Prescraft Carver

Prescraft is a project of the Presbyterian Church that is dedicated to preserving the rich cultural heritage of Cameroon in West Africa. Its goals are to provide employment, stem migration from the rural areas to the cities, preserve traditional craft skills, and to instill self-confidence in artisans. Since its beginning in the early 1960’s, Prescraft has enabled hundreds of disadvantaged handicraft producers to sell their products within the Fair Trade market and become self-reliant. 

Prescraft runs three training and production centers where they offer training courses to youth who have had to leave school. The centers provide employment to the youth and to skilled artisans, who train the young apprentices. Prescraft also works with artisans from rural areas who produce crafts from their homes in addition to farming small plots of land. Income from Prescraft helps artisans cover expenses of education, healthcare, and housing. 

Prescraft’s artisans produce a variety of products, including musical instruments, brass, ceramics, woodcarvings, and baskets. SERRV has worked with Prescraft since 1989.