A Constant Reminder of Families That Have Been Fed

Mary Ogalo, our Global Bag Project Kenya Project Coordinator, has come up with a new design we're really excited about: Designer Laptop Bags! The cost of each computer laptop bag is just $35. You can order laptop bags for your spouse, yourself, or your students in high school or college from any office supply store, but in our case each bag comes with a really unique custom design from Africa.
No two bags are identical! They are truly unique, made in various eye-catching African animal prints, padded on the sides and bottom of the bag and zippered at the top, to protect your laptop computer, but also give you an easy way to transport it around campus, work or school, or when traveling.
This is another gift option for birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving and even for Christmas.
So order your designer laptop bags online now, or give us a call and place your advanced order now.

Dial 630-293-4500 or e-mail Carla
 
Dimensions = 18" wide by 16" tall by 4 1/2" deep. Also, the laptop bags are padded on the sides and bottom of the bags.


laptop bags | global bag project

Global Bag Project - a Social Enterprise

An Ignite Excellence Foundation Special Presentation.

An update on past Foundation Scholarship recipient Mary Ogalo, now Kenya Project Manager for Global Bag Project in Nairobi Kenya.

The Global Bag Project is a US based non-profit social enterprise that donates the proceeds from the sales of reusable shopping bags in the developed world to microcredit ventures in the emerging world.

The aim of the Global Bag Project is to finance micro-credit loans which help local entrepreneurs support their families with small businesses, provide basic amenities and send their children to school. Micro-credit finance has a good reputation so far, with 96-98% of people repaying their loans weekly or monthly. Many workers of the project hail from the Kibera slum - one of the largest in Africa -- and are either HIV/AIDS positive and are still managing their jobs despite this. They are entitled to a fair wage and this allows them to provide for their families.

Global Bag Project | Global Bag Project Facebook

Visiting Global Bag Project

I spent a couple of weeks putting together a letter asking for travel funds for three of us who plan to visit the Global Bag Project, our work where a handful of Kenyan women are lifting themselves out of poverty by sewing lovely, artisan African bags. The project is at a crucial growth stage, and although I would like just to apply the travel funds toward their fabric purchases and their salaries, ten days spent together hugely encourages them, generates all kinds of product ideas and business plans, and keeps the stateside crew pumped for about six months!

Since my husband and I and our Global Bag Project Director have traveled to Africa about 11 times in the last five years, we have drained our personal resources and do need to look to friends to contribute to the travel fund.

You can imagine our wonder when a film project David and I had been talking about with another organization actually came through for the exact time we were planning to be in Kenya for a shoot!

This means our airfare, and half of our land fee, will be covered, and now all I have to do is raise land expense for two for the weeks we aren’t shooting!

When we teach people how to go on the God Hunt, we recommend they look for unusual evidences of God’s care. This certainly is an immediate example of that out of our personal experience. Not only do we love this kind of work since we were in the media industries for over 20 years and regret that we are not able to use our expertise in that field much, but the provision of the budget means is always a sign to us of God’s green light to involve ourselves in a project. When He doesn’t want us heading in certain directions, He just closes down the financial means!

With full and grateful hearts, we will be in pre-production planning on this film adventure for the next two months—grateful to be chosen. In addition, the funds will allow us to visit the Global Bag Project sewing sites, interact with our friends, and make joint plans for the future growth of the GBP development project.

Global Bag Project | Global Bag Project Facebook

Make a Difference When You Buy Our Handmade Tote Bags

So, you wonder if your purchase of a Global Bag Project Handmade Tote Bags makes a difference? Just look at the smiles on Jecinter and Carol's faces. When I met them in 2009, I didn't see those smiles. Yes, they smiled when I greeted them; their mouths formed a grin, but the joy and excitement from within was not evident as it is in this photo taken on one of my trips to Kenya in 2010.

The reason they're smiling? Many reasons, really, but on this particular day, I visited them in their homes, met their children, shared tea, listened to their stories and we prayed for one another. The despair of the past has been replaced with hope for the future – not just for themselves, but for their children. The work they're doing with the GBP is helping them establish their own businesses while providing food for their children as well as paying their school fees.
Thank you for your purchases of our beautiful handmade tote bags this past year that contributed to Jecinter and Carol's smiles and to the lives of their children and the other women who provide the beautifully crafted bags for the Global Bag Project. You DO make a difference!

The Kanga Cloth

Originating on the coast of East Africa in the mid-19th century, Kanga is the cloth used to make GBP bags. The Kanga is a rectangle of pure cotton cloth with a border all around it, printed in bold designs and bright colors. It is as long as your outstretched arm and wide enough to cover you from neck to knee, or from chest to toe.

Kangas are typically bought in pairs and are most attractive and useful as a pair. Most traditional outfits require a matched or unmatched pair. Men, women and children all have uses for Kangas. Babies are virtually born in them and are usually carried in a soft sling of kanga cloth. We can make three large GBP bags from one Kanga. The unused scrap fabric is used to make gift bags, patches for aprons and other items sold locally in Nairobi.

Early this century, Swahili words were added to the kangas. The sayings or slogans are often African proverbs. When our GBP “buyer” shops for kanga in the textile district in downtown Nairobi, she reviews the proverbs and ensures they are compatible to our mission.

As an art form as well as a beautiful, convenient garment, the kanga has become an integral part of East African culture. We’d like to believe that the GBP Kanga reusable tote bags will become an integral part of American culture!

Visit the Global Bag Project website and view a Kanga demonstration by Mary Ogalo, our Project Coordinator in Nairobi.

Source: Kangas: 101 Uses by Jeannette Hanby and David Bygott

Buy Yourself These Handmade Totebags and Help a Family

Several families in Africa was suffering from fatal diseases. Parents can't feed their children because of poverty. Be aware of this unpleasant situation and contribute something to help them. Your support can greatly raise and sustain the needs of each family in Africa. Buy these handmade tote bags and be touch of their stories.

Know the story of each bag and feel great. When you procure our bags, you provide a sustainable income for women who desire meaningful work and fair wages and dignity through accomplishment. Many, though not all, are HIV/AIDS widows who live with their children in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. Due to the AIDS pandemic on this continent, orphaned children are raising orphaned children. This is a catastrophe the Global Bag Project team would like to help prevent. In the slums, health care is inadequate; no waste management systems exist. Electricity is erratic. Clean water supplies are scarce and drinking water is often impure. Survival obviously is an every day struggle.

HIV/AIDS widows or not, all our bag-producers seek a better life for their families. Hard workers, often amazingly joyful, each woman takes pride in performing good work, and all are grateful to be able to provide basic necessities for their growing families. With just a little help, hidden entrepreneurial skills begin to rise to the surface. We encourage our bag-producers to find local markets for their products.

Remember these women and their families each time you carry your Global Bag Project handmade tote bags.

Buy African Handmade Totebags and Feed a Family

Imagine how great it is using those handmade tote bags while you were able to support the needs of those unfortunate families? You definitely had given your share on giving the new generation a bright future. Those people who made these handmade tote bags were able to find stable employment and thus providing their family's daily needs.

Listen to the story of each bag. When you procure our bags, you provide a sustainable income for women who desire meaningful work and fair wages and dignity through accomplishment. Many, though not all, are HIV/AIDS widows who live with their children in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. Due to the AIDS pandemic on this continent, orphaned children are raising orphaned children. This is a catastrophe the Global Bag Project team would like to help prevent. In the slums, health care is inadequate; no waste management systems exist. Electricity is erratic. Clean water supplies are scarce and drinking water is often impure. Survival obviously is an every day struggle.

HIV/AIDS widows or not, all our bag-producers seek a better life for their families. Hard workers, often amazingly joyful, each woman takes pride in performing good work, and all are grateful to be able to provide basic necessities for their growing families. With just a little help, hidden entrepreneurial skills begin to rise to the surface. We encourage our bag-producers to find local markets for their products.

Remember these women and their families each time you carry your Global Bag Project African bags.