Profile of CONTIGO´s partner Woza Moya

Supply chain

• Trade partner Woza Moya:  part of Hillcrest Aids Center Trust
• Function: Producer and NGO
• Structure: Own production facility, affiliated production groups
• Distribution: direct import CONTIGO

 

Products

Little Travellers (little dolls made of beads)

Location

Region Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa – distance to Europe: 9,300km

Founded in 1991

• 1991: Foundation of  Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust
• 2001/2002: Foundation of the Woza Moya project aimed at providing training in handicrafts to HIV/AIDS patients

History

• 1991: Foundation of  Hillcrest Aids Centre in response to the high  amount of people with HIV/AIDS (in Kwa Zulu Natal 40% of adults are HIV positive)
• Initial aim: offer HIV tests, support and train people in dealing with HIV/AIDS
• Scope of centre was broadened to include creation of income opportunities
• Investment in training facilities
• Continuous expansion of the Hillcrest Aids Centre
• Projects organised by the centre
• Establishment of a nursing ward

Cooperation with CONTIGO since 2012

Why does CONTIGO work with Woza Moya:
We got to know and love the little Little Traveller dolls at a trade fair in Cape Town in 2012. Since then, they have accompanied CONTIGO and its customers. Behind them is the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, which is uniquely committed to helping people suffering from Aids. The multitude of activities range from medical care, education of unemployed women, schooling of their children, help for economic independence to prevention programmes. The Litte Travellers are supposed to make the story of the Hillcrest Aids Centre and its patients known throughout the world. CONTIGO is proud to support them in their mission.

Structure of the organisation

Number of employees:

• Woza Moya project: 8 employees (150 beaders)
• Hillcrest Aids Centre: 59 employees (49 women and 10 men) (160 beaders)

Organisation of workforce:

• Weekly meetings (every Monday)
• Biweekly management meeting

Key activities of the centre:

• HIV awareness training, voluntary HIV-tests, HIV-consulting
• Home care and nursery ward
• Self-help groups
• Special fond for school fees for children of HIV patients
• Providing groceries
• Training and job-creating measures
• Further education in gardening
• Further education in beekeeping
• Further education in first aid courses
• Providing continious work for making a living
• Partnership with locals
• 24 beds for very sick and poor patients
• Food Security Programme
• 6 orphants get trained in botany
• Workshop agroecology (financed by Oxfam Australia)
• School fonds for financing school uniforms for the first graders

Sales

• Home market (40-45%)
• Exports (55-60%) to Germany, Netherlands, France, Austria, USA, Canada, Australia

Goals

• To offer continuous care and support to all HIV/AIDS patients
• To introduce a product catalogue and publish it on the website
• To improve the centre
• To open a Woza Moya shop

Special features

• May 2017: The “Little Traveller” (dolls with different characters, made of colourful beads) celebrate their 15th birthday. Paula Thomson, craft co-ordinator at Hillcrest Aids Center Trust, sums up:”“Our biggest achievement over the past 15 years and what we are most proud of is that we have been able to economically empower and uplift over 100 women who prior to the Little Traveller initiative, did not see a future for themselves and now, 15 years later, they are thriving and making plans for themselves and their families for the next 15 years.”

 

Fairtrade classification

FTA= Fairtrade Approved

 

Fairtrade aspects

Woza Moya complies with the following Fairtrade Principles:

No child labour

No discrimination

No discrimination due to gender, disability, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political orientation, or infection with HIV.

Fair wages

• Bonus at the end of the year
• Monthly salary transferred to employees own bank account
• Payment of beaders by piece

Humane working conditions

Working hours:

• 8 hours/day
• (2 breas)
• 5 days/week

Social benefits:

• Paid holidays
• Continued payment of wage in case of sickness or accidents
• Due to the HIV/AIDS virus workers become sick often, their work will be reserved for them until they get better or can be taken over by a family member in order to avoid the loss of income for the family
• Every worker has access to the nursery ward and the care provided by the staff

Educational opportunities:

• Best beaders receive further training to regularly  receive information regarding the latest models and techniques
• Thorough initial training for all new employees
• Workers do not need a certain kind of education to become part of Woza Moya, as the centre trains people in painting, sewing, landscaping etc.

Transparency

• Work contracts are available
• Payroll is available
• Pay slips are available
• SAR (Self Assessment Report) was duly submitted to CONTIGO

 

Country information

See Encyclopaedia Britannica: South Africa