Helping Hands Project

The Helping Hands Project is designed to provide educational opportunities for marginalized Bolivian youth and other deserving young people of very limited economic resources. The Project helps keep these young people in school until they finish high school and also provides the opportunity to continue in a post secondary programme of education in Bolivian technical institutes and universities.

Originally focused on teenaged boys who had to leave the state boys’ home at 18 years of age, Helping Hands now includes both boys and girls from many homes, other projects and poor areas.

This Year, 2011, we are assisting 60 young students, 26 of whom are girls. Four of our students attend high school and the remainder are pursuing a post secondary education. We have young people studying Nursing, Education, Tourism, Journalism, Linguistics, Systems Engineering, Commercial Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Electronics, Telecommunications, Agronomy, Veterinary Medicine, Accounting, Automobile Mechanics, Law and Psychology.

The HHP provides medical and dental care for our students, holds monthly talks and organizes weekend activities for healthy entertainment and instruction for our students. All students are required to have a bank account and an e-mail address, and they are encouraged to start a savings plan. We are pleased to be able to sell these bracelets, made by the students, to support this project.

BWA

Better World Arts. Think about those three words. What do they say to you?

To me, those three words strung together give me a feeling of hope. And inspiration. It speaks of a positive change by creating a better world through the form of Arts. And BWA is true to its name.

The beauty of Aboriginal culture and tradition is creatively handed down in the form of bracelets, jewelry boxes, cards and a long list of other authentic and innovative designs.

Each item, like the bracelet below, has a sticker which shows us a picture of the designer and also gives us a brief background/introduction of the designer. 

At the Fair Trade shop along 5 King William Street in Bayswater, you can find a colourful range of BWA's handpainted bracelets, boxes and cards.

Better World Arts... a step closer to strengthening cultures by supporting and valuing traditional skills and lifestyles.

Written by a volunteer at the Oxfam Fair Trade Shop