New MED Collaboration with Butterpear!
US Together Cleveland is excited to announce a new collaboration this month with the social enterprise Butterpear!
ButterPear was founded by Becky Trout about two years ago; however, the collective is made up of many African-refugee artists and the social enterprise was built as a place for African artists to sell their items. Butterpear works with young refugee entrepreneurs in Cleveland and several African countries through business and non-profit work to assist with the education fees of their family members.
Starting this month, Butterpear will also be featuring one refugee or immigrant entrepreneur in US Together’s Microenterprise Development Program and their products each month. ButterPear is more than just a shop of cultural goods. It's a collective that brings cultures together for a greater purpose and we are so excited that US Together’s entrepreneurs get to be a part of this wonderful community!
For April, there are actually two featured entrepreneurs! You can purchase bracelets and necklaces made by Mohamad Almasri of Syrian Soul Bracelets any time this month on Butterpear’s website. In addition, all the photos of Mohamad’s wonderful jewelry on Butterpear’s website this month were taken by the amazing Christian Amuli of Christian Amuli Photography, our other featured entrepreneur.
Check out the features on Mohamad and Christian here: https://www.butterpear.com/april.
Be sure to also check out all the other awesome goods on ButterPear’s website, such as clothing, baskets, bags, jewelry and much more, all handcrafted by African artists while you are there!
Mohamad designing his Syrian Soul Bracelets
Mohamad is a refugee from Syria. He came to the United States in September 2016 after living in Jordan for 3 years. Mohamad loves to sell his jewelry at the various markets in the Cleveland area. He loves to meet new people and practice his English by chatting and getting to know his customers. He also finds joy in the happiness his beautiful bracelets and necklaces bring his customers. Mohamad greatly enjoys the process of making his bracelets too. He loves to choose different colors and new beads that he thinks his customers will enjoy. Each of Mohamad's bracelets represents different qualities that are important to him.
STRENGTH. YOUTHFULNESS. RESILIENCE. INDEPENDENCE. ADAPTABILITY. SYRIA.
You can also find Mohamad’s products on Facebook and Instagram as well as on US Together’s Microenterprise Development Program’s webstore: https://www.ustogether.us/mohamad-almasri
The mission of Christian Amuli Photography is to provide high quality affordable photography services to immigrants and refugees, as well as other community members in the greater Cleveland area. Christian hopes to help capture people's memories so they can relive them through the photos and continue to celebrate with them for years to come.
Christian is a self-taught photographer. He learned from friends and family who are also professional photographers and via Youtube. He has been practicing photography now for 3 years and has done photography sessions for family and members of his community up until now, including maternity shoots, newborn shoots, individual sessions, and other community events. He can also do high quality photo editing and has used photoshop to create high resolution, attractive flyers and photos for community members and community events during the past 3 years as well.
Many members of Christian’s community, the African immigrant and refugee community, struggle to find affordable photography services to help them capture the many community events that take place, as well as significant family moments. He wants to make sure that members of his community as well as other refugees and immigrants can afford to have their memories captured too, so they can relive these wonderful times just like any other person.
To see more of Christian’s work be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram!