WHO WE ARE
O
ver the past 15 years, David Frauenshuh has partnered with GlobeServe to establish two schools in Ghana. The preparatory school educates over 500 children, while the vocational school teaches sewing and dress-making to women.
Once in danger of prostitution, these women now have the ability to support themselves with the skills they’ve learned in our school. Through this endeavor, families have been given a second chance, with women learning employable skills capable of illuminating their futures.
At the end of their coursework women are given sewing machines, which they use to continue crafting and trading within their communities.
Mawu Lolo is the newest expansion of the vocational program, which is intended to provide another employment opportunity for rural villagers. It enables local artisans to earn income beyond their immediate communities, through global sales. Our hope by creating Mawu Lolo is to quell urban migration and keep rural families intact.
“Poverty and affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride.”
-Richard Sibbes, Theologian 1630
HOW IT WORKS
M
awu Lolo pays artisans livable wages and further helps their communities through returned profit from sandal sales in the United States. It is our hope that through Mawu Lolo, rural Ghanaians will have the means to stay in their villages and reap the long-term economic benefits of being able to provide for themselves and their families.
The artisans producing these sandals will experience life-changing stability. With this income, they will be able to purchase goods and services, in turn helping others in their villages. This multiplied benefit has the power to break the poverty cycle.
Through each purchase, a connection is created between you and an artisan working overseas. Each woven sandal pattern tells the story. You can find your pattern on the artisan page to learn more about the village where your sandals came from, and the people you’ve helped with your specific purchase.
Each step taken in your sandals is a reminder of the lives you’ve improved and the families you’ve helped save.
Why Ghana?
Over 40 percent of Ghana’s population lives in extreme poverty, earning less than a dollar per day.
Low funding has forced health professionals to relocate for higher paying jobs, resulting in lower quality healthcare in Ghana. Chronic food insecurity has crippled the country even further. Mawu Lolo, meaning “God is great” in the historic Ewe language, has stepped in to provide an international market for distribution and sales. Villagers in rural Ghana now have the opportunity for employment and steady income through Mawu Lolo.
Meet the Artisans
These original Mawu Lolo sandals were crafted by hand using traditional practices learned in rural Ghana. Sustainably produced with locally sourced materials, each piece is a connection between you and a working artisan.
