Collection: GOGO OLIVE – Zimbabwe

Beautifully hand knitted animals from Zimbabwe. Each animal comes with a swing tag to tell you their name and the lovely lady they were knitted by. No two knitted animals are the same.

Gogo is the shona word for Grandmother, but she doesn’t need to actually be related to you, anyone can be your Gogo!

Gogo Olive was set up in late 2008 as a response to the huge unemployment problem in Zimbabwe (it currently stands at around 97%), at a time when conditions in the country were particularly difficult.  As well as creating employment for local women the aim was to give them hope as they have the opportunity to use their craft skills to build a future for themselves and their families.

Knitting was chosen as it only requires basic materials and can be done anywhere and at anytime, which suits the lifestyle of a Zimbabwean woman!

What began as a small group of 6 women , has now expanded to involve more ladies and work alongside different groups to try and support as many women as possible.  The aim is to identify those who are most in need.  There are now around 60 knitters from four different projects in 3 different areas of Zimbabwe.

Gogo Olive has recently developed into 2 sections – Gogo Olive KNITS – the income generating knitting business and Gogo Olive CARES – looking at how we can holistically meet the needs of the ladies.