‘Blankets from Africa’ was born out of a road-trip through the Karoo, part of the heartland of South Africa, where the level of unemployment, especially among the women, had reached alarming levels, with little apparent prospect of improvement.
The heart featured on every ‘Blanket from Africa’ is the embodiment of all that lies behind this community project. The heart of these rural communities is the network of women who, with dignity of their own, strive each day to provide support and warmth for their families.
‘Blankets from Africa’ provides these women with the means to create a product out of natural wool sheared from the very sheep which surround them. The provision of a simple pattern, needles and pure wool is the catalyst for them to generate an income, enjoy a community spirit of working in a group and experience feelings of achievement and of being valued. Without a heart, people pass on and pass away. The symbol of ‘Blankets from Africa’ intends to bring that message to the groups of creative rural knitters as well as to the valued purchasers of their beautifully warm blankets.
With love,
Roslyn Bechet