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Comments for this video
I watched all 50 finalist videos. While some are inspiring entrepreneurs, hoping to make a living doing what they enjoy doing, Africa Bags is the only one to take an idea and turn it not for personal profit or gain, but into helping others to help themselves and create a sustainable living.
This Organization is very inspirational and has the right idea about how to help Africans. They do not need handouts they need opportunities for them to help themselves. This is what Africa bags has given them.They work in many different villages so this projects touches many lives. They are also so dedicated in helping and they work so hard and as a result, Africa bags are owned by people all over the nation. I also appreciate the fact that this project is sustainable by the local communities
A great project!
Africa Bags is making a huge difference in the lives of people in Malawi. Thanks for your work. It's inspiring for sure.
I love my Africa Bag and use it often. Malawi will always hold a special place in my heart and I am happy to support programs such as Africa Bags.
Thank you for doing this.
-From an African
Great idea! Love it. We have great ability to do so much with our resources. This is a great testimony to how an idea and the advantages we take for granted here in the US can be combined to do something meaningful.
That is an amazing video! Thanks for all your doing to help the world.
inspiring! I like how they help people help themselves AND how they use so many volunteers to keep their costs low. Amazing how much $10 can do to sustain so many people.
Awesome Story
Awesome Mission
Awesome Work
This is both Inspiring AND Useful... so vote for BOTH!!!
The opportunity Africa Bags gives to the people in the rural villages in Malawi is right on target. Todd and Holly - your vision and commitment are an amazing blessing.
such a simple idea - so much good!
Wow, who knew that an idea this simple could make such a lifesaving difference, not only to Africans but to Americans.
How amazing that someone can change the lives of so many with a simple idea. It's so lovely to see the villagers at work and the beautiful faces of those who are benefitting from this wonderful organization. I hope that all of us can change this statistic so that every 4 seconds a life in Africa is saved.
Great work!! Amazing what you guys have accomplished!! Keep it up!! We're so excited to see you move forward with Africa Bags!! Love it!!
Peace friends!!
Katie B
Africa Bags is a great organization and the founders are inspiring. They are doing great work in Malawi.
I love how simple this project is and how well it is working!
Every time I hear or (see) the Africa Bags story I am blown away by the power of such a simple idea. The passion behind this project is inspiring on so many levels.
I have been to Africa and have seen what one of the men in the video was describing. They are thankful for money and donations but what they really want is to be able to support their families and earn their own livings. No one wants to be on charity all their lives and Africa bags are helping these people stand on their own two feet. I think that Africa bags is inspiring and morally uplifting.They are making a difference to help feed people as well as boosting personal moral&self accomplishment
what a great project.
Awesome video!
These are great people working with the people of Africa to make a difference in their lives.
Great work Africa Bags! Kami and I support you 100%. You have made such a difference in the lives of so many people and you have inspired so many people in America to help out.
It brings tears to my eyes to know that our church has been partnered with Todd and Holly for over a year--just after they began. We have sold almost 100 bags and are more than glad to help--Jim+
WOW, AfricaBags is making a difference. What we ALL need to be doing. Awesome story and very imspiring. They are changing the lives of many more than just those they help. Like the ripples in the water, they are affecting many lives. This is a true HERO in action. This is what Americans should be doing in the lives of those less fortunate. God Bless AFRICABAGS for thier love, devotion, commitment and dedication to helping others. True Heros in todays world.
This is such a worthy project .......all proceeds go back to the people of Malawi
and helps them direct their own destiny. To be able to go on the website and see where your dollars are going to help these people so very far away makes it so very personal. Thank you Todd and Holly for all you do!
The people who run this live in my city, They are an amazing family. Kids at the school where I teach just collected over $400 in a penny war to help school kids in Malawi and also did a school supply drive. These amazing volunteers will take these and more donations to Malawi personally this week
I highly recommend supporting this outreach, it offers skills and business principles while instilling dignity and purpose to the villagers. What a noble cause!
I purchased 2 bags last year, & found I used them so much, I purchased 2 more. These are unique bags, durable, and hold so much more than the plastic bags. I almost always gets comments on them as well, when the clerk sees the logo. I'm glad I was able to help your project in this small way. Donna
What an inspiration Africa Bags (Todd & Holly) are making by helping the people in Malawi to help themselves to a better way of life.
This is a really cool thing. As a person who has spent extensive time in rural Africa, it is good to see that someone is actually doing something to really help these villages learn a craft and give them means instead of just putting a band aid on the situation.
This organization is truly inspiring. You can see the pride in the villagers faces and this has only just begun. Todd and Holly you are amazing people doing what you can to save an entire continent while raising your own family.
THEY HAVE TTO WIN THIS GRANT!!!! This couple is changing Africa.
if only our society might take up the cause of taking care of others in a cooperative and respectful fashion. Great cause...do you sell through 1000 villages?
"Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made." Your company has made a choice to help others help themselves! This is very inspirational! Thank you!
"Our lives are a sum total of the choices we make." It is clear that your company has made the choice to help others help themselves! Thank-you for your efforts from a fellow Lovelander!
What a wonderful program!
This is a great idea - and sounds like wonderful people. I also work in Malawi and see the positive results a small idea can make. It took real dedication to start this project and carry it thru. Thanks Todd and Holly.
This is what we should be doing - looking beyond our selves and promoting long term improvement in people's lives! Keep up the good work!
Plastic shopping bags are illegal in many (if not all) African nations. Sometimes I wish they were here, too, when I see them blown around, stuck in the bushes and trees where I live. I use Africa bags for groceries and everything I need to tote, and I love them! Not only for the obvious environmental reasons, but also because of the many wonderful ways that lives have been saved or helped by the non-profit organization, Africa Bags. Cynthia
Thank you for this video that so effectively portrays the problem and offers a immediate solution to the pressing issues of basic life needs Thank you for training and offering useful training and employment to women especially the many widows. I lived and worked in Malawi for a year and this videowork quidkly captures the spirit and presents hope. Bless you, ACMS
Thank you for this video and the work of Africa Bags. I lived and worked in Malawi for a year and this short presentation effectively captures Malawi and its needs. Thank for helping to train and provide income for the women especially the widow. I love the fact that there is monthly income generated from their work that they can realize producing lifecahnging resulsts. God bless you ACMS
Not a hand-out, but a hand up! Great idea!
This is such a great organization!!!! I love my bags and get asked about them all the time!!! This is a great step towards being the change you wish to see in the world!!!! Thanks Africa Bags for inspiring so many!!!!
Two-Thumbs UP!
If everyone could do what Africa Bags is trying to do- just think of how different the world would be. Very inspiring!
it was an ok video
it was an ok video
it was on ok video!
it was on ok video!
it was on ok video!
Fabulous! Thank you for your important work!
Very inspiring and please keep up the good works, 25,000 children a day are lost to preventable causes. We all need to help.
Yours in Service.
Bill Reeves PDG Rotary International
Mountain View Rotary Club
Loveland, co.
Thank you for doing something to help others become self-sustaining. The video is powerful. Counting down every four seconds made the loss of life and breath palpable. We often feel powerless and allow ourselves to believe that we cannot make a difference. You have decided not to invest in self-defeating strategies and I applaud and support your efforts. Thank you for stepping out in faith. M Kelly
Amazing vision. I have had the pleasure of seeing Africa bags at a local fair. They are extremely kind and helpful and willing to give another vendor who ran out of change a hand.
I wish them the best of luck!
What a wonderful idea Todd and Holly had to provide a means for people to help themselves - it's awesome!
It is inspiring that Todd and Holly are helping people to help themselves. How gratifying and inspiring!
Awesome project to help people to help themselves - not just a handout!
Africa Bags is a truly inspirational story of how the dedication of just two people can change the lives of so many. I am so hugely supportive of Africa Bags, which gives life and life's meaning to so many.
Yeah!!! Way to stick with it and work hard!!!! You guys are truly inspiring and are doing so much for our neighbors in Africa. Thanks for the dedication and the heart!
Finalist story from AfricaBags:
I still remember the night in 2004 that I watched a documentary about the Rwandan genocide. I could not shake the fact that 800,000 people were murdered, mostly by machete, and I had paid little attention to it. Before that night I didn’t even know where Rwanda was or that a genocide had occurred.
I made it a point to learn more about Rwanda and Africa. I learned that a person in Africa dies every three seconds from something that is preventable or treatable. The reason for all these deaths? Poverty. I decided I would try to do something about it. Could I create a project that would change lives?
It seemed the best way to help would be to create a business that would provide poverty stricken Africans the means to take care of themselves. Why not start a company that would give ownership to the workers? They could take the profits of their business and feed their families, pay school fees and build houses. They could even save some of this money and start other businesses. Instead of waiting for a hand out they could be empowered to help themselves.
The biggest challenge was trying to figure out what to produce. This product needed to be relatively simple to construct, easy to ship and would ideally help the buyer in some way.
This business concept kicked around in my head for a couple years. I began to doubt if I was being truthful to myself. Did I really want to try and make a difference? Would I really be able to do this? The answer came in early January of 2007. A friend suggested we produce reusable cloth shopping bags. Africa Bags was born.
A cloth shopping bag could be made on a treadle sewing machine that didn’t even require electricity. These bags are light enough to be shipped in bulk. We could also market the bags as a solution to plastic shopping bags which use petroleum in their production and create pollution in their disposal.
Just 4 months later my wife, Holly, and I were on our way to Malawi, Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world. Training and production started and steadily grew. In 2008, our first full year of bag making, over 4,000 Africa Bags were purchased.
The 5 villages of Africa Bags are flourishing. A community center, an orphan care center, a micro-lending program, and fertilizer for village crops are all by products from bag profits. Can a cloth shopping bag change a life? The answer is yes. My life was the first one changed.
The most important ingredient for success is passion. We have been able to grow Africa Bags because of our passion for fighting poverity in Malawi . It is the first thing we think about in the morning and the last thing we think about before we fall a sleep at night.
This non-profit organization is doing amazing things. They have changed the lives of everyone they have touched. Each village is self sufficient, earning their own income to help children go to school, buy fertilizer,buy medical supplies, and start micro-businesses. All of this was done by two people who cared and did something about it. Thank you Africa Bags... Todd and Holly