Care Co Rodrigues

• The Care-Co Rehabilitation and Production Workshop main service is the work we provide to the disabled. We try to empower our workers to face authorities like the Medical Board or Social Security on their own without letting them alone. If necessary we provide the authorities with information about progresses made or physical deterioration observed.

• Our shops are open from 8.30am to 3.45 pm, Monday to Friday. On Saturdays we close at noon.

• CocoZone is located close to the market facing the Pharmacy Port Mathurin and the Lotto business, the Care-Co shop at our workshop premises in Camp du Roi is close to the fire-station and the supermarket SUPER CASH.

• Usually we participate also on fairs organised by the RRA or SME in order to display and sell our local hand-made products. Visitors to the workshop at Camp du Roi are welcome, best time is in the morning betwenn 9-11, school classes and groups are asked to arrange date and time prior to their visit.

In 1989, a branch of Craft-Aid (Mauritius) was opened in Rodrigues in a small, rented space in Port Mathurin, initially employing six people with disabilities, including Gonzague Pierre Louis, who is blind and still attends the centre daily even though he is now retired. Since 2002 the organisation has been renamed Care-Co and operates four departments.

The Handicraft Department produces a range of wearable and non-wearable novelties primarily made from coconut shell. Another department manufactures beehives, beekeeping equipment and chain link fencing. The Beekeeping and Honey Processing Department, established in 1994, includes the Michael Duggan Model Teaching Apiary located on the premises.

In our small Soap Department we produce our hand-made natural soaps based on honey and various precious oils. Care-Co operates two sales points: one in the town centre of Port Mathurin and the other at the workshop premises. Regular training courses in beekeeping and handicrafts are provided for graduates of the adjacent Gonzague Pierre Louis Special Learning Centre.

The organisation adheres to all government employment regulations, including minimum wage, sick leave, local leave, transport, Attendence and End-of-Year bonuses. All employees contribute to the MRA Pension Contribution System (presently CSG & PRGF), and uniforms and protective clothing are provided. Care-Co markets its products in Rodrigues, Mauritius and, more rarely also overseas.

In the past the centre employed up to 35 people, and there were about 15 associated beekeepers with disabilities who worked from home, supported by the centre with equipment and marketing facilities. Presently we are working on establishing a new generation of dedicated disabled beekeepers. In 2009, Care-Co's honey was awarded for the first time First Prize in Class 6 (Honey from all countries of the world except UK & Ireland) at the National Honey Show in the UK.

Additionally, Care-Co was a finalist in the BBC, Newsweek, and Shell World Challenge for Innovative Enterprises Worldwide. Since 2024 Care-Co is one of 3 local NGOs participating in a 3years- EU financed project , ENSAMN which seeks to enhance capacities and opportunities for Rodriguan civil society organisations and small agricultural producers to effectively engage in inclusive and sustainable local development, and climate actions. The Project supports the implementation of pilot initiatives in the field of agroecology, organic and social farming and beekeeping, as well as climate actions, directly involving women, youth and people with disabilities, and the local communities.

To provide creative and remunerative employment and production activities for the disabled in Rodrigues. We offer training courses in beekeeping and handicrafts specifically designed for young individuals with disabilities. 

To provide persons with physical disabilities training in various skills so that they may be employed to produce goods which can be marketed and sold by the organisation.

Mission:

To make a meaningful and planned contribution to the development of Rodrigues by creating production activities and jobs adapted to the needs and abilities of people with disabilities.

Vision:

To see a Rodrigues where the Disabled are given the opportunity to develop and lead as normal a life as possible.

• A Workshop and Rehabilitation Centre in Rodrigues which has survived 36 years despite a lot of challenges, some of our workers have been with us already since the beginning in 1989.
• We have been able to expand from a small workshop in a rented corrugated iron house to a centre including 4 main departments and 2 shops:

- A Handicraft Production Department 

- A Honey Department incl. the Michael Duggan Model Teaching Apiary (a second apiary could not be continued as the land owners needed their site which we had been allowed to use) 

- A Woodworking and

- Chain link fencing Department 

- A Soap Department 

- Two sales outlets

• Main and direct source of funding are the Care-Co Shops' Sales of the products manufactured by our disabled staff, always reinvested in the running of the workshop.
• Unfortunately, due to increased salaries and other costs we struggle to generate the necessary funding on our own and would probably not have survived without the generous support of private persons and organisations for which we are more than grateful. 
• In the past: 

Bees for Development 

Rehab Group 

Various international organisations

• Currently:

Donations 

Crowdfunding via platforms like Small Step Matters 

CSR 

NSIF