Tin Can Tube Earrings

In 2002, as Zimbabwe refugees in South Africa, Gugulethu Mapuranga, her family and friends created the micro-enterprise of GuguCrafters. Realizing that the craft sector in South Africa could provide a much-needed sustainable income, the artisans honed their skills and designed unique jewelry items from tin cans and beads. While hoping they had found safe haven from the political turmoil and economic collapse in Zimbabwe, the group found itself in 2008 the victim of xenophobic attacks, with their small workshop looted. After two months, the group was able to purchase new tools and materials with fair trade customers advances and begin again making unusual jewelry pieces from their homes in Cape Town.

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