Our primary goal with every order is job creation, Meropa Heritage has an out reach of over 1000 women. Meropa Heritage is a unique project evolved over many combined years of work with people of South Africa, with an openness to traditional cultures, and a belief that encouragement of age old skills and design in a contemporary context provides a very real solution to the current challenges of up
liftment and poverty alleviation. Hundreds of day to day products incorporating South African cultural designs have been developed over the years. To date these have been successfully applied to products used by numerous government leaders, departments, embassies and corporate business where celebration of our unique identity is applicable. Design work continues on an almost daily basis as special requests are handled, while respecting nuances of tradition, protoypes are developed and prepared for production by hundreds of home based women throughout the country. The value added elements of hand craft skills such as bead work, embroidery, applique and block printing, along with the basic component assembly functions, allow for contributions by low, medium and high skill contributors. In this way several people may contribute to the manufacture of a single product, while participating in the derived income. Products include a variety of conference folder styles, matching or complimentary bags (in several useful designs), diaries, business card holders, and the list continues. Ranges expand into a variety of gifts from cost effective promotional items to more specialised pieces. As the work force has expanded lifestyle products such as furniture items, throws and wall decor have been included. Forming part of a natural process is the training of women, either upgrading or introducing new skills, training is provided on specific products that have found market acceptance. Short intense courses have proved highly successful in equipping and empowering many individuals either to begin producing, marketing or to form their own work groups. As this is not a process that can exist in isolation this website hopes to introduce as many of the available products as possible as well as imparting some of the incredible heritage of this beautiful country and its people. We encourage you to support and participate in this journey.
