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Asante Means Thank You - Mary Ann Sheets-Hanson positively impacts women’s lives a world away.
 It isn’t often that a trip to Africa prompts a move from sunny California to Valley City, North Dakota. But, for Mary Ann Sheets-Hanson, who has made it her mission to aid women in Eastern Africa with their craft businesses, it just made the most sense.
“After meeting the women personally, I knew I wanted to be able to do more for them in terms of time to spend marketing and selling their crafts,” says the retired Thrivent Financial for Lutherans representative, who has been a public speaker on the topic of African issues since 2002. “I grew up in North Dakota. Relocating here, where the cost of living is less than in California, meant that instead of having to work full-time, I could devote myself to helping these women.”
Once in North Dakota, Sheets-Hanson and her husband Jack Hanson founded the non-profit Asante Network (Asante means “thank you” in Swahili). Asante Network buys baskets and other artisan items from women in Tanzania and Uganda. The women use the proceeds to care for their families. Throughout the year, Asante volunteers host African bazaars, in conjunction with speaking engagements, to sell the crafts for profit—and all the money goes back to Africa.
Fast Fact:
In October 2006 alone, Asante Network sold artisan goods from nearly 400 African women for
a total of $14,600.
To Help:
Asante Network
605 8th Ave. NE
Valley City, ND 58072
Call: 701-526-0896
or 888-627-4543 |
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“The profits are sent back to Africa in the form of the programs we initiate there, such as building and furnishing classrooms,” says Sheets-Hanson.
Asante’s current goal is to build a women’s sewing and training center near Mwika Lutheran College in Mwika, Tanzania, which is on track to be completed by the end of 2007.
And the biggest reward for Sheets-Hanson?
“Knowing that I’m making a difference in the lives of African women.”
—Sarah Asp and Becca Sunderman
Read an interview with Mary Ann Sheets-Hanson.
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