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Big hearts and long tales

 
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Welcome to Little Ndaba! Home to quirky collections of cotton animals hand stitched by Zambian women. As ambassadors for the environment, our animals are designed and created to connect little people around the world with wildlife. In order to do our bit for the planet, for every toy sold $2.50 is donated to organizations working to protect animals and the environment.

When you buy a Little Ndaba you are contributing to the protection of the planet and supporting a Zambian woman to help provide for her family with dignity.

 
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GIVING BACK TO OUR PLANET

HANDMADE WITH AFRICAN COTTON

EMPOWERING ZAMBIAN WOMEN

 

As soon as you welcome one of our animals into your family, you become a “Mapazi of Little Ndaba”. "Mapazi” in Nyanja means “footstep”. You will be creating a footstep in Little Ndaba’s journey. Being a “Mapazi of Little Ndaba” means you stand for the preservation and protection of our beautiful planet. You also stand for the empowerment of Zambian women.

Join our herd.

Let’s create a stampede!

Find out more about what it means to be a Mapazi of Little Ndaba

 
 
 
 
 

Little Ndaba’s Story

told by founder Charlotte Barr

“Very early on in Little Ndaba’s life, I was lucky enough to spend a special few hours, whilst in the Kafue National Park, listening to the founder of the Elephant Orphanage Project of Game Rangers International tell me about her work. I was deeply moved as she relayed the tragic and traumatic stories of how the little orphans came to be under her wing. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming as we watched them happily browsing - sad to think what they had been through, relieved there were such skilled and professional people that were so successfully helping.  

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From that point onwards our toys had a new purpose and an important job to do! We created toys to bring the stories of the animals on the ground into the homes and lives of children around the world.

Our designs focussed on real animals that had been rescued or protected so that children could connect to, hear their story and follow. We wanted to use the toys as a vehicle to engage children in environmental awareness; we wanted the stories and messages behind the toys to inspire and instill love and care for the planet and its incredible creatures. Our conservation collection was born!

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Our conservation collection represents the real animals on the ground and their individual stories. Their stories are our ‘long tales’. However, all of our collections contribute to a different aspect of environmental and wildlife conservation. This represents one half of our heart.

The other half of our heart belongs to the amazing women here in Zambia that hand make, stitch by stitch, each and every toy animal born from our studio. Being hand made from start to finish means each and every toy is entirely unique and bursting with character! 

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What initially began as a little team of 6 ladies in my studio has now blossomed to more than 102 wonderful women and growing… Luckily, we don’t have to all fit into the studio anymore as we soon discovered that we could split the production process into two - Piece Makers that make the pieces of a toy and the Joiners to join the pieces.

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This allows us to reach women all over Zambia as the Piece Makers can do most of their work from home. They are able to continue to take care of their families and tend their fields whilst earning much needed cash to contribute to keeping the family in food, clothes and education. For many of the women we work with this has become a life line. 

Sadly it seems that more and more often women find themselves in situations where they no longer have financial support from their husbands for a variety of reasons and this can leave some women and their children vulnerable and struggling to survive.

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And after all, children are why we do what we do. Our logo serves to remind us of this. It features an African girl and her little brother. She is called Precious because all children are precious. Her little brother is called Innocent to remind us that the choices we make as adults, communities and nations will always have an impact on the next generation.“

 
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Thank you for joining our journey. Keep checking in to find out about our latest adventures!  

 

Meet Our Women

 
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