Empowerment Projects

Members of the Alaffia/Agbanga Shea Butter
Cooperative earn respect from their communities.

The Fousena Fund raises money to support
mothers during and after pregnancy to lessen
their chance of complications.

Hope through Health supports Togolese families
living with HIV/AIDS. - photo courtesy of
Hope through Health

Women are the backbone of African societies. Without their never ceasing hard work, our societies would collapse completely. It is time to honor their contributions by working towards gender equality in our communities. One way to do this is to place fair monetary value on the unique skills of African women, such as handcrafting shea butter, and compensate them with fair values for their products and knowledge. This economic and moral boost will lead to more gender equality in the family institution, and hopefully help preserve our sustainable traditional technologies.

Alaffia/Agbanga Shea Butter Cooperative

Over the past four years, our cooperative members in central Togo have seen a shift in family equality. Our members are able to bring money back home to assist both their children and husbands. In many cases, our members feel they have more voice and power in their families and communities. They also say the regular salary gives them more time, decreases their anxieties about providing for their children, and gives them a sense of freedom.

Fousena Fund

In March, 2006, we launched the Fousena Fund, in memory of Fousena Tchala, the sister of our founder. Fousena passed away in November, 2005, of complications during the birth of her second child. Every year, 251,000 women in sub-Saharan Africa die of risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Over her lifetime, an African woman has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, compared to 1 in 2,400 in Europe. Poverty and inadequate infrastructure are two of the many causes of the high maternal mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa.

5% of our opening store orders are dedicated to the Fousena Fund, to be used to purchase medical materials and medicines for women’s clinics in Togo and to conduct community training programs on preventing maternal mortality through traditional knowledge. In February, 2007, we made our first donation to provide complete pre and post-natal care, including exams, medication, supplies, and hospital fees if necessary, for 40 women in three small towns surrounding Sokodé, Togo. This program will also include monthly training sessions on traditional pre and post-natal care for new mothers.

Hope through Health

HIV/Aids continues to be a major health problem in African countries. This disease affects all aspects of society, since it attacks the most productive members - the young adults. In Togo, young women are affected the most. It has been our goal to help with HIV/AIDS outreach in Togo. Now, we have joined another organization - Hope through Health, who is doing just that. Hope through Health partners with with “Association Espoir pour Demain” (Hope for Tomorrow or AED-Lidaw), a West African association of people living with HIV/AIDS. AED provides home visits, medical treatment, nutritional supplements, support for AIDS orphans, psychosocial services, HIV/AIDS education, and social mobilization in the Kara region of Togo. Of the infected members, 89% are female, and the average age is 29. AED currently has 123 members, of which 89 (73%) are HIV positive.

In February, 2007, in conjunction with our Whole Foods retailers in southern California, we raised over $1000 to donate to this organization. This will will fund one year of basic healthcare, including anti-retroviral therapy and nutritional assistance, for ten families with an HIV positive member in Central Togo.

For more information on Hope through Health, please visit their website www.hthglobal.org.