LIGHTING UP LIVES OF OTHERS
HUNDREDS of solar lights will be delivered to families in need in Mozambique, as part of a donation campaign run by local Yoga teacher and entrepreneur Judes Yang.
The Palm Beach local started her company Sahaja — Yoga Mats That Give Back in March last year with the commitment to donate a solar light per yoga mat sold.
She has reached her initial target of 500 yoga mats sold and will deliver 500 solar lights to the largely povertystricken South East African nation.
Ms Yang said the solar lights would be delivered to families, giving them a safe and sustainable lighting solution.
“More than 50 per cent of the population of Mozambique live in poverty and many people can’t afford electricity, so they have to use kerosene lamps instead,” she said.
“This contributes to a raft of health and safety issues — including house fires, respiratory illness and pollution.
“Without access to electricity, children struggle to study at night, which affects their education. It perpetuates a cycle.”
Ms Yang began her yoga teaching journey in 2005, before developing Sahaja’s first yoga mat range last year.
The mats — made from sustainable materials, including recycled PET — boast unique designs to foster natural alignment during practice.
The mats are now sold in more than a dozen stockists globally, including the United States and New Zealand.
“I started looking for a mat that wouldn’t move around on hard studio floors, including timber and concrete,” she said.
“The mat also needed to cope with the rigours of a dynamic practice — helping the yogi maintain their grip, even when they’re working up a sweat.
“I also wanted the mat to display designs using patterns and colours which express meaning.”
For Ms Yang, the business has provided a platform to ‘pay it forward’.
“I see the donation of lights as a metaphor; my loved ones were the light I needed in my darkest days — providing unconditional support,” she said.
“I wanted to build a social enterprise to ‘give back’ by contributing and supporting families in need.
“Together, we can all make a difference.”
Ms Yang’s Mozambique journey has been captured on film by award-winning local documentary maker Jude Kalman — founder of production company, Fish Films.
I WANTED TO BUILD A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TO ‘GIVE BACK’ BY CONTRIBUTING AND SUPPORTING FAMILIES IN NEED
JUDES YANG