The beautiful red beaded ribbon is unique to and ubiquitous throughout Africa, the continent worst affected by the AIDS pandemic. The colorful ribbon is made with great patience and skill following Nguni beading traditions. Buy and wear one with pride showing solidarity with all victims worldwide; together we CAN stop the spread of HIV and end prejudice.

Each bead carefully selected and stitched to hand create unique and beautiful treasures in two styles; traditional where the safety pin is exposed as shown in Picture A and modern where a smaller one is attached behind the bead work as shown in the generic picture. The latter was developed at the request of European and American women wanting to wear the ribbon without showing the safety pin.

Made by groups of women, mainly grandmothers and their grand daughters in Mamelodi, Tshwane, South Africa; Mbare Township, Harare, Zimbabwe; and Kibare, Nairobi, Kenya. We are expanding to other countries in southern and eastern Africa, send us your preferred country and we'll have them made. Grandmothers, the backbone of African society, play an even greater role in the AIDS pandemic by raising, caring for, and nurturing a generation of orphans (not always family related), and most often are the sole breadwinner. They make the pins / ribbons while watching their grand children and the many other pre- and after school age orphans.

As an impoverished community employment program the ribbons are made for Kwaze-Kwasa [USA] Inc at fair trade prices solely to raise funds for the grassroots AIDS programs in southern and eastern Africa.  The income earned making ribbons is often the sole source of income for hardcore poor unemploymed pre-retirement age women. For the retired the income helps meet the household demands that exceed the social security stipend from the state. Easily make 10 ribbons per day and this equates to 5 to 10 times above the poverty datumn line depending on their location. 

Wearing a red ribbon, the international symbol of AIDS/HIV for more than fifteen years, is one of the easiest ways you can make a difference. Not only on WORLD AIDS DAY that is celebrated each December 1, but each and every day! Don't just wear one yourself; encourage, harass, cajole your friends, colleagues and family to wear one as well. A country specific pin that has the national flag or colors attached to the red ribbon for those who want to remember or support a specific person or program.

Buy in bulk (wholesale) for re-sale, fund raising, distribute on World AIDS Day, etc.

E-mail a friend about this item.

If you have a specific question or comment about this specific product e-mail us with subject: SKU: D.B.R.

Return to Catalog