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Upcoming Events
July 16, 2011 /
Ayindisa at Summerfest 2011
Where? Main Street, Ridgefield, CT
When? Saturday, July 16th 10-4pm
Please come visit our booth. [ read more ]
In The News
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December 2, 2010 |
October 8, 2010
Ayindisa has announced that it will donate 15% of the proceeds of its sales of hand-woven baskets to Engage Now Africa for the construction of a shallow well in a rural village of Ghana.
[ read more ]
September 13, 2010
For every basket you purchase Ayindisa will donate 15% of the proceeds to Engage Now Africa, a 501c3 humanitarian non-profit organization for the construction of a shallow well to be built in the rural village of Yarkibisi, Ghana near Bolgatanga.
Photo courtesy of Engage Now Africa
This village is located in one of the poorest parts of the country in the heart of Ghana's basket making country and is home to the Ayindisa basket weavers group (formerly known Asuntaba basket weaver group).
Click to watch a video of Engage Now Africa digging a shallow well in Ude, Ethiopia
This shallow well will help provide much needed clean drinking water for the village and help fight illness and disease.
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Donations - Please make check out to: Engage Now Africa. Cash donations also accepted.
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All donations are tax-deductable!
Water sources in Ghana are often contaminated, causing frequent diarrheal infections that endanger lives. Children have no choice but to drink disease-infested water from surface lakes and ponds. According to the World Health Organization 400 million children worldwide are suffering from intestinal worms and more than 200,000 children die every year. Unsafe water and poor sanitation are major causes. Collecting water is one of the most difficult tasks that must be done on a daily basis in rural Ghana. Most of the villagers do not have transport for their water and must be carried by hand. Engage Now is working closely with the villages to determine their need for water. Clean water can cut a communities child death rate in half. Engage Now is building shallow wells in target villages that are without a clean water source. This will allow children to be able to attend school and greatly reduce the work load of women because they won't have to spend their days walking long distances to fetch water. This will change lives forever.
September 7, 2010
Last month ayindisa started selling handmade rosaries from an amazing women, sister Donna pictured above in her hut in rural Ethiopia with Engage Now Africa's East African Director, Diana Bingham. Each rosary is handmade from local beads and Coptic Christian silver crosses. Purchasing these rosaries provides her with the ability to purchase food and medicine for the hundreds of orphans in rural Ethiopia.
 ENA Director, Diana Bingham & Sister Donna, Ethiopia |
 Some of Sister Donna orphans, Ethiopia. |
Ayindisa founder and president discovered Sister Donna while doing humanitarian work in Ethiopia last June with Engage Now Africa. Unfortunately, Chris was not able to meet with her face to face on his trip but, with help from Engage Now Chris began a relationship with sister Donna. Chris has pledged to use ayindisa as a vehicle to help her and the orphans by selling the rosaries she makes in his ayindisa store and website. All rosaries purchased by customers help orphans in Ethiopia with food and medicine they need to combat malaria, AIDS and other illnesses. To get more involved or to donate to Engage Now visit www.engagenowafrica.org
June 2, 2010
Over the Memorial Day weekend my wife, daughter and I stuffed our car full with eight huge construction size trash bags filled with over 250 teddy bears collected at our store for the children in Haiti and delivered them to Brianna in Rhode Island.
It was the perfect excuse to hit the open road and spend some time with old friends. In fact, the last time I saw Brianna was when she was just two years old and I was working with her mom at Best Friends Animal Society, the Nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary (then known as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary) almost eight years ago. It was great to see Brianna's face light up with a big smile as we unloaded all of the bags and put them next to many other cardboard boxes stacked high full of teddy bears from all over the world and now filling up what was her basement. So to everyone who took time to donate teddy bears at our store, Brianna and all of us at Ayindisa thank you for helping.
These teddy bears will be leaving soon for Haiti where a group of paramedics from Massachusetts will be giving them to sick children they are treating. Hopefully, I will be able to get some pictures from the paramedics of the bears with children in Haiti after a couple of months and post them in an upcoming newsletter so everyone can see.
March 14, 2010
Ayindisa was invited to share our story and speak to a large group of youth at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ridgefield. The evening was spent discussing social responsibility, fair trade and was followed by a period of Q & A. Also Fair trade chocolate chip cookie tasting, identification and other events took place.
March 15th, 2010
Ayindisa finished collecting teddy bears for Brianna, a 9 year old girl in Rhode Island to help the children in Haiti, suffering from the devastating earthquake. We are very thankful for everyone that donated a teddy bear. We estimate around 400 bears were donated.
Currently we are preparing to count all of the bears and then bring them to Rhode Island where they will travel to Haiti with a group of paramedics in May. Again, thank you to our customers and other individuals and organizations like the Ridgefield, NY Girl Scouts and the LDS (Latter Day Saints) Church in Newtown. For more information click here. The Ridgefield Press, Business Update, March 11, 2010 Ayindisa Collects teddy's for Haiti.
March 16, 2010
The Power of One: 2010 One person...One grade...One school...One community...One world...One day...
This event was held at H.C. Crittenden Middle School in Armonk, NY. Keynote speakers like Marc Keilberger, co founder of youth empowerment, Me to We and Human Rights activist and author, Speak Truth to Power, Kerry Kennedy started and ended the day. However, various workshops were conducted throughout the day by individuals and organizations with students demonstrating how the power of one can create good in the world.
Ayindisa was honored to be invited back for a second year in a row where we conducted three workshops with sixth and eighth graders about fair trade, social responsibility and humanitarian work in Africa.
October 2009
MonroeCourier.com
Soroptimist, a volunteer service organization for business and professional women whose mission is to improve the lives of women and girls, sought to identify and honor deserving women with a newly designed space that she can call "her haven".
[ read more ] [ watch video ]
August 2009
Natural Awakenings
Mr. Chris Gay has opened a boutique selling socially responsible handcfarts in Ridgefield. The Ayindisa boutique is a beautiful, warm, relaxing showroom featuring exotic gifts from artisans from around the globe.
[ read more ]
May 2009
The Critter
Chris Gay, the founder of Socially Responsible Artisan Handcrafts, ran a one day workshop for 6th graders to teach students about the hardworking people of Ghana, Ethiopa and Kenya.
[ read more ]
March 2009
The Ridgefield Press
Ayindisa is more than an interesting boutique featuring exotic gifts. The recently opened shop on Prospect Street offers a bit of hope and opportunity for scores of artisans in West Africa and other parts of the world. Take Bernice Ot-Ankra of Accra, Ghana, for example. A few years ago, she was sewing her fabric bags in a back room. Today, thanks in large part to sales of her handcrafts arranged by Ayindisa owner Chris Gay, Ms. Ot-Ankra has her own store.
[ read more ]
January 2009
The News Times
Ayindisa was founded by Newtown resident Chris Gay 33, in 2006 and until now did business only through its Web site and at trade shows and flea markets in Connecticut and New York state.
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November 2008
The Ridgefield Press
Christopher Gay created Ayindisa based on fair trade principles and practices, combining his passions for art, music and humanitarian service with African trade.
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September 2008
The Ridgefield Press
Chris Gay in support of the Peach Train organized a benefit concert in Ridgefield featuring Grammy Award-winning reggae musician Shasha Marley, accompanied by the Buru Styles Band based at Wesleyan University.
[ read more ]
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