A bag, a pair of shoes and a donation that goes further

From the stall to your wardrobe

A bag catches your eye. You pick it up, check whether it will hold everything you carry around, and picture it with the coat you already own. So far, it sounds like any Saturday. At Smile Market, the interesting part starts when you decide to take that bag home.

The stalls carry new clothes, shoes, bags and accessories. The brands donate the items to Smile Project. You choose something from what’s on offer and make a donation to the charity in return. You can also come for a look around: admission is free, and the donation is how you take home an item you choose.

If you’re going with a friend, ask her the question that might save you from buying a gorgeous but impractical bag: will it actually fit your keys, your phone and everything else? Look for something you’d happily use on Monday, too. That way the piece you pick gets to be part of your everyday life.

From a bag to books in Braille

To see what a bag has to do with education, let’s go to Asmara. The Abraha Bahta Institute is a residential school for children and teenagers who are blind or have low vision. Alongside their school subjects, pupils learn Braille, practise finding their way around and take computer classes and practical workshops. All of that helps them study, get around and build independence.

Smile Project says it has helped renovate the school and provided Braille learning materials, tablets and equipment to convert and print texts. Before you can open a book and get on with studying, you need to be able to read it. That small detail tells you a lot about what supporting education can mean in practice.

The school is one example of the charity’s work in Eritrea. The market raises money for Smile Project’s work as a whole; the organisers do not list a specific destination for each individual donation.

It can start with a sewing machine

There’s another connection to fashion in Asmara. Through its Ericraft project, Smile Project supports vocational training for women facing hardship, including single mothers. At the Debat Training Center, participants can learn weaving, machine embroidery, dressmaking and pattern cutting. What starts in a classroom can turn into a trade.

One detail makes it easier to see how that opportunity works: alongside fabric and sewing machines, the project provides childcare. If you have a class to attend and a little one at home, knowing someone can look after them may make the difference between taking the course and missing out. That’s part of what practical support looks like.

Before you go

Save the address: Manifattura Tabacchi, Via delle Cascine 35, Florence. Drop in on Friday 6, Saturday 7 or Sunday 8 November, any time between 9 am and 9 pm. If you just want to browse, there’s no admission ticket to buy.

And if you do find that bag, you’ll have a story ready the next time someone asks where you got it. It starts at a stall in Florence and takes you all the way to a classroom in Asmara.