The following is an excerpt from a letter we recently received from Alaffia. We hope your read about the good work Alaffia is doing in Togo, made a reality by your purchases of their shea butter cooperative products in our body care section. The story of Alaffia is a great one to help celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives.

Dear Friends of Alaffia,

It is my hope that this recap of my recent visit to Togo finds you and your family in good health.  I also would like to wish you a happy new year. It has been a week now since Rose, our girls and I returned from a six-week visit with our cooperative in Togo, and I still find myself disoriented and having difficulties adjusting to speaking and writing in English.  This return has been one of the most emotionally difficult ones as well. I cannot stop seeing the faces of the disadvantaged people that I encountered and those that our efforts have touched. In the following paragraphs, I would like to share with you some highlights of the activities that Rose and I participated in during the past six weeks. read more