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A great thinker once remarked, “Never doubt a small group of dedicated individuals to change the world, because it is the only thing that ever has.” At the Million Arts Project, the founding team Prajakta Kharkar(India – Singapore), Aaron Timothy Kirunda (Uganda) and Aparna (Singapore) have proved him right through the impact they’ve had on the artisans and children of poverty stricken Uganda.

The Million Arts Project was started in Jan 2009 to promote poor artists by setting up virtual market places where they can interact with their customers and sell their products. The project has been promoting the ‘Milart’ Ugandan paper bead jewelry in Singapore using the power of e-commerce and Web 2.0. As more than 500 people develop these bead-ornaments, sizes and colours vary which makes every piece unique. Based out of Singapore, the initiative consistently provides a means of livelihood for the artisans of Kampala, making it a truly global venture. Income from the sale of this jewellery becomes medicine and food for these households and enables the women to send their children to schools. Most of these artisans belong to poor families which migrated to Kampala during the civil war which ended in 1986.

The vision of the Million Arts Project is to bring one million such art forms under their umbrella, thereby creating sustainable means of livelihood for artisans around the world.

Interested individuals can contribute to the project by applying for the Buddies Programme launched by the group.