Project Isuga Launches in Arlington

An exciting, new business has just launched in Arlington, Virginia. Project Isuga exist to support, educate, and bring happiness to a lost generation of children in South Africa whose parents have died of AIDS. The way they do this is by selling beautiful, handmade scarves. For every scarf purchased, Project Isuga feeds one school child for one day in Africa. The founder, Sean Coetzee, started the company to help support Africa’s most vulnerable generation – its children. Coetzee believes in incorporating giving into everything he does, including business.

Project Isuga joins other companies, such as TOMS shoes, in the “one for one” movement by selling handmade scarves online and through retail stores in California, Maryland, Nebraska, Washington D.C. and Virginia. Since its inception in September 2010, Project Isuga has donated more than 2,000 lunches to a group of AIDS orphans in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

The South African Children's Resiliency Project, which provides housing for the children, is often unable to allocate funds for school lunches. By providing lunches for these kids, Project Isuga is able to give the children a nutritional meal, as well as an opportunity to perform better in school, think more clearly and master fundamental skills.

Through Project Isuga, Coetzee also sees an opportunity to demonstrate how powerful giving can be when incorporated into a business.

“I would love to see more businesses embrace a business model that is centered on giving,” said Coetzee. “Business is one of the strongest agents we have for change, once we see more businesses adopt this concept, we will see positive changes.”

Project Isuga follows Coetzee’s first business, African Woodsmoke, a company that imports African artwork to the U.S. and supports artists in Africa.

There are several ways to support Project Isuga and help change a life: host a scarf party, spread the word on Facebook and Twitter, purchase a scarf or find out how you can volunteer with the Project Isuga. Also, next time you’re in the Shirlington area, check out one of Project Isuga’s local retailers, Periwinkle!