Africa Bags was started by Todd and Holly Petitt in January of 2007 as a grass roots organization with the hope of making a change in the world.   Here are some of the ideas we created our organization from:

-We want the charity to be transparent.  It is important to us that if some one donates or buys a product from Africa Bags that they know their money is going directly to the people that need it.

-We want to do something that empowers the people we are helping.  Instead of giving them charity, we want to give them a chance to help themselves.  We want to do something that will continue on after the initial investment has been made.  Once an Africa Bag has been produced and sold, the money from the sale of that bag will purchase the material needed for the next bag to be made and provide a sustainable  income for the village that made the bag. 

-We want to do something that is non-denominational.  We want to include those from all religions that wish to help, donate or purchase our products. 

-We want to create a product that could benefit those that buy it.  A cloth shopping bag purchased from Africa Bags will help reduce the need for plastic shopping bags.  The cloth shopping bag is gaining popularity world wide and has increased in use in the United States.  The creation of a single use plastic shopping bag wastes the earth's non-renewable resources.  The  disposal, and degradation of plastic bags increases pollution, releasing toxic chemicals into our environment.

Expanding our Africa Bags team:

One of our first priorities was to find someone  that could do the ground work for us in Malawi.  Yotam Msuku was recommended to us by a gentleman who had lived in and done research in Malawi.  Yotam has spent most of his adult life working on community development and improving the lives of the poorest people in Malawi.  On our first visit to Malawi one of the first things we did was to bring Yotam on as part of the Africa Bag team.  To see Yotam's qualifications and some of the other projects he is associated with click on his link below.

We have also hired Joseph Chavula and Chief Chimaliro to oversee production in the Kamweko and Viweme villages.  These two are from the villages and already have a natural connection to the people.  They are respected by the villagers and have been quite helpful in taking care of the villagers on a day to day basis.