EcoAfrica Social Ventures

I have to report that this, my latest African sojourn, has probably been the most emotionally draining and challenging of all my visits to Zimbabwe.

In fact, it has been a roller coaster ride of events that have been both shattering and inspirational.

Zimbabwe is a country in a permanent state of serial crises. Every week brings a set of unfathomable new laws crashing down on the heads of it’s hard pressed citizens. They seem designed specifically to sabotage any possibility of a reversal in the current deadly food crisis, or halting the gazillion percent inflation, or of turning around the conditions that are fueling the lethal cholera and AIDS epidemics, or of saving many of the remaining businesses and industries from demise. The peoples under siege are as usual prompt to come up with innovative ways to attempt to survive and address all the obstacles and minefields being thrown in their paths.

I am sorry to inform you that Eco Africa Papercraft this time around, did not emerge from this chaos unscathed.

Our beloved mission station replete with redbrick church and beautiful shady flowering trees, is lost to us. The chaotic economic circumstances of Zimbabwe encourage immoral behaviors from unlikely sources.

We were invited in 2003 by a kind elderly parish priest in St Marys parish Chitungwiza to make two church halls on St Alois Mission home to our paper-crafters. He knew that the mission’s proximity to the high density township of Chitungwiza would result in a positive impact on the local community and create income for many of the unemployed and unskilled women of the parish – which indeed it has for the past six years. The rental for our two church halls was low and the benefits to hundreds of families living nearby were high. That was his vision in inviting us.

Several years ago a new parish priest succeeded the retiring father and has increased rentals in leaps and bounds. Due to hyper-inflation Zimbabwe’s currency is now worthless and the regime last month converted the country officially to US dollars. As far back as November 08 the priest started demanding his latest increase from Eco Africa Papercrafters - up by nearly one thousand per cent per month to be paid in cash USD.

The Day Care Center’s two small rooms rental was increased by five hundred per cent per month in USD, and as we are taking care of that rental too the total amount he attempted to extort was completely unaffordable for HHA (Helping Hands For Africa is pre-funding all expenses other than the food we raised funds for).

We noted with disbelief that he was demanding USD cash too for presiding over funerals, normally a service offered free of charge to the grieving families by the church, but a brisk business opportunity these days with the amount of funerals being conducted.

We tried but failed to get the support of the Archdiocese to whom he was supposed to report. Sadly the main churches in Zimbabwe have split, with compassionate genuine church members and officials doing as best they can to help on the one side, and ambitious people acting under the guise of the church on the other. Eco Africa fell on the wrong side of this split and after we refused to come up with the cash the “good father” closed us down when our crafters tried to return from the Christmas break, sending several hundred women to join the other 95 per cent of the population into joblessness.

That was the bad news.

BUT... Sometimes something good comes from something bad.

We rose again like a phoenix from the ashes!

First, after I spent some time paralyzed and in mourning for our lost home, our director Trust in his own brisk, more business-like reaction, found an empty dilapidated building nearby which the council has now rented to Eco Africa crafters for a normal affordable cost per month. The entire team then quickly got busy to do running repairs to the buildings and the grounds. By the time I got back to Zim from Christmas in Cape Town with my family, the new place was spic and span, the grass cut, even a rockery and flowers planted in the garden, our goods moved over from the mission, and the teams of crafters, although crowded into much smaller rooms, were hard at work continuing their paper-crafting.

Eco Africa’s crafters at least have a temporary home, a tribute to their tenacity and their determination not to be defeated by their circumstances.

Then came a totally unexpected piece of wonderful news.

The municipality of Chitungwiza, on hearing of the plight of Eco Africa’s paper-crafters, donated 3.5 hectares (approx. 8 1/2 acres) of stunningly beautiful land nearby on which to build a brand new Crafting Center, a place of their own with no landlord to answer to.

We are overwhelmed! Suddenly a whole new future has opened up for us. Above is a panoramic picture of the land we have been allocated, which is situated right opposite the perimeter of the township of Chitungwiza. Everyone is within walking distance. It contains several magnificent outcrops of Zimbabwe’s famous Balancing Stones which will become a feature of the new Crafting Centre as one enters the campus. The picture at the top is a panoramic view of our new parcel of land complete with rocky outcrops of balancing stones.

Harare is home to over 50 foreign embassies. Many have funds available for Self Help initiatives such as Eco Africa. Even before we started doing the plans and the costings several of them encouraged us with suggestions of possible support to help build. The idea is that the campus will have a number of buildings. Each will become a project for one donor organization and each will have a plaque acknowledging their participation in that part of the project. Even smaller donations will be sought - one solar panel for example - or the building of a few meters of perimeter wall - or a clean water borehole. We want our center to be a model for natural energy and re-cycling.

As well as being the home and headquarters of Eco Africa Paper Makers and Paper Crafters, we will expand the concept to include other crafters workshops including a stone sculpture garden, basket weaving, wire and bead work and various different art forms to assist other hard-pressed but talented crafters by showcasing their work.

We will have lodgings for volunteers from around the world who will come and learn about papermaking, and designers who will stay for a while and share their skills with the locals to expand the lines of products. There will be a Day Care Center and a vegetable garden, kitchens and recreation areas – the concept will grow as new ideas blossom forth.

The style for the center will be African rural thatch and stone, maybe some wonderful Ndbele art and architectural features too, all natural materials to blend with the landscape. The campus will have a borehole to serve the crafting community and craft training centers. So many ideas, so much to do. I can’t help but get carried away.

If anyone of our circle of friends and supporters has ideas for funding this project from organizations or individuals from around the world all ideas will be welcome. We realize that in this awful world economy fundraising will be a tough call but I am full of optimism. Matt Damon has been touring the South African refugee camps housing Zimbabwean asylum seekers so if anyone happens to know him personally.....networking.... six degrees of separation.... Oprah Winfrey..... We have many diverse friends and supporters these days. Please send our story on to journalists you may know, and I welcome any other ideas you might think of.

Last week I drove all the way down to Cape Town from Harare in convoy with some friends. It was a fun drive taking four nights, except through the Karoo desert when our air-conditioning broke down in 40 degrees C (104°F) heat. I am now on the last leg of my trip before returning to New York mid March and have been signing up new customers here for our paper-crafters. Excited to report enthusiastic reception to the latest line of products by the retailers to whom I have presented. South Africa is opening up as we knew it would one day.

All for now. Back in NYC on Saturday 14th March.