Distaff & Spindle is a profit-for-the-poor company of people who gather beautiful handmade products from Madagascar to sell in Manitoba, Canada. All profit from these sales goes directly into helping the poor in Madagascar.

Proverbs 31 speaks of a woman who, it seems, did just what we are attempting to do: make lovely things and sell them for a profit, giving ‘portions for her maidens’, planning for the future well-being of their families, interacting with “merchant ships” (or, a family due for furlough, traveling by aircraft, luggage full of stock). It is this passage that gave our project its name: Distaff&Spindle.

It is the intent of Distaff&Spindle to sell Madagascar handmade items for the profit of Malagasy families with whom we are in personal relationship. To enable them to send their children to school, to help build houses to shelter their families, to pay fees for quality doctors and medication, to invest in the lives of these families who invest their lives into ours.

We also donate funds towards inspiring ministries in our neighbourhood in the capital of Madagascar,including Growing the Nations Therapy Programmes and Iris Ministries.

You can read about what we’ve been funding and selling in the blog as well as the featured posts on the home page.

Find us on Facebook: Distaff&Spindle and Instagram: DistaffSpindle

Also, for more information on the makers of some of our baskets, and a general idea of how the baskets are made, please see the ‘Story’ page on the Ravinala UK website. Ravinala UK is the company that manages the basket and throw-blanket making in Madagascar for many of the products we sell in Manitoba. If you’ve already bought one of our products you may have a tag that says ‘BOO’ or ‘Ravinala’ on it. If so, there will be a name written there which indicates who made it. You can find the photo of this person at the Our Story link.