"WOMEN & FAIR TRADE" CRAFT SALE to Feature ONE & MPWN

[Jamila]

As many of you may know, I have been working very closely for nearly two years now with Agnes Nyamayarwo, a ONE international spokesperson, on a project that is very dear to both of our hearts. Back home in Uganda, Agnes is a Board Member of TASO (www.tasouganda. org) and the main facilitator of the Mulago Positive Women's Network (MPWN).


Some of the women of the MPWN, along with Agnes, were amongst the group of HIV+ women that Bono met on his trip to Uganda in May 2002 whose courageous stories so inspi(red) him that he came back to the USA/Europe and started the African advocacy organizations that we all know as DATA, ONE, (RED) and EDUN.


I have been working with Agnes for almost a year now on developing and promoting a website devoted to telling the stories of the women of the MPWN and helping to sell the craft items that the women make to help them support their families and raise their children. (www.mpwn-uganda. org)



I will be staffing a booth for the MPWN at the event listed below, trying to raise as much money for the women as possible at Christmastime. As a SEPARATE part of the booth, I will be having ONE info, sign-up sheets and white bands to further support our movement to end AIDS and extreme poverty in the world. If any of you would like to come by and help me staff the booth, that would be great. I will especially need help with the ONE part of the booth.


Or if any of you would just like to stop by the craft fair and purchase any of the MPWN items for holiday gifts, that is fine too! I would just like to see some support of the MPWN and especially ONE at this event.


Blessings always, debbie



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The Mulago Positive Women’s Network will be a vendor at
the upcoming Austin "Women and Fair Trade" Cultural Event for
2008. The event will be held on November 22 and 23, 2008 at St.Martin’s Lutheran Church located on 606 West 15th Street,
Austin, TX .


The hours of operation will be: Saturday November,
22: 10am-10pm and Sunday November, 23: 10 am-7pm. For more information on this event, please visit Craft Sale and Cultural Event November 2008

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

do you think theres anyway to get an event started in NY?

 

[pgv]

or the UK..?

 

[Jamila]

Thank you both for your interest and support of this effort for the MPWN. Hopefully, you have visited the website and seen what we're trying to do there.

As far as supporting the MPWN, the biggest need is money - money to help the women provide for their families, money for the women to put into their craft production and/or job training programs for the women.



I do have some ideas on how you can learn more and do more to help the women of the MPWN. Feel free to email us at info@mpwn-uganda.org

and we can discuss more just how to help y'all get started!



I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Mulago Positive Women’s Network

 

[Vincent Vega]

Hey, congrats the program has worked out! I hope it will generate lots of income and attention for those women.

 

[Jamila]

Yea, Vincent Vega finally found this thread - very good to hear from you!


Thanks for all your good words of support last year when we were working on creating the website and getting things started. We're still in a developmental phase but we are getting a lot of interest in what we're doing from some very influential quarters so we'll just continue doing what we're doing.


I see that you finally made it to Montana, Vincent. I hope that you're having a GREAT time here in the USA. How much longer will you be in the States?


Always good to hear from positive people - just like all of you here in this thread.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Yeah, I made it. My time here in Montana is almost over, already. But so far it's been very nice.

Currently I'm trying to get a nice application for an internship I would like to send to Data written. If I got an internship somewhere in the States, it could extend my stay for about another six months. Otherwise I am required to leave on January 10 next year.

All the best for the things to come. I'm sure the project will prove very beneficial.

 

[Jamila]

Let us all know what happens with you, Vincent Vega....and thanks for the good wishes.

I know that they're sincere.


www.mpwn-uganda.org:love:

 

[Jamila]

Here is an update on what happened this weekend at the "Women & Fair Trade" event:


The event turned out to be a real blessing for the MPWN booth. In two days, more than $1,000 was raised from the sale of the MPWN craft items.

That's right - over $1,000!



The generosity and enthusiasm of the people attending the event for the women of the MPWN and their crafts was completely overwhelming and truly humbling.

The money was wired tonight to Uganda for the women to share for the Holidays and beyond.



I am just glad to have been a vehicle through which people could connect with these courageous women and support them through the sale of their crafts.



And to add to these GREAT developments, I met several local school teachers who not only bought some of the MPWN craft items but also invited me to come to their schools to share the stories of the women and to network with these schools to see how they can further support the MPWN.

I am very excited about this development and hope that something very good will result from these networking opportunities.



Thanks for letting me share with all of you here.

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

awesome!
im glad everything was such a success
all your hardwork is greatly appreciated

 

[Jamila]

Thanks, EdgeIsTooSexy, for your kind words and support.


Yes, the women of the MPWN & their families will have a better Christmas because of this sale and a brighter start to their new year.

And that is all that's important to me.


There will new opportunities in the new year to help us out in our efforts for the MPWN so I do hope that people will contact us to find out how they can get involved.


Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving.

 

[Jamila]

I didn't know where else to put this but if you are interested in reading the special report that I promised a few Interferencers that I would write up about Agnes Nymayarwo's meeting with Bono & Ali Hewson (which I also attended) at the Women's Conference in Long Beach CA on 22 Oct 2008, the series is now in progress at the link below:


MySpace.com - Mulago Positive Women's Network - 49 - Female - AUSTIN, Texas - www.myspace.com/mulago



Thanks and All the Best

 

[Jamila]

The "UNITED 4 UGANDA" Program
--------------------------------------------------

The "United 4 Uganda" Program is a co-ordinated effort by concerned individuals and organizations to provide increased economic support to the women of the Mulago Positive Women's Network (MPWN) of Uganda.

The effort will be spearheaded by those involved with the website of the MPWN (Mulago Positive Women’s Network) and include active participation by involving its supporters to directly get involved in fundraising efforts for the MPWN.

The name of the program ("United 4 Uganda") is a natural extension of the slogan used for years by the MPWN's sponsoring organization, TASO (TASO - The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO)). That slogan is "United Against AIDS".



HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
----------------------------------------------

This program will be a direct people-to-people program which operates on the initiative and the enthusiasm of the individuals involved.


Individual "United 4 Uganda" kits will be available for a donation of $75.00 to the MPWN.
The kits will include one of each of the items below:

1 African Shopping Basket
1 African Mother w/ child Doll (the "Agnes" doll)
1 Paper Bead Necklace (multicolored strand)
1 "Coffee Bean" Basket



Along with these craft items from the MPWN, each purchaser will also receive information sheets regarding the listed items above,

color prints of the women of the MPWN in the process of making the items,

an Order Sheet on which to record the amount of these items sold

and 10 - 15 free MPWN postcards to send to friends and family to attend an "African Craft Benefit" on behalf of the Mulago Positive Women's Network of Uganda.




HOW THE AFRICAN CRAFT BENEFIT WORKS
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Similar to other "in-home" parties, each participant in the "UNITED 4 UGANDA" program will be responsible to arrange and fulfill as many of these "African Craft Benefit" events for the MPWN as they wish.

The more events completed, the more money raised for the women of the MPWN and the more pride that participants can feel that they have made a tangible difference for good in the lives of these women and their families.


Each "African Craft Benefit" will be slightly different from each other as the programming of each event will be largely left up to the participant hosting the event.

We, at the MPWN website, will be more than willing to work with any participant in the "UNITED 4 UGANDA" program in putting together their event in terms of African music, foods, customs, language, games, etc that can be included in their "African Craft Benefit" if asked - or the participant can create their own.



Once the event is over, the "UNITED 4 UGANDA" representative will be responsible for getting their Order Sheet, complete with payment, to us at the MPWN website.
Once payment is received, the order will be sent out within two business days to the "UNITED 4 UGANDA" representative for disbursement.


Each "UNITED 4 UGANDA" representative will be allowed up to a 5% allowance from the sale of the MPWN items at their event or maybe donate that to our effort for these women.
Each representative WILL receive a personal "Thank You" note and gift from the MPWN website for all their devoted efforts to help these women and their children "live positively" with HIV and to overcome the poverty in which they live.


If interested in participating in the "UNITED 4 UGANDA" program, please contact us at info@mpwn-uganda.org.


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THANK YOU for your time and your support of our efforts to support the movement to end HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty in our world.
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