Author Archives: Andrea Shared Interest Foundation

Congratulations to Tintsaba, Gone Rural and Fetola

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Great news from Shared Interest Foundation, three organisations that we work with through our Swaziland training project Tintsaba, Gone Rural and Fetola have won prestigious awards.

Tintsaba were awarded with the “For Her” prize at the Be Fair Awards. The award celebrates the success of organisations that mainly consists of women. The Be Fair Awards are the annual recognition of fair trade initiatives from the Trade for Development Centre of the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC).

The women of Tintsaba have a reputation as master weavers in sisal thanks to their products’ excellent quality and design. The women of the co-operative are trained to weave sisal as well as make jewellery. The group also provides training opportunities for other women in the region.

The jury commented: “We wanted to reward Tintsaba for its holistic approach, which includes business and social support. Thanks to its innovative production model, which generates high-quality products, Tintsaba is a source of inspiration for other entrepreneurs.”

Handicraft producers, Gone Rural were awarded the Trade Sector award in the African Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) Awards. The awards are organised by the Africa Growth Institute, in partnership with African governments, private sector institutions, NGO’s and SMME support agencies.

Gone Rural was founded by the late Jenny Thorne in the 1980s to create sustainable incomes for rural women in Swaziland, with the objective of bringing independence and a voice to these women. Today, it creates sustainable income for over 760 women throughout Swaziland. In the last four years the business has doubled in size and quadrupled the women’s income. Gone Rural supplies over 400 retail stores internationally with products sold in some of the worlds most renowned home stores.

Swaziland fair trade business

Mrs Nkambule from Gone Rural, a women’s weaving cooperative in Swaziland

We are really proud of the achievements of the groups and we look forward to hearing about future successes from them and the other groups that we work with across Swaziland.

Fetola were awarded the coveted Africa SSME Award 2011. We have been working with Fetola for the last 4 years and this month launched a second phase project with them. The new project involves training 40 new craft producers throughout South Africa in business and financial skills, market access and good governance.  You can read more about our work with Fetola by clicking here.

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Example of the type of people who will benefit from the Swaziland training programme

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You may have read our blog about the preparations for the launch of Shared Interest Foundation’s new producer training programme in Swaziland. Zodwa Ngcamphalala is an example of the type of person that will benefit from the programme.

Zodwa has been working for a handicraft organisation for eight years. She makes decorative stitched baskets which are then despatched around the world.

Zodwa is 30 years old and has two children. Her husband is employed in South Africa and visits home every two or three months. She earns about £1 a day for her basket work which she spends on food, school fees, clothing and other necessities.

The basic diet of many families such as Zodwa’s consists mainly of maize porridge (made with water collected by hand from the river). When there is extra money available, ‘extravagant’ grocery items will include sugar beans or potatoes which are bought at Matata Trading Store (a long bus ride away).

Zodwa completed Form 5 (the highest level of secondary school) but did not write her exams at the end of that year. She has not pursued any further studies due a lack of finance and opportunity.

Having a strong survival instinct and a wonderful entrepreneurial spirit, Zodwa has used some of her income from making baskets to start a successful microbusiness offering solar-powered cell-phone charging services to her local community.

Zodwa Ngcamphalala using solar panels to charge mobile phones

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Swaziland training programme prepares for launch

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Preparations for the launch in early June of  Shared Interest Foundation’s new producer training programme in Swaziland are well advanced.

The project manager and three other staff responsible for administration, marketing and finance have been appointed and five business development officers, who will deliver the training and mentoring, are expected to be in post by mid‑April.

The three year programme, which was awarded £502,000 by Comic Relief, is the largest ever undertaken by the Foundation. Working closely with Swaziland International Fair Trade Association (SWIFT) we will provide training to over 130 handicraft businesses. We estimate that this will benefit over 3,000 people.

This programme will use a similar model of training and mentoring to the Foundation’s very successful programme in Rwanda, which will end in June. However, there are some significant differences as Foundation Manager Andrea Wilkinson explains:
“With this project we will be working with some very small informal businesses and sole traders. We’ll work with about 100 of these in year one and then 20 of them will go on to year two. It’s going to be challenging but the impact will be huge. We are targeting a poorer group in society. Most of them left school early due to lack of finance or family commitments. Due to the high rates of HIV/AIDS, the country has been left with many orphan‑headed households.”

One of the other differences is that this programme will include specific training about managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace. In Swaziland one in three people is HIV positive, the highest rate in the world. This presents problems for individuals and for the economy. There is a huge stigma attached to AIDS and many people are sacked for being HIV positive. However if properly managed people affected can work and live a long life.

During the programme a local support organisation called SWABCHA will be helping every business to have a HIV/AIDS policy in place which sets out what they will do in certain circumstances. Some of the businesses already have this. Swazi Candles (where the project staff are temporarily based) has an HIV/AIDS counsellor.

Introducing Pablo Garrido

The recently appointed Project Manager is Pablo Martin Garrido. Originally from Spain, Pablo has direct experience of business development in Africa including in Swaziland. From December 2008 to April 2010 he was the Managing Director of Eswatini Kitchen, one of the leading fair trade companies in Swaziland.

Pablo is relishing the opportunity to “develop fair trade from the grass roots” and help small businesses break into international markets. “I strongly believe we can train Swazi craft makers how to generate more income,” he said.

“Business planning, product development, quality control and capacity building will help talented Swazis to take the next step in their handicraft initiatives and this will benefit their families, livelihoods, ability to pay school fees, medical insurance etc and it will enable them to employ more Swazis.

“This is a very exciting programme that touches all levels of the value chain from individual producer to small business to large company. Thank you for the opportunity to implement this programme.”

To find out more about Shared Interest Foundation please click here.

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Hurricane Matthew in Chiapas

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At the beginning of October 2010, Hurricane Matthew crossed over the Mexican state of Chiapas, causing severe damage to the land used by Shared Interest Society customer and organic coffee producing group, Campesinos Ecológicos de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas SC (CESMACH). The area in which the group lives and works suffered landslides and broken bridges; the damage has greatly impacted their coffee production.

Carlos Omero Velasco López, President of CESMACH, estimates that 70% of the group’s farmlands and coffee plantations are devastated, and of the crop produced by the 30% that remains; approximately half is likely to be damaged by excessive rain and humidity that cause disease. This is a disaster for the coffee producers and their families who rely on coffee sales to survive. In fact 75% of their income derives from their coffee farming. In addition to suffering the loss of coffee plants, many people have been left homeless following the floods, and communications and transport are limited due to damage to bridges and roads.

CESMACH has planned a recovery programme for coffee production, and Shared Interest Foundation is pleased to be able to support it with a donation of £5,000 from its Livelihood Security Fund as part of the pilot programme. This will fund the purchase of 2,500 new coffee plants and, along with land clearing and digging; the funds will go a long way to helping the producers who have suffered damages start to earn a living from coffee again. The months ahead will be challenging as CESMACH coordinates the repair of the coffee processing machinery and areas, and maintains a focus on retaining the quality of the coffee it produces. CESMACH is therefore attempting to strengthen links with government agencies and other regional actors to overcome the loss of productive assets and put into practice its medium term plan.

If you would like to donate to the Livelihood Security Fund, which supports producer groups dealing with natural disasters please send a cheque payable to Shared Interest Foundation to, Shared Interest, No. 2 Cathedral Square, Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 4XF or donate online by clicking here.



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Shared Interest Foundation on BBC Newcastle Radio

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Today I had my second experience of being interviewed live on radio. My first was in Rwanda during the launch of the Foundation’s Rwandan Producer Support Project and I was dubbed into Kinyarwanda by a man…so I’m not sure if that experience counts?!

Today, however, it was definitely my voice that was heard as I proudly promoted the Foundation’s largest project to date.

As you may be aware, late last year the Foundation was awarded over half a million pounds from Comic Relief, for our Swaziland Craft Development Project. During my interview with Simon Logan, I told North East listeners about the project in an attempt to show where the funds generated by Comic Relief actually go within the region.

In our case their money is transported into the heart of Africa, to Swaziland a small country located in the south of the continent. Swaziland, unheard of by many, has a population of 1 million people and has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world.

Simon challenged me over the old saying “charity begins at home”, asking why we should support international causes. Here at Shared Interest Foundation, we believe that we live in a global community. All of the craft makers and farmers that we work with in Swaziland don’t have a social welfare system, free education or health care, as we do in the UK. We are working to ensure that the craft makers we work with have access to basic human rights, every pound that you donate, helps charities like us, get a step closer to securing this reality for thousands of individuals across Africa.

Our project in Rwanda – check out the archive if you haven’t heard about it – had led to a 35% increase in income for the groups we worked with we aim to expand and replicate this training project in Swaziland. We will work with 130 businesses, training them in business and financial skills, market access, product development and HIV/AIDS in the workplace.

We have already started to set up our new office in Swaziland and our new Project Manager, Pablo has been extremely busy signing up the businesses that are to take part in the project.

If you would like to hear more about this project or find out how you can support us please either email andrea.wilkinson@shared-interest.com or call 0191 233 9129.

Please click here and fast forward to 2:08 to hear me on Newcastle Radio.

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International Women’s Day – Women empowerment is working in Rwanda

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Today, Rwanda, joins the rest of the world to commemorate International Women’s Day 2011 – an important day on the global calendar, where women are acknowledged for their economic, political and social achievements.

The Rwandan Parliament has the largest number of women in parliament worldwide, which is a major achievement. They have achieved this through national policies aimed at gender equity, ensuring that women play an integral part in the reconciliation and peace process on the country’s road to development, thus illustrating that gender empowerment really works.

However as always there is a lot more to be done, to ensure that this is the case throughout all levels of society not just at the top, and this is exactly what we have been working towards in our Rwandan Producer Support Project.

The project was set up three years ago to work with vulnerable members of society who engage in the craft sector, a large percentage of whom are women. We have been working with 50 businesses in Rwanda (9,000 individuals) that are looking to increase the number of women they employ. Many of the women that we worked with at the start of the project were living on less than a dollar per day. A dollar won’t buy you much in Rwanda for example you can get a loaf of bread, or a few tomatoes and some rice.  It is certainly not enough to afford many of life’s necessities such as basic healthcare, a healthy diet and sending your children to school.

Throughout our project we aimed to raise the income of the women that we work with three-fold and to date I am pleased to report that we have empowered the women to make changes in their businesses, which have led to their income increasing by 35% on average.

This is very much trade not aid. The women have achieved this themselves (with a little support from Shared Interest Foundation) and they are extremely proud of the hard work they have put into making these changes and the impact this has had on their families, enabling their children to attend school. The project is therefore not only educating adults, through our business and financial skills training, but also their children.

The project is coming to a close this year and we would very much like to support more and more Rwandan women. If you would like to help us achieve this goal, please send a cheque payable to Shared Interest Foundation to, Shared Interest Foundation, No. 2 Cathedral Square, Groat Market, NE1 1EH or donate online by clicking here.

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Fundraising: Fear or Fun?

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Alongside applying for grants and funding, Shared Interest Foundation also relies on charitable donations to continue with their business skills training and support in the developing world. If you are unable to make a donation yourself, you could always think about getting involved in some fundraising in your own community.

Many people find fundraising daunting but once you get started you will find it can be lots of fun. There are many different ways to raise money and the more creative the better as far as we are concerned! You can hold an event that you think your friends will really enjoy or choose a personal challenge that you would like to complete.

We have lots of ideas to help you get started. With a combination of fundraising at work, online and amongst friends and family, you will soon be on your way to reaching your aim.

Events and Sponsored Challenges

Hosting an event or taking part in a challenge could bring in a large portion of your target amount in one go. Getting friends involved and feeling like you have a team of supporters behind you can make fundraising fun. This could be just the beginning – maybe your Wii tournament will be so hotly contested that there will be high demand for round two, or your one-off Christmas Carol Concert could become an annual event.

Other ideas include:

  • Hold a sixties night, a ceilidh or a band night and charge for entry. Ask your local community hall or place of worship to allow you to use their hall free of charge.
  • Hold a race night.
  • Hold a murder mystery evening or have a dinner party with a theme and sell tickets.
  • Hold a Wii tournament. Do your friends show their competitive streak when it comes to computer games? Charge to enter the tournament and give a prize to the winner.
  • Take part in a sponsored walk, trek, run, swim or cycle.
  • Organise a coffee morning or afternoon tea party.
  • Ask a local pub to host a quiz night or karaoke night and charge people to sing.
  • Have a clear-out and sell possessions you no longer need. Depending on the item for sale, you could sell via e-bay, the local press, your work intranet or the notice-board at your work, school or place of worship.

Fundraising at Work, in School or at University

Your place of work or your school could be a great place to raise some funds.

  • The support of your employer or your teachers could really help you along, so before you embark on any fundraising in the office or classroom, remember to speak to your employer or teacher first.
  • Many employers have a Matched Funding Scheme whereby they pledge to match every penny you raise. It is best to find out about this at the beginning of your fundraising as it acts as a great incentive for your colleagues, friends and family, who are more likely to donate if they know their donation will leverage more funds and double in size.
  • Organise a dress-down day.
  • Hold a cake sale.
  • Are you well-known at work for being a coffee or tea addict? Ask colleagues to sponsor you to go without caffeine for a week

Publicising your Fundraising

It’s always a good idea to put together a plan for how you will publicise your fundraising. By investing a little time in making sure people know about your fundraising activity, you could raise a lot more money with only a little extra effort.

  • Ensure your fundraising activities are on your work or school newsletter, intranet site and notice board.
  • Speak up and tell people about your fundraising at events such as your book club, at church, or at school assembly.

Contact Us

If you have any questions please contact Louise McLaren at Shared Interest Foundation on 0191 233 9112 or louise.mclaren@shared-interest.com

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Is it possible to change black to green?

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It’s no surprise in the current economic climate, where there is a sharp rise in redundancies, along with stock market and housing market crashes, that retailers are expecting a bleak holiday season.

Tomorrow marks Black Friday in the US; a day when retailers open very early, often at 5 a.m., and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season.  As stores try to get back into the black, staff must be wondering if the day will live up to its name.

Black Friday started off as an American event but is catching on here in the UK due to the credit crunch. This year, studies have found that 59% of UK consumers expect to reduce their spending this holiday season. However there is a bright side, the study also found that 44 percent of UK consumers are willing to pay extra for green and ethical gifts (between 10 and 25 percent more).   

In addition to this more and more people are shopping online to save petrol, using recycled wrapping paper or not using any wrapping paper at all. It seems that green shopping practices are on the rise.

So how will your festive shopping be affected this year? Are you willing to pay a little more for eco-friendly/ethical presents?

What better gift to give someone, than making an ethical investment on their behalf? A little something to help them plan for the future whilst helping farmers and craft makers across the world do exactly the same thing. A gift that gives twice.

Just think; for as little as £100, you can open an account with Shared Interest and start doing your bit to change Black Friday into Green Friday!

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Foundation Fundraising Feat

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As, hopefully, you will have heard the Shared Interest Foundation team arranged a 7.5 mile walk of Hadrian’s Wall in order to raise funds for the charity. Saturday was the big day and dressed in our finest waterproof clothing Andrea and I headed off to Northumberland to meet the rest of our walking group.

Participants had come from Northallerton, Edinburgh and Cockermouth to visit Hadrian’s Wall country, see the stunning views and raise vital funds for the Foundation’s training projects and capacity building work.

Our guides for the day, volunteers Colin Mills and Tony Miller from Haltwhistle Partnership, brought the area’s rich Roman history to life with impressive anecdotes and explanations. They expertly led us along the circular route highlighting points of interest such as fossilised tree trunks and a Roman mile stone.

Thanks to all who participated for their fundraising efforts as well as their incredible energy and enthusiasm which made for a memorable walk! If any of you are looking for creative sponsorship ideas for your own fundraising events, one participant was sponsored per bird species spotted. I’m pleased to say he reached a grand total of 22!

To date the walk has raised £1,144, and we anticipate that figure will rise as walkers send in their sponsorship money. Many thanks also for the good wishes and sponsorship from those supporters who were not able to come along themselves.

We are grateful to Emma Clark, our photographer for the day, for giving up her Saturday to take some beautiful photographs, which can be viewed by clicking here.

A huge thank you to Colin, Tony, Emma, my colleagues who came along and supported the event and our other volunteers, Ben, Ryan and John.

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Crafts, Rice and Banana Wine!

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The KOAKI Co-operative we visited in Rwanda was one of the most welcoming and generous, and also one of the most disadvantaged.

Based near Bugesera, to the South of Kigali, the members have a very small amount of land and small, basic houses and little else. They struggle to clothe and feed themselves and their families, so they began the craft co-operative to earn extra money.

Andrea and I were made to feel very welcome and as the group told us about their business, we were all served an enormous plate of rice, beans and vegetables. When asked what we would like to drink we made the mistake of replying ‘anything at all’ and were promptly given a bottle of banana wine each. The food was delicious and, although the wine was difficult to stomach at 10.30 am, the sentiment was very much appreciated: we were amazed by the generosity of the members, who have so little for themselves.

Koaki Co-Operative

The President of the Cooperative, Renilde, explained that they currently sell through a buyer rather than directly. Due to a lack of capital the members are tied into a relationship whereby the buyer supplies the materials in exchange for buying the goods for a reduced price. They are glad to receive Shared Interest Foundation training as it enables them to find new markets. Since this is a particular issue for the co-operative, the Producer Support Project’s Business Advisor, Pauline, has discussed their position and will be taking representatives from the group on a marketing tour of Kigali to help them understand the market better and look for new opportunities.

KOAKI, Andrea and I are all very grateful to those who support Shared Interest Foundation’s projects. If you would like to help cooperatives like KOAKI to grow their businesses please either donate by clicking here or send a cheque to Shared Interest Foundation, Freepost NT1883, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 1BR. We are grateful for any support you can give.

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