Fair Trade - Rimdin Designs
In 2011, Accessible Hope International facilitated the development of a women’s fair trade cooperative - Rimdin Designs - comprised entirely of women with disabilities in Sierra Leone.
In the Fall of 2019, AHI rolled out a new brand for the Fair-Trade products – Rimdin Designs. Rimdin is the Sierra Leonean Themne word for Unity or Togetherness. Themne is the local language spoken by many of the women who work in the WOHSL cooperative. The tag line – Beauty in Unity, sums up the fair-trade cooperative wonderfully. The women come together, building friendships and community, while generating income for themselves so that they can provide for their families through the sale of the beautiful products they create.
Accessible Hope International staff work closely with the staff of our Global Hope Partners, as they work with local artisans to generate new ideas, resource materials, add value to existing products, and promote quality control.
We sell products here on our website through occasional Pop-Up Shops.
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Empowerment
Several women have organized themselves in specific handicraft guilds where they work together to produce, promote, and sell hand-made products.
All products sold are individually assessed by staff, and each artisan is paid according to the local fair market value.
Accessible Hope International staff work directly with the women’s cooperative and artists to regulate prices for each item and to ensure each woman makes at least 25-50% profit per product. Accessible Hope International purchases fair trade items up front and then sells them in the U.S to generate income for the ministry. All Fair Trade Initiative revenue is put back into wholistic development programming for individuals with disabilities in Africa.