The Nzinga launch (see Nzinga artisans post below this on my blog) was a great success – more photos on http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26087&l=74c2c&id=664241054

The ladies made over 20,000 pesos on the day, which means about £80.00 each – probably more than they would get in a month from all the jobs they do put together.

And every one of them got orders for more items, because they ran out!

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And we had only invited twenty people (though about thirty showed up).

We got a clear idea of which products sell, and the ladies are already hard at work producing more for the next event, a bigger one at my house on 8 November (please come, springtime, so we can hold it in the garden!)

It will be an older, more ‘sophisticated’ group of attendees, and we hope to have the Press and various dignitaries there – people who may be able to give the ladies the teeny bit of extra help they need to really take off on their own.

We had a similar event last year, and you cannot believe the change there has been in just twelve months: not just in the quality of their products, but in their confidence, self-esteem, group feeling…

At the launch they received an offer for a permanent space at the American commissary (a shop where the Americans go to buy Hersheys’ bars and suchlike), and they were invited to take part in the American Club Christmas bazaar.

Events like these will give them the publicity they need.

So far they have received a donation which will allow them to register themselves as a company, and so give themselves a recognized legal status. Now they need to tidy up and paint a room in one of their houses, which they will be using as a workshop, and buy a few tables and shelves.

But it’s not handouts that really make the difference: it’s seeing the results that come from hard work, commitment, and above all, faith that things will work out.