Silvia and her son, Collins run a little company called ‘JOEN’, named after Silvia’s late brother. They create and sell beautiful hand-made bags, wine-coolers and clothing items for local consumers as well as tourists. Their great service and quality stitching have helped grow their little business but with the implementation of the Covid-19 lockdown, their sales have come to a standstill. The positivity of Silvia and Collins lead them to create face masks for the community to use during this time of crises.
Skin Rejuvenation Technologies and optiphi®, applaud the initiative and hard work that Silvia, Collins and their recruited teams are putting into JOEN and the positivity and love they have for their community. These teams are helping educate their communities about this novel virus and reduce the spread of the disease.
We have joined hands with JOEN Masks and are making these beautiful and practical masks available to purchase on our optiphi® online store. A portion of these proceeds go back into the community and the charities they support.
JOEN have been successful in securing donations from their local Hoedspruit district that have helped provide 200 masks for distribution to Silvia’s home community. These donations have allowed Silvia and Collins to continue to earn an income during this period, recruit additional tailors and also resulted in on-going contributions to local charities.
It is important to mention that all the proceeds from the sale of these masks return to the local area and a portion of the proceeds is shared amongst the following four local charitable causes.
Nourish
Nourish is currently feeding 400 people per week in the village of Sigagule, along the Kruger border, growing resilient communities and fighting poaching through fighting poverty.
Hlokomela
An award winning HIV and AIDS educational and treatment programme targeting workers, including foreign migrants, in the agriculture, nature conservation and tourism sectors in The Greater Kruger to Canyons area located in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
GKACI - Greater Kruger Alley Cats Initiative
Reducing the local feral cat population and preventing breeding between domestic cats and African Wildcats in the Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa area.
https://www.facebook.com/GreaterKrugerAlleyCats/
HALO - Hoedspruit AnimaL Outreach
HALO is a non-profit volunteer organisation dedicated to the upliftment of domestic animal welfare in rural communities around Hoedspruit.
https://www.facebook.com/Hoedspruit.HALO/
A purchase of one of these colourful masks helps a local entrepreneur feed and house his/her family and assists the local community with food, medical treatment and animal welfare.
Click HERE to purchase a JOEN Mask for only R95.00
Masks are machine washable and tie comfortably behind the head, preventing pressure from building behind the ears.