CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: Made in Khayelitsha, Sold in New York

By Stephanie Nieuwoudt CAPE TOWN, Jul 25 (IPS) - Entering the Monkeybiz shop, one is confronted with hundreds of brightly coloured beaded animals, dolls, place mats and pictures. You find yourself smiling involuntarily. ‘‘Just look at the beautiful work. How can you resist it?’’ asked Emma Johnson, an American tourist who visited the shop twice in one week. ‘‘I am buying a lot of dolls to take home as Christmas gifts.’’ Another tourist, Beatrice LaCroix from Canada, said she was impressed with the fact that Monkeybiz helped poor people: ‘‘I read about this project some time ago. When I arrived in Cape Town, I made a point of finding out where the shop was.’’ Monkeybiz was started in 2000 to help poor women in the townships around Cape Town, South Africa, to make a living. ‘‘The poverty in the townships is staggering,’’... [read full story]