Maria with baby Tatu in Kisele Village, Tatu was born when ARF started helping the village women start their farming projects.
This is how it all started. In the year 2001, I visited my friend Sajida Mamdani in Albany, New York. Sajida who was born in Zanzibar, Tanzania moved to Albany, New York 30 years ago and lives there with her family.
She had been a housewife for many years.
It was when I visited her in 2001 when she expressed her wish to do something for the people back home,and that is when we discussed my ideas of wanting to help crafters from Africa. This is an experience that touched my heart and which influenced me for years to market crafts overseas.
I had the chance to visit so many African countries and this is one of the things that really touched my heart and inspired me to help these people. Many years ago, I was in Zimbabwe on an official visit and I was taken to visit the outskirts of Harare where hundreds of crafters sit by the roadside, waiting for a buyer to come to their rescue. This practice is found in most African countries.
Due to their hardship it is very easy for buyers to exploit them. This was my experience. When visiting Harare, I tried to see how much can you exploit them. I bargained with one crafter and started at a very low price for one master piece, we reached to the point that I said $5 for the piece. I then turned away pretending to leave and he ran after me asking me to buy the piece for $3 because he had no food for his children. He wanted any price so he could go buy food for his household.
When Sajida explained her dream to help the people back home, I took this chance to discuss my wish to start something to help crafters sell their crafts in The United States. This would enable them to get a better market rather than just sitting by the roadside.
We agreed and The African Reflections Company was formed with the idea of empowering men and women crafters on a fair trade basis. I went back to Tanzania and Kenya and started grouping crafters, at one point we worked with 16 groups all men and women. We gave them money in advance to help them start off. Fifty percent of the costs of their products are given and fifty percent upon delivery. This way they have enough money for buying the materials and to help them with their households.
Products are exported to the US. Sajida started off by exhibiting in various shows around the Capital District and eventually found it necessary for a permanent location.
As we grew bigger we needed a place to store the products when they arrived from Africa. We contacted Raymond Walker, a well known and prominent business man based in Colonie, New York. Raymond who thought the idea of helping the less fortunate in Africa was a great idea, agreed and joined in by offering part of his warehouse to store the products free of charge. Thanks to Raymond Walker for his kindness.
In the meantime Sajida also managed to contact OGS (Office of General Supplies of New York State) at the Empire State Plaza for a permanent location of African Reflections. Thanks to the OGS management of the Plaza, who felt that this was a great way to help empower the crafters, we were lucky enough to be rented a booth which has been in existence since 2004.
We sell beautiful crafts and thanks to the patronage and loyalty of the OGS workers and the visitors during New York Senate Sessions, we have been able to sustain the store.
Since we wanted to do more than just empower crafters, we embarked on fundraisers to build water wells which were needed by the people in Africa. We then decided to register a non-profit organization which would receive funds from the company to build various projects in Tanzania, Africa.
African Reflections Foundation was then founded in 2003, with its objectives to help empower men and women, to reduce poverty, and to help educate children in rural Africa.
(I will be continuing my story in the next few days..... Maria)
Welcome to Founder's Blog
iscussing with women in Kisele Village on their farming progress.
Team Rafiki proudly posing with Villagers in Kisele, after handing over the building they sponsored.
I will use this area to post information about the African Reflections Foundation and our programs here. Please come back and check on this blog to see the new items and progress.
Thank You
Maria Pool
Founder
African Reflections Foundation
We are now working on updating the website with the successful and historical visit of Team Rafiki, with vibrant pictures and stories about how we made a huge impact in the lives of the People of Mkuranga District, in the villages of Kisele, Mpilu, Kitonga, Mwarusembe.
November 2007 Kisele Village saw torrential rains, to make things worst an old well which was broken town to the ground level was flooded, worst for the Villagers was two little girls went playing and fell in the well. They were found drowned, floating when the villagers searched for them. The women immediately went to seek for help for from Maria, Founder of African Reflections Foundation. I did not waste any time and went for the rescue as the village had no other well to drink water from. Here I am examining the old well where the fate of the little girls died, work Started immediately and a new well was build.
