Ten Thousand Villages of Austin

Our friend Brian made this video for us. Take a moment to watch it and see the many hand-made, fairly traded products for sale in our store.

more about "Ten Thousand Villages of Austin", posted with vodpod

Let Love Rule!

All of us at Ten Thousand Villages of Austin are very grateful to our amazing customers, our dedicated volunteers, and our community of friends who help us in our support of Fair Trade.  Please take time this holiday season to love one another and to continue to spread the fair trade story!

Do you still have a few last minute gifts on your list?  Or maybe ALL your last minute gifts?  We have over 1,000 items, affordably priced under $25.00, that are bound to please even the most particular friend or family member.  As always, your purchase will help to provide a living wage for families in over 30 developing countries around the world and educational opportunities for our artisans and their children.  Every item, and every artisan, has a story behind it that we’ll be happy to share with you!  So, make Ten Thousand Villages of Austin your one-stop shop for the holidays, where the impact of your purchase will be felt around the world.

A few of our holiday favorites:

From Olive Tree To Christmas Tree

Raja Bannoura, West Bank

Raja Bannoura Workshop, based in Beit Sahour, a village on the east side of Bethlehem, produces hand–carved olive wood products. Bannoura coordinates orders for many olive wood carvers and workshops in Beit Sahour. He collects pruned olive branches and wood, stacks them in his yard, and dries them for six to nine months before cutting the wood for use. Laminating many small rectangular pieces together makes the larger flat pieces for nativities. Using small pieces of wood ensures that olive trees are not cut down for carving purposes.

Raja Bannoura began working with olive wood in his family workshop in Beit Sahour in 1974.

Ten Thousand Villages purchases olive wood nativities, ornaments and rosaries from Raja Bannoura. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Raja Bannoura since 1978.

Buy Handicrafts Made By Raja Bannoura

The Face of Fair Trade

“My strength is my confidence,” said Zubaida Nizam, an artisan with Ankur Kala in Kolkata, India. Nizam has worked with Ankur Kala for the past nine years, primarily creating the tie-dye scarves that are Ankur Kala’s specialty.

Nizam grew up in a conservative Muslim family in Kolkata. Her father was paralyzed and unable to work. Her mother struggled to raise Zubaida and her siblings almost singlehandedly, working in a plastics factory. When the children were small, she often brought work home.

Nizam received training from Ankur Kala in the art of scarf making. She learned the basic skills through a two-year junior level training, followed by a senior level training in which she learned about budgeting, costing, quality control and leadership. Nizam has also benefited from other holistic programs of Ankur Kala such as meditation and yoga, and through attending seminars and exhibitions.

Nizam stressed the importance of quality control. “It’s extremely important to concentrate, and make sure that the final product is perfect,” she said. As tie-dye is a laborious process requiring much skill, she has also learned the art of patience as she struggles to get the right colors and shades. In the midst of the monsoon season, she needs to wait long hours for the scarves to dry, so that the next color can be added. “This has taught me to be patient and persevering,” she said.

Coming from a poor family, and being the eldest, Nizam is extremely concerned about her young brother and sisters, wanting to ensure that they receive a good education. She is able to do this through her earnings from making scarves. Ultimately she hopes to teach batik and tie-dye to other poor women, so that they too can earn a good living.

Ankur Kala’s name means “a seedling of art.” The center provides self-employment to destitute women who are victims of exploitation, by helping them produce and sell tailored articles, batik and tie-dye handicrafts and food products. Both the tailoring and catering units are geared to the local market, while the textile unit sells products locally as well as abroad. Basic education like reading, writing, simple accounting and business skills are taught, so that after training the women can successfully run their own small-scale businesses. Ankur Kala also makes the women aware of the social problems women face, in the form of a theater where the women perform, and in discussions. Ankur Kala has also been reaching out to women in villages for the prevention of trafficking of vulnerable young girls. An Ankur Kala team has been networking with these women through existing organizations, to teach them skills such as tailoring and kitchen gardening. It is founder Annie Joseph’s dream that each of the women will live the values of Ankur Kala and sow fresh seeds of hope, integrity and inspiration among others.

Ankur Kala was started in 1982 by Annie Joseph, a social worker inspired by her work with Mother Theresa and with the Taizé community in France. She established Ankur Kala to help poor and destitute women become economically self-reliant and stand up for their rights with dignity.

Ten Thousand Villages purchases tie-dye textiles from Ankur Kala, and has purchased products from the group since 1990.

Tie-dyed cotton scarf, India, $34.00

Saving Lives Through Fair Trade

Mike Muchilwa directs the work of KICK Trading, a Ten Thousand Villages trading partner in Kisumu, Kenya.  Kisumu was a site of much post-election violence in Kenya earlier this year.

Muchilwa shares his thoughts and observations on the violence and its impact on Kisumu and the work done by KICK:

Kisumu, located on Lake Victoria in Western Kenya, and the location of KICK Trading, suffered economic damage of more than $45 million, which will take as many as 20 years to rebuild. Thousands have lost their livelihoods, and crime has risen proportionally. Property has been looted and destroyed, and the city resembled a war zone.

International observers have recognized the need to address many underlying issues that have boiled to the surface following disputed elections in Kenya. Key issues have been unemployment, poverty and inequality. Kenya has the third worst income distribution in the world, with 20 percent of its population controlling half its wealth. Many unemployed people, desperate to earn a living, have been forced into the informal sector, popularly known as the “jua kali” (Swahili for hot sun). It is these producers with whom KICK Trading has worked since its inception. The organization has always seen the potential of these marginalized people who have been left out of the formal economy.

I believe many artisans would have joined the looting, destruction and death had it not been for fair trade. Others have been rehabilitated from crime and prostitution because fair trade gave them the means to earn an honest living. When fair trade opportunities are lost, we see the death, desperation and hopelessness arising.

Fortunately, all of KICK’s producers were alright, with no reports of any having been harmed. Credit goes to partners like Ten Thousand Villages in the United States and Canada, as well as Trade Aid New Zealand, whose orders have kept producers working in spite of the hardships Kisumu faces. The recent chaos has strengthened KICK’s resolve to promote fair trade and benefit many more marginalized producers and desperate youth. With support from its trading partners, KICK can prevent a young life from becoming a death statistic—and prove that fair trade does save lives.

Recycled Metal Elf Earrings, Kenya

Handmade Expressions – Another Fair Trade Partner

Of course, you know that all the products in our store are handmade and fairly traded, but did you also know that some of the products do not come to us through Ten Thousand Villages? One of our favorite non-Ten Thousand Villages fair trade vendors is based right here in Austin, Texas!  Handmade Expressions is a vendor for socially and environmentally responsible products from India. Like Ten Thousand Villages, they work with underprivileged and disadvantaged artisans to improve their economic and social standing by creating self-sustainable employment following fair trade practices.

One of our best sellers from Handmade Expressions is the cruelty-free, tree-free leather bound journals.

The really cool thing about these journals is how they are made.  All the leather is cruelty-free, which means it comes from naturally dead animals. The journals are made in Rajasthan, India. Livestock has a lot of agricultural and household value for the vegetarian population in India, which makes it economically unwise to kill animals for their skin. Inside the sturdy hand-tooled cover is a thick journal of cotton rag paper. Artisans collect cotton waste and turn it into a pulp, making paper that is 100% tree-free. The final result: a rich textured paper, great for writing, drawing and painting.

Handmade Expressions has a wonderful website with lots of information about fair trade and lots of great pictures of the artisans who produce their merchandise. Be sure to check out the Community Development Projects that they are working on and their fair trade blog.

(author: Polly, Ten Thousand Villages Austin Volunteer Coordinator)

Finding A New Path – Artisans in Peru

 

Felipe Enriquez (right) with his son, Luis (center), and brother, Julio (left), create beautiful ceramics for Ten Thousand Villages. Felipe comes from Ayacucho, a large town in the Andes mountains of Peru.

During the time of the “Sendero Luminoso” (Shining Path) uprising, many Peruvians including Felipe were asked to take sides: join the Shining Path revolutionaries or support the military. Felipe refused to take sides, and his life was threatened. Deciding it was too dangerous to remain in their home area, Felipe and his family moved to the capital city of Lima. With little money and no wealthy friends or relatives, they ended up in a “new town”-a community of displaced people on the outskirts of Lima. Felipe staked his claim to a vacant piece of land and started to rebuild his life. The family had no electricity, water, sewer or any other services.

Felipe did have his ceramic skills, and he started to make pots and figurines to sell, hoping to earn a decent living for his family. He learned about Manos Amigas, one of Ten Thousand Villages’ fair trade suppliers in Peru, and they helped him to find export customers. The first product Ten Thousand Villages purchased from Felipe was his Hands Nativity, which has gone on to become a best-selling product.

Felipe now employs four to seven artisans, depending on order quantity. All of the fine details and painting are done by hand, one piece at a time.

Felipe has high hopes for his children. His son, Luis, sees the success of his father and uncle’s business, and wants to follow in their footsteps. Ten Thousand Villages’ purchases from Felipe’s workshop, through Manos Amigas, are helping to provide hope and a bright future for this family and for others in their neighborhood.