Passing the one year mark of our social enterprise has been more sentimental than I thought it would be. The year has gone by relatively quickly but this one particularly has felt very productive. We built capacity, visited Ghana, created two original African fashion COLLECTIONS, created a great new line of natural African body products, gained new funding from Kiva New Orleans, debuted at The National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta and met many wonderful people! Some things didn't go as planned like not being selected for a very big social entrepreneurship fellowship, losing the 100UE Whitehouse Initiative Business Plan Contest, not launching our fashion line this past fall in Ghana and not being selected as a designer for Fashion Week Cleveland 2012.
The triumphs and disappointments have been inspiring and I have learned so much! I've gained a more broad approach to what success will mean for me. My goal is to create revenue through my talents and skills to help families in Kumasi, Ghana access clean h2o for their households and advocate for sustainable development.
I have a new nephew in the Ofori house! :) Everyone calls him Ofori after his Uncle, my husband Black Africa. We took to each other immediately with him walking to me every time Black Africa and I visited the family home in Yabi, asking me in Twi for water. In Ghana the country produces water pouches which most locals drink. These pouches are sold in most roadside markets or employ women in busy markets to sell from large basins on their heads. But Little Ofori's request began to sound so familiar in Twi that by my last days I could recognize what he was saying to me. Although I have not learned much Twi beyond basic responses, that phrase began to sound like a song.
Access to clean h2o seemed so basic to me six years ago. I never considered in my day to day struggles up to 2006, when my children were 8, 4, and 2, as a single mother about water security. I took for granted that my children would, as long as I paid the water bill, drink clean h2o.
So many exciting opportunities are on the horizon for the company. I am looking forward to New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, which kicks off March 10 and goes through to March 16, 2012. There are other updates possibly coming next month and we will announce the good and the bad as it comes! :)
I appreciate the support worldwide for our mission!!! I am constantly encouraged when I see that people are supporting the company from every corner of the world!~ From the United States to Europe, from Africa to Asia, from Russia to the Netherlands, even locally, those of you who touch me everyday with your support for the company's mission:
art + h2o = happy africa!
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