EVENING SALE
Wednesday February 8th from 16:00 - 20:00 Evening Sale @ Wonder Workshop.
Find the best products from Wonder Workshop, Mama Masai, FT Boutique, Africraft, Furniture & Hand Woven Sheets. And let's not forget about music, great bites & a glass of wine! Karibuni sana!
SUPPORT US
If you would like to donate to the Wonder Workshop to enable us to grow and develop, you can do this in two easy ways. You can either donate online through our sister charity in the UK, Molly's Network via this address: http://www.justgiving.com/wonder-workshop. 100% of your donation to Molly's Network is passed onto us here in Tanzania. Alternatively, contact us directly for our Tanzania bank details. Thank you very much indeed for any contribution you are able to make.
THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES, THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL VISIT WONDER WORKSHOP IN DAR ES SALAAM
As part of their tour of Tanzania, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall on Monday November 7 toured The Wonder Workshop in Dar es Salaam.
“We are delighted and truly honoured to welcome The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to our workshop in Dar es Salaam. They toured the whole workshop first visiting the wood section, then the welding section and then they saw how we make beads from ground down wine bottles and learned how we make paper from sustainable materials such as pineapple tops. They showed great interest in all the people here and the products that we make and I would like to extend our warmest thanks to them for including us in their visit to Tanzania,” commented Mr Joynson-Hicks, who started the organisation in 2005, following the 40 minute visit.
Shukuru Lindunga, who was born with impaired feet leaving him with limited mobility, has been an employee at The Wonder Workshop for five years and is now running the shop. He said, “We have been quietly preparing for a few weeks for this special visit and it was very exciting to meet a future King. The Royal couple asked lots of questions about our work here and I was proud to show him the wide range of products we make from materials which people think they have no use for. Before joining The Wonder Workshop I found it hard to find a job as many employers were not willing to take on someone who was not able to walk properly but as you can see from our work here, people with disabilities are able to work just as well as an able bodied person. I would encourage people to come and visit us at the Workshop and see our products.”
PICTURES
Also check our own photos of the Royal Visit under 'Gallery / Royal Visit 2011'
(NOTE: Photographs may not be downloaded or copied without prior permission from the Wonder Workshop. You can contact us at info@wonderwelders.org or call +255754051417)
http://photogallery.thestar.com/1082516
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=131926712&EditorialProduct=Entertainment
THE STORY OF WONDER WORKSHOP
In 2005 a group of adult polio victims, many of whom were begging on the streets in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, came together with help from Blue Mango Photography, funds from The Dar es Salaam Charity Goat Races and great support from big companies in Dar who donated their scrap metal, and established a welding workshop. Here, with training from a local welding expert they were taught how to weld and, using recycled scrap metal, started very quickly to make all sorts of animals and boats which were sold locally.
After a few months we were lucky to have Heather Cumming, a professional artist from Scotland, come to Dar es Salaam for two months to train the welders in the finer art of metal sculpture. After her visit we held an exhibition and with the funds raised we officially launched the project and registered as the WONDER WORKSHOP, a Tanzanian NGO. The sales of the items sustain the project so we are self-sufficient and expanding rapidly to keep up with demand. The 40 people who are currently employed on a full-time basis are paid a good salary so that they can support themselves and their families. In the future we hope to continue to expand the Workshop and have more disabled Tanzanians come and join us so we can expand our market, both within and outside of Tanzania.
Since the start in 2005 we have gone from strength to strength and besides our famous welding products, launched several new product lines.
Later in 2005 with training of Chris Weinberger a group of disabled men were trained to make handmade wooden toys. Renewable, environmentally sensitively sourced Tanzanian woods are used to make these high quality toys which are held together without nails or screws and finished with coconut oil.We now have a large range of great quality wooden products to offer.
Then in 2006 a group of disabled women joined the Wonder Workshop and were trained in the art of papermaking. Using waste paper, cardboard boxes and newspapers with natural fibres such as banana fibre, pineapple tops and onion skins they make beautiful handmade paper and paper products in different colors.We make beautiful paper products such as cards, books and calendar with the paper.Please see the Gallery for photos of our collection.
Later that year, another group was trained in the art of soap making by Shireen Mahdi. Locally sourced oils are blended together with Zanzibari essential oils and spices to create an exotic range of soaps in different size and with different wrapping. A favorite of many people and hotelguests around Tanzania.
Following the Bottles 2 Beads Workshop held in 2007 where four Ghanaian bead-makers came to Tanzania to train groups how to turn old bottles and broken window panes into beads, the bead-making project started at the Wonder Workshop. We thankfully use the empty wine and beer bottles Dar residents produce each week! We especially love colours like dark blue, light blue, black and any other exotic colored glass.