Meshack

M E S H A C K
Every mug has a story.

It was in 2013, while we were visiting family in South Africa, when we first met the potter, Meshack Masuku. We bought a few pieces of his pottery, including our first Meshack mug. Two years later we were planning a trip back to that beautiful country when we had an idea come to mind that we would bring back as much pottery and other art as we could to sell it in Canada. However, nothing was ever organized and we didn’t think much of it when we left for South Africa. Part way through our travels we had the opportunity to go visit Meshack’s pottery studio. This time, with the idea in the back of our minds, we asked him about the possibility of starting a partnership with him. We will never forget his reaction. He could not have been more excited about the possibilities the future could hold.

We spoke for over an hour as he began to share the story of his life and his feelings about where the country was going and what needed to change. The more we listened the more we started to think that this business venture was no longer our story, but was Meshack’s story about how he has made a lasting impact in the lives of those in his community. Over the course of his life, he has fostered over 30 children whose families did not have the means to support them. He is currently fostering 8 kids along with his own child. He feeds, educates, loves, and teaches them that their lives do not have to end up in generational poverty. Not only does he provide for the children in his community, he also sets up teaching studios that enable people of all ages to learn how to create pottery themselves and run a business doing so.

We have such an exciting opportunity to partner with Meshack and help those who he has poured his life and energy into. In short, we purchase handmade mugs from Meshack at his retail price, ship them from South Africa to Canada, and sell them here. We have agreed that 10% of the profits from the sales in Canada will go directly into a development trust fund, or charity, that Meshack has created. These funds will serve his community by providing education for the children he fosters, and food and support for their families. The majority of the profits will filter back to Meshack in order to bring more goods to Canada.

Every mug has a story. And that’s because it does. The mug you purchase has been handmade and created in South Africa by Meshack and his community. It is a piece of authentic African culture. Not only are you buying a product, you are giving people who live in poverty an opportunity to earn a living doing something they love.

Our dream is that we can continue growing our partnership with Meshack and his community. We want to find new connections, partner with their talents, and see many lives transformed. Thank you for partnering with us as we try to improve the lives of those living in poverty in South Africa.


|| Here is a quote from Meshack ||

“As for me, I am more coarsened about the hundreds of beneficiaries this business can help; to put food on their tables, for their children, more than me. I am fostering 8 school going kids from preschool to grade 12 excluding my little boy, he is going to preschool as well, which makes it 9 kids directly involved. I am happy I can still care, for that I thank God that he chose to put it in my heart to care for young people and the elderly when I can. All the years I try to teach them my skill of pottery making, and there are many everywhere who are making their living coming from my program of giving them my skill. But for me, education and skills are the only way a nation can beat all ills, and poverty. In Grahamstown, you can see poverty as you stand in the middle of the township. This business, if it takes off, some of these beneficiaries will be freed from the chains of poverty my friend, believe me. That is why I am so happy that you thought of opening a business to help us carry on with our struggle to defeat the siege.”