The HeART of a Woman – Miss Write

Phew – almost forgot my Friday blog this week! And that would have been a shame… I have a great project to share with you this week. Thanks for stopping by! x

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The HeART of a Woman

Most people now have a smartphone of some sort, and even the older models have a camEveryone gets frustrated with mobile phone ‘photographers’ at some point. They hold up queues of people getting ‘that’ shot. You end up being the unwitting subject of their disposable photos. And you know the images of your hungover on your tube commute will get onto Facebook. 

But here’s another part to the boom in mobile photography: an enterprising project which seeks to give a louder voice to women in developing nations, as well as teaching them skills to build a sustainable small business. Working in the commercial recycling sector, sustainable business is something close to my heart. I’m also a believer in the UN Millennium Development Goals which seek to create a better, fairer, more environmentally friendly world. 

The Heart of a Woman Project (THOAW) is a mobile photography initiative that empowers women impacted by poverty. It was founded by Andrea Rees, a professional photographer of 11 years based in Toronto, Canada. Andrea is a  mom, wife, entrepreneur,  iPhoneographer, travel blogger at wanderingiphone.com and Global Citizen.

Donated iPhones find their way to women in South Africa. They are not used for twittering around on Twitter, or playing Candy Crush on Facebook, but for a much larger, forward thinking cause. The women have become entrepreneurs taking photos of their much-loved country; issues, landscape, wildlife, community… the photos are all there. The budding photographers then have their images made into postcards which they can sell to supplement their family’s income in a future-proofed way. 

What a great idea! Take a look at the postcards for sale here!

The current project from this enterprising initiative is based in South Africa. Their mission is “to educate women in developing communities impacted by poverty in photography, mobile technology and social media to empower, have a voice and create sustainable income and small business through the sales of their photographic art products.”

Financial donations are requested, and they have a clever widget on the project website which shows how far they are away from their target amount. The money goes directly to the project, and pays for things like:

This all seems to tie in quite nicely into Millennium Goal no. 7: Promote gender equality and empower women. It’s a simple idea, but it has such effect to the lives of these women and their families. They can pay for food, clothing, better housing and healthcare, and send their kids to school with the extra income they’re making through selling postcards. 

We need more people like Andrea Rees and her THOAW project team! Keep up the good work, guys.

Make a donation today!

Visit The Heart of a Woman online today and help make a difference to a young family’s life.

Not got much time? Just share this post! They, and I, would be very grateful. 

See you next week. 

Lou x

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Born To be A Tourist

Images courtesy of THOAW website