South African Beadwork For Sale!

“Have you noticed the beaded HIV pin now being worn by many people? They were the very elite of pins on World HIV Day when they were worn by TV and Film celebrities.”

“The story behind these pins is interesting but poignant. Hand-made from tiny red and white beads, they originate in a township in rural Zululand. They are carefully crafted by grannies who care for their grandchildren orphaned by HIV…The beaded HIV pin was the chosen item also becoming the logo and title of the project. Based upon the Zulu ‘Love letter’, which is given as a sign of affection, the pin has many other symbolisms. In the language of beads, white symbolises the purest form of love; the interwoven red ribbon is the international symbol of support for people living with HIV and the safety pin symbolises the holding together of a torn and damaged family.”   Excerpts from “Working for P.I.N Money”

SALE DETAILS:  This is an auction format with the 2 highest bidders winning 2 Beaded AIDS Ribbon Pins each.

Auction ends Thursday, October 29th at 2am EST.

BIDS: Place bids by posting a “Comment” with the amount you are willing to pay.

PAYMENT: I will send a PayPal invoice (Note: you do not need a Paypal account to procure) to the top 2 bidders and you can pay with a credit card.  

SHIPPING: Shipping from South Africa to U.S. will be $3/set in addition to your final bid, and typically takes 2 weeks to arrive.

NOTES: 1) These pins were made by women in the township of Mamelodi for an AIDS support group called “SUCCESS”.  2) Do not forget that you will want an AIDS Ribbon Pin to wear or place on your bookbag for World AIDS Day on December 1, 2008!

The sale/auction of the above AIDS Beaded Pin is a multi-faceted project.  1) I am in training to become a certified teacher of the BEST Business Game course (mentioned in my “Connecting and Learning” blog post), and starting a small business is a part of this training/competition.  2) In our entrepreneurship course, I want to use this as an example to teach marketing/business principles.  3) This is an experiment in determining a potential viable business venture that I can start during my time here, train indigenous entrepreneurs, and hand it off to them upon my departure to give them a source of income.

In my “Business Course Begins” post, I forgot to tell you the story of Selina (picture in the far left of the photo of my class).  I remember her from my trip in 2005.  In fact, she and her family were the fourth featured story in Nate’s “AIDS, POVERTY, & FAITH” photojournalism project on www.hivstories.org .  I remember her beaming smile the most, in the midst of her and her husband both fighting HIV.  She is now one of our most motivated, talented and hopeful entrepreneurs in our Business Course, and I am excited to hopefully help her create income to support her beautiful family.

If you want to know why our Africa Revolution team is so interested in helping those affected by HIV, please read “AIDS in Africa: What Does the Christian Faith Require?” by Stephen McGarvey in ByFaith Magazine and watch this YouTube Video with Bill Hybels interviewing Bono.

Below is a map from “A Global View of Aids” on www.unaids.org 

Based on this website, www.aidsinafrica.net, and the World Health Organization, between 16%-21% of South Africa’s 48 million people are infected with HIV.

Another great interactive MAP on to educate you on HIV/AIDS in Africa.