? Well, 2 products jump out to the rescue:

1. Karité soap : packed with more than 70% of pure unrefined non-deodorised fair trade shea butter.

2. Whipped shea : just pure 100% unrefined non-deodorised fair trade shea butter.

As an independent ethical business and direct importer, we are very proud to support a lovely co-op in Ghana who have continued to supply is for the last 6 years with quality unrefined sheabutter: * with less than 1% moisture content
* with characteristic natural scent
* with excellent low free fatty acid
* with no presence of lead nor mercury
* with a very good peroxide level
* with a very high amount of vitamin A
* with a high amount of nonsaponifiable fraction compared to refined shea
We believe in empowerment, we believe in quality, we believe in ethical trading, we believe in communities.

If you fancy sending these lovely products as a gift, then have a look at what we can offer.

SALAMATU

TIME FOR A CHOCOLATE TREAT

A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS .....

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the shea love you have shown for the past 6 years. We have been very proud to support the same shea co-op back in Ghana all this time as we believe in loyalty and quality. It is amazing how time has flown by and continue with our loyalty.

We have now adopted a new shea co-op in Gumu. The co-op is currently made up of 40 women - sorry no men involved. We believe in equality and empowering men & women. However, it is a tradition that women look after the children through education, etc.

The group is currently led by Madam Memunatu and we will be encouraging them to produce shea soap naturally, neem oil and baobab oil.

We will be posting updates on our facebook fanpage