PRESS RELEASE WORKING FROM HOME TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES 01 August 2008 The beautiful baskets which we’re using for our some of our Christmas food gift assortments have been hand-crafted by Swazi women who are turning local mountain grass into works of art as part of the Gone Rural project. Gone Rural is committed to empowering rural Swazi women, alleviating poverty and supporting HIV/AIDS orphans by helping these women earn a regular income by using traditional skills to produce unique, beautiful products that are made in their homes from locally available and sustainable natural materials. Gone Rural aims to provide an environment that will raise the skill level – and earnings – of each of the some 700 woman who currently participate in the project. Over time they plan to train more women and help them to earn an income. The orders they receive from Woolworths provide much needed work for these women, who are mostly the sole earners in their homesteads and who each care for an average of eight dependents, many of whom are AIDS orphans. A recently launched non-profit, Gone Rural Bomake, which is attached to Gone Rural (Pty) Ltd. and is funded by Gone Rural as well as donor organisations and private individuals, supports the lives of rural Swazi women through health and education programmes. ENDS Issued on behalf of: Woolworths Issued by: liquidlingo Communications Contact: Monique Postema / Jackie Busch +27 21 424 1530 monique@liquidlingo.co.za jackie@liquidlingo.co.za

The beautiful baskets which we’re using for our some of our Christmas food gift assortments have been hand-crafted by Swazi women who are turning local mountain grass into works of art as part of the Gone Rural project. Gone Rural is committed to empowering rural Swazi women, alleviating poverty and supporting HIV/AIDS orphans by helping these women earn a regular income by using traditional skills to produce unique, beautiful products that are made in their homes from locally available and sustainable natural materials.