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Hed From The Ground Up Analysis

Decent Essays

Hed: From the Ground Up Subhead: How The Akola Project is helping women in unfortunate circumstances pave new paths ------- A widow named Babwetenda Scovia sits in the dark on the dirt floor of her home watching her son and two daughters sleep. Her husband died of HIV/AIDS, a virus she now lives with herself. Struggling to balance medical payments and provide food and education for her children, she again makes plans to visit relatives the next day to beg for food and money. She has no choice. --- Thousands of miles away in Dallas, Annette is in a different place—stuck in a cycle of prostitution and drug use—a life she cannot break free from. She is an addict and struggling to make ends meet. She has spent time in jail as well as in rehab. …show more content…

It didn’t have the same kind of impact we were looking for. It was mismanaged. Kids were taken from extended family members who could’ve kept them in their homes,” she says. “The more we learned about the model, the more we realized that this is a model that hadn’t been employed in our own country for years and for a reason.” This created a moral challenge. She could either continue raising money at this opportune moment and continue on the same path or forge a new path that truly would create sustainable change in these communities. Brittany pivoted and began creating an entirely new model in an effort to make a lasting impact. This moment was the birth of the Akola Project. Fifteen women, who Brittany now refers to as “the first Akola women,” sat under a tree in Uganda in 2008 to discuss a plan of action. They needed a starting point and decided on making a product for a profit. Jewelry seemed like the most logical option because it could be made at a low cost and was an easy craft to teach. “We realized that if we can help them generate an income through this product, then we can give them what they need.” Brittany says. By 2010, the Akola Project had 200 women. Roads, wells to provide clean water and an official facility to house their growing workforce were …show more content…

Brittany and her team were approached by community leaders in Dallas—where Brittany was living—who wanted to see if this model could translate in their own city. There was a need to help women in Dallas. Women who were escaping domestic abuse, were victims of sex trafficking, or were formerly incarcerated and struggling to enter the workforce. Akola ran a pilot in 2015 and found its model translated well in Dallas, but was in need of a few adjustments. “The snafu was that a living wage in Uganda is obviously much different than in Dallas. Women working in our mass retail line [in Uganda] were making $7 to $8 an hour for jewelry that’s under $100,” Brittany says. Their goal was to provide women with a $15 wage in Dallas. In order to make ends meet, an elevated jewelry line was created with pieces ranging from $295 to $500—prices that could support a $15 wage. Although the Uganda line was now retailing at hundreds of stores throughout the U.S., finding retailers to carry the luxury line was a different challenge. For the most part, the line was only available at local luxury boutiques in

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