The Lives Behind the Numbers

The average teacher, government worker, or civil servant in Zimbabwe makes about $200 a month. Recently the state statistics agency in Zimbabwe put the poverty line for a family of five in Zimbabwe at $467.

Just to eat the bare minimum amount of calories to stay healthy, a family must spend $150. Teachers, government workers, and civil servants can’t afford to house, clothe, and feed their families, let alone pay for schooling or healthcare.

And when you look at the country as a whole, they are the lucky ones. Most Zimbabweans are unemployed and living on less than $1 a day.

Of course, these numbers are heartbreaking and shocking, but behind the numbers are the actual people living their lives and working hard.

There are 5 women artists we know in Zimbabwe that are working hard to provide for their families. They create art using the sadza technique. They cook cornmeal (sadza), create traditional Zimbabwean designs and art with the sadza on cotton fabric, wait for the sadza to dry in the sun, paint over the design, seal the paint with heat, and then remove the sadza from the fabric.

This process is time and skill intensive. The artwork produced is vibrant and beautiful, like the Zimbabwean spirit. We purchase this artwork at fair prices and sell it in our webstore where you can make the beautiful artwork your own while empowering women in Zimbabwe.

Like the woman in this beautiful sadza painting, the women artists we work with gracefully balance their burdens and carry their families as they walk toward their future.

Thanks for supporting Zimbags and helping these women lighten their heavy burdens.

Always,

The Happy Bag Elves