wrap up africa’s mission is to provide hope, empowerment and support to ugandan families struggling with cancer.
the principles of collective gain and environmental protection are at the foundation of wrap up africa’s mission. we believe that creating jobs through local partnerships is a more sustainable approach to poverty eradication and health program support than a blanket provision of aid. rather than become dependent on handouts, the wrap up africa tailors build their skills and long-term capacities through meaningful creative work. the profits from their work are funneled back to support a variety of clinical and educational programs, helping them and their children to have a better quality of life and to improve the health outcomes of future cancer patients in uganda. we believe that wrap up africa can help to eradicate poverty and mitigate the suffering experienced by uganda’s cancer patients through education, employment, gender equity and, ultimately, empowerment.
there are two branches to wrap up africa; wrap up africa llc and wrap up africa foundation. the tailoring program is part of wrap up africa llc. it is the entity that buys the materials to produce the products and the finished products from the tailors thus providing them with funds that they may choose to spend on treatment, food, transport, lodging or any of the other challenges facing the families of cancer patients in uganda. the llc will seek to sell the goods produced with the intention to sustain its operations and generate profits which would roll over to wrap up africa foundation to help fund its support programs. the support programs are run by the foundation and the tailoring program is run by the llc.
what, why and how
what we do:
wrap up africa llc’s tailors are generally family members of the pediatric patients and increasingly, cancer patients themselves. we teach tailoring skills and train our participants to make beautiful products, pay them a fair wage for what they create, and provide a market for what they produce. with the funds they earn, the tailors are able to meet many of the needs they face with a cancer diagnosis such as food, transportation, medical expenses and lodging.
we sell the beautiful products on-line and through our retail partners and ultimately profits are distributed to wrap up africa foundation to fund our support programs. our current core programs are a comprehensive treatment program, scholarship program for cancer survivors and children orphaned by cancer and mobile clinics to improve outcomes and reduce treatment costs, and a school support program.
why we do it:
dialog and support around healthcare in africa centers on hiv, malaria, and tb. cancer patients go largely unnoticed and underserved. a country of 27 million people, uganda has one of the highest rates of cancer in the world. the majority of our participants are the parents of children with burkitt’s lymphoma, the leading cause of pediatric cancer in equatorial africa. the responsibility for the costs of care, whether it is diagnostics or life-saving chemotherapy, rests entirely with the families.
the majority of ugandan’s live on less than a dollar a day making this is unaffordable. with treatment, 90% of these children would go on to live normal healthy lives. unfortunately, for most ugandan’s the cost of chemotherapy is out of reach, and consequently, the majority of patients go untreated and many die. we want to change these trends and help these children become cancer survivors.
how we do it:
wrap up africa llc trains our tailors to make skirts and pay them a fair wage for the skirts that they create. these skirts are then sold in resource-affluent countries with the net profits from the skirt sales channeled back to our supportive programs through the wrap up africa foundation. the programs we are currently developing include:
treatment program: we hope to provide chemotherapy, lab work, pain management, and palliative care medications to all pediatric patients that cannot afford treatment.
scholarship program: the costs associated with a cancer diagnosis are devastating to most ugandan families. even if support for treatment is provided, ancillary costs such as lodging, transport and diagnostics frequently decimate a family’s resources and children are withdrawn from school as the school fees have been applied towards meeting the above costs. we plan to offer scholarships to cancer survivors and children orphaned by cancer. providing chemotherapy is life saving and an education is critical to the child’s future success and happiness throughout that life.
school support program: this program is designed to help ugandan schools gain resources, train teachers, and other needed support by connecting classrooms in the usa with classrooms in uganda. we will publish an interactive blog for use in the classroom showing school children in the usa what is like to be a child in uganda, the challenges they face and how life is different for children in the developing world. the blog will be co-written by an american child living in uganda. we hope to give students real insight into the obstacles faced by children in the developing world, demonstrate how with a relatively small amount of money they can make a huge impact of the lives of others and build cultural understanding.
mobile clinics to reduce treatment costs and improve outcomes.
our team
letha sandison, founder/chief executive officier
letha sandison is the founder of wrap up africa (wua). her ingenuity and strategic vision are the heart of wua. letha’s belief in the principles of collective gain, environmental protection, and community building has informed wua’s mission.
letha has a lifelong passion for art and design; she holds a bachelor of fine arts degree and has shown her artwork in galleries in the u.s.. letha also has diverse business experience, having worked as a consultant for newspapers and healthcare corporations prior to pursuing her art and design degree. her combined background in art and business provided the ideal foundation for the creation of wua.
in 2007, letha and her family moved to uganda, where she saw firsthand the challenges faced by ugandan cancer patients. feeling compelled to help, she used family funds to launch wrap up africa.
in wua, letha has created a business model that uses market resources to help address development issues. not only is this an exciting new way to approach some of the world’s toughest problems, this model also ensures that benefits extend beyond the target population. while the primary beneficiaries of wua’s programs are african families struggling with cancer, wua also funnels money into the local economy, providing jobs, building capacity, and maximizing limited resources.
letha loves to spend time with her family, and sometimes enlists their help with wua as well. her young son, who conceptualized wua’s change for change program, has primary responsibility for the program’s blogs on the wrap up africa web site.
letha enjoys traveling and feels lucky to have the opportunity to indulge this interest in her work and with her family. she completed a half marathon in jinja, uganda, raising money for the endangered ugandan gorillas, and she is currently training for her next run. letha also still pursues her artistic passions. she is working on a series of paintings that feature her ugandan colleagues, and she recently held art classes for pediatric cancer patients at the hospital, giving the children a safe, creative way to express their feelings about their treatment.
letha is deeply committed to leaving the world a better place than she found it. she believes that wua can help to eradicate poverty and mitigate the suffering of uganda’s cancer patients through education, employment, gender equity, and ultimately, empowerment. letha, her husband, and her son divide their time between kampala, uganda, and seattle, washington.
rita apio, program administrator
rita’s love of children led her to wrap up africa in June 2007, when she began counseling pediatric cancer patients, administering their daily nutrition, and conducting art and play sessions.
today, as program administrator, rita oversees the day-to-day production of wrap up africa’s hand-crafted products from the kampala, uganda, wua office. she recruits the tailors, organizes training classes, purchases materials, and oversees the company payroll.
as the child of teachers, rita values continuing education and seeks out opportunities to enhance her skills. through wrap up africa, she recently attended a week-long training program at a healthcare company near san francisco, california, where she added to her management expertise and gained valuable insight into american business protocols and expectations.
a native of soroti, in eastern uganda, rita holds a bachelor’s degree in education from makerere university, uganda’s most prestigious university and the oldest university in africa.
cissy adiru, head tailor and trainer
cissy has been married for 32 years and is the mother of four children. two of her children are students at the university. she also cares for two orphans, a grandson and several other dependants. she has been tailoring since 1987 and has made many friends through her work. cissy says working with wrap up africa, is “a great idea, and I enjoy working with all of you and the children.”
evelyn akoko, tailor and trainer
born into the acholi tribe in a small village in the war-torn gulu district of northern uganda, evelyn is one of nine children. after overcoming many hardships as a consequence of her village being raided by the lords resistance army (lra) rebels, evelyn was left to care for her sister’s orphans. she completed a tailoring course and moved to kampala where she discovered many children suffering from cancer. these children really touched her and opened her eyes. she started volunteering with wrap up africa and was soon offered a job. she now works teaching our tailoring trainees.
our partners
headley trust
trustees of the headley trust make grants under development projects in sub-saharan anglophone africa, and ethiopia and small grants providing practical aids for disabled people. they too have selected to partner with wrap up africa and provide funding to support our programs and operations. you can learn more about the headley trust and other sainsbury family charitable trusts at www.sfct.org.uk.
true colours trust
trustees of the true colours trust primarily focuses on palliative care for children. the trust also supports selected children’s palliative care programs in africa. they have chosen to partner with wrap up africa’s endeavor to support ugandan families struggling with cancer. to learn more about the true colours trust, visit the sainsbury family charitable trusts web site at www.sfct.org.uk.
paper craft
wrap up africa has partnered paper craft africa to produce our packaging. they use sustainable materials produced locally by a group of women in the bwebajja village of uganda. paper craft supports environmental awareness and promotes self-sufficiency among their workers. their beautiful paper-goods are made from local materials including elephant grass, banana leaves, pineapple tops and recycled papers. whenever possible, wrap up africa supplies paper craft with our recycled materials to assist in their endeavor. to learn more about paper craft, visit their web site at papercraftafrica.com.
our advisors
hilary billings
hilary billings is a brand strategy consultant who specializes in creating lifestyle brands. she has developed new brands and brand extensions for large companies such as wal-mart, hallmark, and harrah’s casino hotels, as well as defining brand strategies for startup companies and micro enterprises such as world of good.
ms. billings co-founded red envelope and developed the w hotel brand for starwood hotels and resorts. she served in a variety of roles at pottery barn, including vice president of product development and design. ms. billings currently serves on the corporate boards of peet’s coffee & tea, design within reach, tea collection, and chef’s catalog. she holds a b.a. from brown university in art history and english.
llenay ferretti
llenay ferretti has nearly 20 years of experience in product design, planning, development, and production management. she has extensive knowledge of fair trade standards and certification. ms. ferretti was the executive director of ten thousand villages, the largest fair trade organization in north america. before this, she served as the ten thousand villages buyer for east and south africa, bangladesh and nepal, managing artisan relations and trade development with 45 producer groups.
prior to her work in third world economic development, ms. ferretti was the creative design director of chico’s fas, a national women’s apparel retailer. ms. ferretti held various positions at liz claiborne inc., including vice president of design. in this role she led product design and development and directed a design staff in all aspects of product development with a global factory base. llenay currently consults on projects for the u.s. african development foundation and usaid programs in africa, as well as other international trade development initiatives.
stephen pezzola
stephen pezzola practiced law for 15 years as general counsel for vyyo inc., zen research nv, and dsp communications, inc., among other positions. he later became executive vice president for corporate and strategic affairs at vyyo Inc., and executive vice chairman of the board for zen research nv.
mr. pezzola currently consults for start-ups and well-established firms in the areas of strategic planning, strategic relationships, business development, mergers and acquisitions, financing, and negotiations. he is the ceo of the consulting firm yorkshire ventures, llc. mr. pezzola also serves as chairman of the board of directors of wmode, inc., a private canadian corporation. in addition, he serves on the board of directors of primed management consulting services, inc., a private california health care corporation. mr. pezzola received a b.s. and a j.d. from the university of california at berkeley.
gordon sandison
gordon sandison brings years of international experience to his role as advisor. for eight years mr. sandison was an executive at phillips petroleum company, based in the company’s london office. upon his return to the u.s., he worked on projects in asia, africa, and latin america. thereafter, mr. sandison became Vice president for emerging markets for phillips lng ltd., work that took him to south korea, china and india. most recently, he served as a consultant for far east energy, advising the company on market development. mr. sandison is a graduate of the u.s. naval academy and has advanced degrees in mechanical engineering and international relations
guiding principles
• all people deserve the chance to lead productive and healthy lives
• philanthropy plays an important, but limited role building capacities is critical
• we believe in a grassroots approach. we are the funders and shapers, but rely on others to implement the solutions.
• we are humble and mindful in our actions and words
• we require ethical behavior of ourselves and those we work with
• we seek and heed the council of outside voices
• we leave room to grow and change