Flame Lily is a fashion businesses founded by Chris Garnett in 2000 at the time when massive changes started to change the economic and social landscape in Zimbabwe. Chris is a Zimbabwean British Canadian and the stakeholders of Flame Lily hail from all three countries as well as from Germany. It’s been really hard building a fashion business from scratch in the outbacks of southern Zimbabwe and you can read all about it in her blog. The Holy Cross Sisters of Switzerland have been the backbone of this sustainable business. And of course it’s the magnificent, highly talented women who have kept on knitting through drought, famine, disease and political upheaval who really make the Flame Lily & Chiremba brands truly outstanding.

Chiremba means ‘healer’ in Shona and when Andrew Smith joined Chris as a consultant this year, she designed a more sassy, cool line to appeal to the young at heart. The profits from this Brand go towards securing medicines for our Masvingo community and to recruiting nursing staff. It is our hope to have more nurses that go out into the field to heal and bring comfort.

Together with Kip McGrath Education centres, we fund school fees for primary school and this year we’re hosting the first prize giving day at Bondolfi Primary School. It’s going to be a great party!

In partnership with Daphne Brown, a remarkable lady in her seventies, we’ve organized the drilling of boreholes and brought water to over 2000 people. It’s just the beginning…… the more clothes we sell the more water pours out.

Professor G Woelk of the University of North Carolina, a leading international guru on AIDS and primary healthcare is advisor to Chiremba on all aspects of delivering community-led health programs. An acclaimed writer and expert in his field, we are proud that he has chosen to support our quest to combine fashion with access to medical care.