Fair Trade has been affected in Pakistan.  A Fair Trade Labeling liaison officer in the Baltistan region of Gilgit reports that 52 people have died and a landslide in the Gizar area took 20 lives. The Gilgit area is home to a number of Fairtrade certified fruit farmers.

The long term damage is severe since the bridges on the only road through the region have been destroyed along with homes and businesses. 

Natural disasters, unfortunately, are on the rise.  Climate change is causing more flooding, drought, and severe tropical storms.  As the population in vulnerable areas continues to increase the impact continues to build. 

Many of these areas are the same areas where Fair Trade is not only needed but thriving.

That’s not the only thing you can do with an old seat belt.  Turns out you can make a nice handbag as well.   Conserve India, a recycling company in Dehli, uses a range of the city’s waste to make high fashion items like wallets, purses, and handbags.  They employ some of India’s most disadvantaged people and the profits from sales go back into the community to support education and other programs.

So, buckle up, for the high fashion ride! 

Keep shopping your good values!

When we first opened the shop, I was looking for products as well as ways to make it a beautiful and attractive spot. One of our neighbors was selling a collection of plants he had grown, so we struck a deal and I offered some for sale while they greened up our store.

A few didn’t sell, including a little cactus which got moved time and again but never found a new home.  For the last year a half, it sat, inscrutable and barely noticed, in a side window of the shop.  Cacti like to be ignored, so it seemed happy enough to have water trickled on it once in a while.

When spring came this year, it developed a little bud on top.  Not knowing much about cacti, I thought perhaps it was finally deciding to grow.  Imagine my surprise when I came back from a long weekend and discovered a large pink bloom crowning my little cactus.

Surprise Bloom

It reminds me of the best attributes of Fair Trade.  Fair Trade is most beneficial when it takes root and blooms in economic deserts where opportunity is scarce — in places where Fair Trade becomes a rare gift.

Farmers markets are popping up everywhere. The newest is right in the park across the river from our house on Wednesday nights!  There’s nothing better than buying just-picked produce, but we can only eat so much!    

That’s why people have been canning and drying food for hundreds of years.  It also explains why there is such a growing need for kitchen space in the Kickapoo Valley.  With a local cottage industry to preserve and dry fruits and vegetables, we can enjoy local food through the winter while we provide more income for our farm families.

So, in association with our store Rhubarb, we will soon have a shiny new kitchen open to the community for canning and baking.  Our first tenant will be processing a gluten product for a large maker of vegetarian patties and hot dogs.  When he moves on to a larger space, we will open our kitchen to local entrepreneurs that want to make value-added products from the local bounty.

It’s been a difficult process, but we believe we are filling a need.  Having new and exciting handmade products from our kitchen is indeed a tasty prospect! 

Laying tile in the kitchen space.

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More importantly than that, I feared the members would loose the livelyhood they had built over the last several years.  You and I have played a small part in helping them build better lives. 

Miraculously, just the opposite has happened.  The latest information describes a cooperative that continues to grow and thrive.

• The solar electic system is providing power 24/7, allowing members to press seed for oil up to 4-5 hours per day.
• Two more men and two new women have joined the coop.
• A new business plan has been created.
• New products are coming soon including lip balm, body lotion, and face cream.

Finally, let me share this quote from a recent e-mail.  “so we have decided as a group to leave politics aside and thrust ourselves back into the work of tranforming the agricultural bounty of southern Afghanistan into luxurious soaps and skin care products.”

Keep shopping your good values!

When I was in Ecuador, there were countless stories. I remember Washington, the tagua carver. We saw his shop and the new house he had built for his family, all possible through Fair Trade. He started simply, but now he employs several workers in his shop. 

And I love to tell everyone that comes in about Arghand Soap.  It’s one of our most impressive and popular products.  Their cooperative employs a handful of people and gives them an alternative to the drug trade. 

Great stories aren’t limited to our Fair Trade Shop.  Our other shop, Rhubarb, attracts some great stories as well.  Just a couple of days ago, one of the local artists that provides us with cards came in with exciting news.  One of her paintings is now on a prayer card that is distributed worldwide by the Catholic Church. You can read the story here, and see the print of the painting that was presented to the Pope.  The cards are available in our shop. 

If you are hungry for more, stop by and I’ll tell you other inspiring stories about Fair Trade and local entreprenuers!

Keep shopping your good values!

We were pleased to see our store so well represented in the clips from downtown as well as the large number of local businesses that were mentioned.  We are located in a fun little corner of the state, so I hope that the program will inspire you to come and visit!

Since then, reports have been trickling in from organizations that work with artisans there. They report no deaths, but some injuries among those that work in fair trade. However, development has been dramatically set back.  Homes and workshops have been destroyed along with tools and materials. 

SERRV’s partner in Haiti, Comite Artisanal Haitien, reports that they do not know when rebuilding will begin.  Most Haitiens are still trying to build some stability back into their daily lives.   Last week, SERRV sent it’s first shipment of material relief including tents, blankets, and toiletries to meet immediate needs. 

We have some beautitul items from Haiti — painted metal geckos and fascinating wall hangings cut from oil drum metal.  Stone carvings, clay nativities, and other items are also made there.  Don’t forget Haitian Mangos which you can sometimes find at the grocery. 

Don’t be offended or angry if you see these items on sale on our site or other fair trade sites.  These items had already been purchased from the artisans for a fair price.  Your purchases will sustain demand and interest, so that the artisans can produce more for the market.

With your purchase of Haitian crafts, we can help support long-term relief for Haiti.

Keep shopping your good values!

As far back as I can remember, Haiti has never gotten a break. I remember clearly when President Clinton sent in troops because the country was literally falling apart and military intervention was the only way to try to pull it back together.  Since then it has been hit by four hurricanes in a row in 2006 and recently suffered political turmoil when Parliment threw out it’s corrupt president. 

About 200 years ago, Haiti liberated itself from the French through a slave uprising, but has been an impoverished nation ever since.   Despite numerous, generous aid efforts, Haiti has never been able to pull itself up.  In the past decade, economic growth has fallen into negative territory, though it had been more stable recently. 

Even those in the Fair Trade community have looked at Haiti and shaken their heads with a helpless feeling.  Late last year I talked to a woman doing mission work there.  She wanted to start a woman’s knitting cooperative.  On the day she had set for a meeting, dozens of women trekked up a hill to a small house looking for work, but they had so few resources, she did not know if they would be able to get a cooperative off the ground.  Many of them had needs much more basic than getting work.  Some had not eaten in days. 

A wholesaler I work with also told me that he had been considering a visit to Haiti to investigate starting businesses there.  But he said he was hestitant because he has been told by others there are simply no resources to make hand crafts.  The once lush, green countryside has been more than 90 percent deforested.  

Now a quake has left the country without infrustructure even to support the distubution of aid. 

As I read about the millions pouring into disaster relief, donating dollars feels like an empty gesture.  Haitians don’t need money right now.  They need food, water, stability, and hope — things I can not bring them just by opening my wallet.  Later, the survivors will need my donations to rebuild, but not now.

Perhaps, all I can do right now is pray and push my government to send the things that will make a difference – supplies, heavy equipment, and people power.

We consider ourselves blessed to have grown our business.  But, it’s not easy to appreciate our growth with so many hurting from the sick economy.  

I had the privilege of taking a customer’s order for gift cards over the phone a few days ago.  She said she appreciated our store and thought it was quite lovely.  I hear that sometimes and it warms my heart.  What she said next, though, made me really think.   ”Thanks for being part of the solution,” she said.    

Part of the solution…  It’s particullarly easy this time of year to focus on a day or a week or a holiday that’s literally around the corner.   But as the new year approaches it’s also time to reflect on who and what we are, and how we want to manifest the gifts we are given. 

So, although I don’t often sit around thinking about how we are changing the world, it’s nice when someone reminds me that I’m trying to be part of a solution and not part of a problem.

I am going to ponder that as we take our winter’s rest.  We’ll be closing the store for a few weeks starting December 24th.  It’s time to visit family and friends to make sure they know how special they are in our lives.  (Most of them live much further south than us, which is a nice little perk.)  

We’ll be back and open for business on January, 15th, 2010.  See you then, and in the meantime…

Keep shopping your good values!