ONE is proud to introduce our exclusive handmade scarf made with fashionABLE, a company based in Ethiopia. ONE’s Nora Coghlan recently visited the fashionABLE factory and gave us this inside look into the production of our scarves. To buy a fashionABLE scarf, visit our ONE Store here.
Two weeks ago, I got to meet some of the women behind the fashionABLE scarves here in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
At first glance, the fashionABLE factory is pretty modest. Tucked deep into the neighborhood of Mekanisa, it sits on an unpaved road about five minutes from the highway. Inside, five women are quietly working at looms and sewing machines, while another three are washing and dying fabric outside. As I walk around snapping photos, a couple women shoot me shy smiles but most stay focused on their work.
A one-time visitor might not realize that these women –- and this factory -– have an unbelievable story to tell. Most of the women who work at fashionABLE are former prostitutes who have been able to turn their lives around thanks to jobs at the factory. Women like Bezuayhu, who was forced into prostitution as a teenager, are now able to come to work in the morning with dignity and to invest in a better future for their children.
Last month, at the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about continuing challenges and new solutions for success in US-Africa trade relations.
Helinda Tetteh, 23, is a quality control supervisor at Lucky1888Mills, an apparel factory that opened in Tema, Ghana, in March. The company has 250 workers -– almost all young women –- and is hoping to expand its operations to add 300 more jobs in coming months. Here is her story, as told to Joe Lamport, communications manager at the USAID West Africa Trade Hub.
I heard about the job from a friend. I had been working in another factory before, but it wasn’t paying well and I was not working. So, I sent in my application and got the job. I’m a quality control supervisor. It’s difficult! I have to make sure the work is done the way it needs to be done -– the measurements are correct, well stitched, etc. It’s tough but it’s a great experience. Telling people to do something and then seeing them do it the wrong way is not easy. I tell them what I want and that they have to give me what I want. I’m learning a lot of things at this job -– particularly how to supervise employees. I feel like the sky is the limit.
In a recent opinion editorial published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Daniel W. Yohannes, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and leading African philanthropist and ONE board member, Dr. Mo Ibrahim, highlighted achievements and opportunities presented by increased trade with Africa. Both Yohannes and Ibrahim, who are recognized leaders in African development, offered the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Millennium Challenge Corporation as models for sustainable development and reminded investors that America has much to gain by investing in Africa. Read their WSJ column below:
Africa Is Awakening, Helped by Free Trade
Six of the 10 fastest-growing economies of the last decade were in sub-Saharan Africa.
By DANIEL W. YOHANNES AND MO IBRAHIM
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Long a symbol of stagnation, the African continent is experiencing a reawakening. Poverty and hunger are still widespread problems, but Africa’s growing middle class is creating business and investment opportunities that are among the best in the world. With the right trade policy and development assistance, we can unlock the potential of a thriving private sector and lift millions from poverty.
Business Action for Africa, an international network devoted to reducing poverty through business, says that accelerating regional integration is essential to unlocking Africa’s trading potential.
The 2011 AGOA Forum brings back into sharp focus the key role of trade in driving Africa’s development.
For Africa to secure its share of the benefits and gains from trade, the imperative for the international community to progress world trade agreements is matched by the need for an acceleration in the pace of economic integration in Africa to create larger and more competitive markets.
Did you know that many of the products at the ONE Store are sourced from organic products from African countries like Uganda, Tanzania and Swaziland?
To help raise awareness for African trade — a crucial tool in Africa’s efforts to develop their economies and escape poverty — we created a special tag to accompany all our African-made products.
It has information about the multi-tiered and multilateral benefits of doing business with Africa.
The production of ONE products in Africa helps provide jobs and independence and puts money into the pockets of hard-working men and women — money that pays for basic necessities such as food, shelter and medicine for children.
Barrett Ward is the founder of fashionABLE, a Nashville-based fashion company that does trade with Africa in order to bolster economic opportunities for the most vulnerable. In this blog post, he writes about one of his workers, Bezuayhu.
Bezuayhu parents died when she was a girl, so she stayed with her grandparents. They wanted her to work as opposed to attending school, so she left for the capital city. Unable to find her way in the city as a teenager, the predators of the sex industry brought Bezuayhu the false promise of hope in the form of prostitution. Her life was having to give herself to dirty men for less than a dollar at best, and facing the threat of being beaten and raped as an occupational hazard.
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