Mairo Women Foundation Ushafa Seeks Partnership With AFIDFF

AFIDFF . 31 March 2023

Mairo Women Foundation Ushafa a non-profit organization that aims to empower women and preserve cultural heritage paid a courtesy visit to the Director General of the African International Documentary Festival Foundation (AFIDFF), Malame Mangzha and her team on Friday, March 17th, 2023.

The visit was to discuss a possible partnership in mainstreaming and preserving pottery as an Art and Cultural Heritage for original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Nigeria.

During the visit, the Executive Director of Mairo Women Foundation, Mrs. Maryamu Isa Barnabas, and her team discussed their mission and vision for preserving the traditional art of pottery. They also shared their plans to empower women in the FCT and promote the pottery sector as a source of economic growth.

“One of the major pottery centres we have in the FCT is located in Ushafa in Bwari Area Council, it was designed to attract tourists, and buyers to empower the initiative of rural women, whose major occupation here is pottery. It is a cultural skill that, if adequately funded, can generate foreign exchange earnings and improve the country’s Internally Generated Revenue. So far, I can boldly say that Mairo Women Foundation Ushafa has empowered over 5, 000 women and still counting but we have close to 400 active members. We have trained over 500 in skills acquisition and disbursed over N5 million in cash and start-up grants, as well as financial aids to women and the vulnerable in our communities.”

In response, DG AFIDFF, Malame Mangzha, expressed her excitement about the partnership and assured the Mairo Women Foundation team of AFIDFF's readiness to collaborate in promoting and reviving the pottery sector in the FCT and across Africa through documentary and storytelling. She emphasized the importance of preserving cultural heritage as a means of preserving the identity and history of a people.

As part of the visit, the Mairo Women Foundation team presented a clay pot made by one of their trainees to the DG, as a symbol of their commitment to preserving the art of pottery.