ASHA's Update - AHA Wins 2nd Prize at the MWF Regional Conference, Ghana

Arts, Hearts and Acts (AHA!), came second place during the pitch competition held at the just concluded West Africa Regional Conference for 2016 participants of the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

The conference titled: “PROMOTING REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA THROUGH YOUTH INNOVATION AND LEADERSHIP” held between May 30st – June 1st was an opportunity for young Africans to share their ideas for development with a global audience and chart Africa’s future.

AHA! Is a Functional fashion start-up, set up to cater to the fashion needs of persons whose disabilities affects their movements significantly, in Nigeria.

This idea was conceived in 2016 by ASHA’s Founder, Vweta Chadwick, during her participation at the Mandela Washington Fellowship programme at the University of Delaware’s Star Campus and was inspired by her years of living and working with persons with disabilities in Nigeria as well as the functional and adaptive research being done at the University of Delaware.

AHA aims to:

Advocate the rights, inclusion and mainstreaming of persons with disabilities, by creating functional, accessible, and affordable fashion.
Allow persons with limited mobility and assistive devices the freedom to move and have a say in what clothes they wear. The clothing is also an expression of art and realities of persons with disability;
Mainstream disability management issues in everyday arts and culture.
Organize first-of-its-kind fashion show in Nigeria where all outfits will be modelled by persons with physical disabilities.
Promote training & employment opportunities for PWDs and non PWDs