Handmade African Crafts

Ten years ago I started buying crafts from the people at Mukuni Village Market at Victoria Falls because there simply was not enough business for fifty booths filled with objects for sale. In time I chose to sell these beautiful items as a way to help support the Mama Bakhita Cheshire Home for Disabled Children in Livingstone, Zambia, only seven miles away from the market. These days we are buying from artisans in Ghana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Niger as well as Zambia. And besides providing income for the artists and their families, we are working on empowerment projects for the girls and women connected to the Mama Bakhita Center. Now you can help us by purchasing a growing selection of items online.

Zambezi Dolls

The dolls are fashioned from soft organic cotton jersey of many shades and are clothed in Zambian cotton chitenge. They are soft and made for play. Each doll, being created by hand, is completely unique, as we all are. And we now have boy dolls!

Zambezi Dolls are an income generation project created with and for the mothers and grandmothers of the children who attend the special education school at the Mama Bakhita Cheshire Center in Livingstone, Zambia.

Each doll has a maker and each maker has a story.

Tuareg Silver Jewelry

The Tuareg people of North Africa have suffered from political and environmental problems over the past two hundred years and are now faced with the choice of adapting to sedentary life in a harsh desert in one of the world’s worst economies. The AACDP is helping a small group of these proud and resourceful people near Agadez by purchasing their stunning silver work.