Our Story

NGO Mondo develops and sells handicraft from partner communities in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Afghanistan to improve the welfare of women and people with disabilities.

Mondo has been active in social entrepreneurship since 2013, when the first baskets from Ghana, accessories from Uganda and Kenya, and beautifully embroidered bags and cushion covers from Afghanistan arrived in Estonia, and were sold during Christmas at the pop-up store of Telliskivi Creative City. We received a lot of positive feedback and realized that the Estonian people do wish to purchase goods that have a story, that they consider it important for a product to be bought directly from artisans, whom Mondo often knows by name, and to support their livelihoods through their purchase. We have come a long way since our first little store: we have sent volunteer designers from Estonia to develop products in the communities, offered support in the creation of artisan cooperatives for their better maintenance and growth – to teach new apprentices and to develop quality. We have also invested in the establishment of a shea butter factory, and obtaining a workplace environment for the basket weavers in Ghana, and in the founding of a store-atelier in Uganda.

Why women?

In our entrepreneurship, we have put special emphasis on women, since a woman invests 99% of her income in the family, whereas a man invests 30-40%. We believe and see how a stable income enables artisans to improve their living, take care of the health of themselves and their families, and educate their children for a prolonged time. This, in turn, improves self-esteem. Mondo supports the local artisans in product development, as well as in improving quality and finding a foreign market for their products. More often than not the greatest help arises from the fact that there are people who believe in them, who believe that they can develop their enterprises and therefore be held in esteem in their communities. Read more about the communities where the products originate. 

Our credo:

• We act on the principles of fair trade, which means that we pay fair wages to artisans, and ensure their good working conditions.
• Social entrepreneurship must be self-sufficient – therefore all of the money received from sold products will not go straight to artisans, as the expenses made on transportation, taxes, labeling, sales, and marketing are also included in the price.
• Profit received from the sales of the products is channeled back to the communities of the artisans – to expand the entrepreneurship and to improve the livelihoods of the communities.

Thank you!

We are grateful to the National Foundation of Civil Society for supporting the drawing up and launching of the social entrepreneurship business plan of Mondo; to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thanks to whom we have invested in the necessary equipment, and workrooms in Ghana and Kenya, and whose support has enabled Mondo to fund product development, specialized trainings, and a great deal of our volunteers, who have assisted the artisans in those faraway countries, and also helped to market the products in Estonia. And we owe the greatest thanks to you, as you purchase the products of Mondo, and therefore contribute to a more equal world!