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Neema Crafts
About
Neema Crafts is a great project. The workshop employs deaf people who produce elephant dung paper products (cards, albums, etc), beaded bits and bobs (bracelets, earrings, flip flops) including stuff from their beads they make from recycling glass bottles (ask to go and see their cool mud kiln), cushions, vitenge patchwork blankets, lamps and lamp shades, and more recently have employed disabled folks who are weaving rugs, hammocks, and various other interesting textiles. Their most recent projects are micro solar panels for lighting, radios and charging phones, very useful if you are camping, and a physiotherapy unit for disabled children. You can help the physiotherapy unit by having a fantastic hour long massage for 25,000/= from their bubbly physio Beatrice and you can lie there and relax in your pampering knowing the money you are paying is going to allow more disabled children to get treated for free! Along with the obvious benefits of providing employment to people that Tanzanian society has rejected, the products are excellent and make great presents! Haruna, a hilarious character, will be happy to give you a guided tour, and they have a café selling proper coffee and home made cakes, ice cream and sorbets if that tickles your fancy; Their panini Bacon and avocado sandwiches and the carrot cake draw expat volunteers from all over the south of Tanzania who also stock up on their reading materials at the book exchange in the cafe. Also they are the center for a great project to bring safe drinking water to rural villages using the sun, (SODIS.ch) so drop off any empty 1 1/2 liter drinking water bottles you may have and they can make use of them.
