Care-Co has been working in Rodrigues for 30 years.

We run a rehabilitation and production workshop for people with disabilities in Rodrigues. This includes the blind, the deaf, the physically disabled and the mentally disabled.

Our motto is: We also fight poverty… we Work! 

There is a shortage of paid employment opportunities in Rodrigues. The disabled are normally at the bottom of the list. Very few employers in Rodrigues will consider employing a person with a disability who might be considered as less productive than an able bodied person.

Our team of employed disabled are mostly married with family responsibilities and have achieved the aim of rehabilitation which is to enable them to lead as normal life as possible.

The Minimum wage laws have further discouraged employers from employing the disabled.

Current Situation

What do we do and….. what do we offer.

The Care-Co workshop employs on full wages and condition of employment 15 people who are registered disabled. They make up 90% of the workforce.

We are active in making products which are mainly sold to visiting tourists, like wearable and non-wearable Coconut novelties.

We use the coconut husks that would otherwise be thrown away and thus actively encourage this aspect of recycling.

We engage the disabled in beekeeping and honey production, which is another ecologically friendly activity and the bees are active in cross pollenisation.

We also engage in planting melliferous plants and flowers.

We train young disabled from the adjacent GPL Special Needs Centre in beekeeping..

The honey produced is of very high quality and we have won prestigious awards, including two gold medals at the UK National Honey Show.

The Honey conditioning unit is HACCP accredited.

We have a workshop which makes beekeeping equipment for local beekeepers. The standards are high and visiting consultants from overseas monitor our standards.

We also make chain link fencing for beekeepers and others in the agricultural sector to fence in their lands. The chain link machine was made in Rodrigues and is hand operated-thus creating more employment for the disabled. 

We also have a handmade soap department.

Making soap from oils and fragrances- many of which are sourced locally.

Where to from here ?

In order to  adapt and meet local demand, all the time  respecting the ‘ability’ & limitations of the disabled – we are as open as possible to new ideas and opportunities. 

Threats and weaknesses

This can be summarized in two 'C' words- Corona and Cyclones.

Our financial viability has been seriously threatened. The Corona Virus pandemic has hit our financial viability very hard as most of the clients for the handicrafts are tourists and are now not able to come to Rodrigues. 

Rodrigues was hit by two intense cyclones in 2019 and a fairly intense one in 2020. The trees and flowers which the bees need to forage for nectar have been badly damaged and will take time to recover. This means that the beekeeping community has been hard hit.

What are donations used for?  
 

Contribute to the monthly wages:

for paying the Disabled the regulation wages for their work     Rs.125,000

Purchase of equipment and supplies                                             Rs.50,000

Wood and wire etc. for making beehives and fencing                 Rs.50,000

Gardening tools                                                                                  Rs.20,000

Melliferous plant cuttings                                                                 Rs.1,000

Wax sheets for beekeeping                                                              Rs.25,000

Hive tools & queen excluders for beekeeping                               Rs. 25,000

Total Budget                                                                                      Rs.295,000

Visit our website: http://www.carecorodrigues.com/