social enterprise partners -south sudan
FREE
Partners since:2021
Artisan origin:
DRC & Angola
Production Locations:
Zambia
About FREE
FREE is a non-profit based in Lusaka, Zambia. FREE, which stands for ‘Foundation for the Realization of Economic Empowerment’, began in 2011 with the mission of using business and trade to lift women out of poverty.
FREE’s main product lines are jewelry made from upcycled copper geysers and newly manufactured electrical cables. The artisans that make these pieces are young Zambian women who are trained in metalworking, a craft that few women in the country practice.
Alongside their jewelry ranges, FREE is now working on homeware ranges that incorporate basket weaving and metalwork.
Refugee Artisan Group
A group of 56 Congolese and Angolan refugees, living in Zambia’s Mayukwayukwa refugee settlement, work with FREE. Currently, the group is 98% women. These artisans specialize in making coil basketry with copper details from locally sourced bark and grasses.
DR Congo
Emergency
Learn more about the DR Congo emergency and UNHCR’s work in the region.
Reflections from Nyanachiek, an internally displaced South Sudanese artisan
Meet Nyanachiek! She is an internally displaced South Sudanese woman living in Juba, South Sudan. Nyanachiek has been working with Roots, a MADE51 social enterprise partner, for eight years. She specialises in beadwork, a traditional skill passed down from her mother, and supports Roots with storekeeping, training artisans, and quality control for large orders.
Heritage skills
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