10 Gifts for Africa : Bloggers Unite

[This post is part of the Bloggers Unite for Africa project.]

Why give once when you can give twice? Here we've rounded up great gift ideas that have the added benefit of raising funds for causes tackling major issues in Africa. From fair trade to helping women start a business, you'll find a wide variety of ways to make a difference.

1) Jonathan Grahm and his chocolate company Compartes of Los Angeles CA has created a limited edition line of chocolates that are inspired by Africa. Not only this but portion of the proceeds from these gourmet candies will go to Relief International. $20. to $30. Each set of chocolates come with a handmade African bracelet as well. For more information read more at the RL Rugby website.

2) Inches International has created cute metal bangle bracelets for $5 each which help send children of Liberia and Sierra Leone Africa to school. Buying 20 bracelets is enough to pay for one child's entire school year. For more information check out: http://www.inchesinternational.com/.

3) One of the latest release in the Hard Rock charity series is the Green Day Signature Series for Darfur. $26.00. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each shirt benefit "Instant Karma: the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur." The new global "Make Some Noise" project from Amnesty International aims to raise awareness and mobilize millions around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan Africa.

4) The Lush Charity Pot is a rich cream with 100% of proceeds being donated to a number of charities including ones to aid humanitarian concerns such as Ecova Mali Africa. $20.45.

5) The Rwanda Path to Peace program is a Trade Not Aid program that aims to fight world poverty by opening up global markets to those living in impoverished locals. The weavers of these baskets are mostly women who have had great loss due to the genocide. See our past article, Rwanda Path to Peace Basket Collection.

6) Five Accessories sells a lovely reversible bag called the Rwanda Tote, created by women of Rwanda of eco-friendly material. $5.00 from each fair trade cloth bag from Rwanda goes to support the Women's Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx), an international community based initiative headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda dedicated to helping survivors of genocidal rape and sexual violence. $56.00.

7) Noodle & Boo has created a Raise Your Hand Soap, $13.00, with 100% of the proceeds going to bringing clean drinking water to hard hit areas of Africa. For more information and to place your order visit their Raise Your Hand project area.

8) At The Hunger Site Store when you buy the Save Darfur Organic Cotton Shirt, $19.95, they will fund 50 cups of food. The Hunger Site writes, "As an official member of the Save Darfur Coalition, we strongly believe in raising public awareness and mobilizing an effective and unified response. Wear our organic cotton t-shirt to spread this timely message of solidarity in the face of human evil."

9) At Red Envelope when you buy Bamboula Angels Holiday Ornaments you'll be supporting African artisans in villages throughout Kenya. $44.95.

10) PONO of NYC has created the Brightness of Life Beaded Bangles, a set of hand beaded bracelets made by Maasai tribal women in Kenya. Founded by Joan Goodman, 20% of the sales from these PONO bangles will be donated to Give a Girl a Chance, a charity devoted to the rescue and rehabilitation of the victims of female genital mutilation. $20.00. If you're in the city stop by PONO at 8th Floor, 132 West 36th St., New York City, NY 10018.

More About Bloggers Unite for Africa: On November 10th over 10,000 bloggers from around the world will unite to raise their voices on behalf of more than 40 million voiceless refugees. To ask the world to face the atrocities so many human beings must endure and to join hearts and minds to help bring forward information, understanding and action. For further information visit unite.blogcatalog.com

More... Phyllis Mufson at the Personal Treasures blog has compiled a great gift guide of Etsy sellers who are giving back in, Unique Gifts That Benefit Africans.