BUY HANDMADE GIFTS THAT PROVIDE A FAIR WAGE
In the midst of spreading the holiday spirit, Fair Trade organizations are giving third-world artisans the chance to survive the holidays. In this community, one can be certain to enjoy the family, gifts, and decorations the approaching holiday season entails. Unfortunately, little mind is paid to the large percentage of the world that is spending their holiday season in hunger and poverty. Martha Miller, alongside the Fair Trade Network, had brought her mission to North Eastern Indiana in attempts to help them fight for a Happy Holiday.
Originally founded by humanitarian efforts and missionary projects, Fair Trade Organizations (FTOs) promote “economic justice” for low-income artisans around the world. These FTO’s have pledged to provide equal opportunities for those involved, insure healthy and safe working conditions, and most importantly, pay a fair wage for hand-made goods.
“People like the idea of helping people, not with handouts but with an opportunity to work hard and decently.” PEOPLink founder Daniel Salcedo said. Both producer and Fair Trade advocates mutually decide on a price that not only covers the cost of labor and materials, but also improves the crafts person’s way of life.
The majority of the goods and handcrafts produced are sold in more developed countries, such as North America and Western Europe. The FTOs exist not only to provide useful and ornate crafts, but also to promote the preservation of native cultures, and inter-country understanding.
“Fair Trade means that…others around the world can have a better life, have a better vision of themselves, [and] can stand on their own two feet,” said Gisele Fleurant, board member of SERRV International.
FTOs provide a way to earn an honest wage without the harmful work conditions of sweatshops or corporate factories. A Salvadoran worker who sewed shirts for a major American textile company gave this testimony to the National Labor Committee: “There are five private police guards in the factory. You need their permission to drink water, and the drinking water is not purified…When I missed work because my daughter was sick, the chief of production grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me violently, pushed me and hit me hard in the thigh with his knee. Then they fired me.”
This kind of story seems to never be told about Fair Trade. Instead, Ten Thousand Villages, on of the many successful FTOs report that its sales in North America add up to 14.2 million dollars annually and benefit 60,000 artisans located in 30 different countries. In India, glass makers can not only earn a fair wage through Trade Alternative Reform Action (TARA), they can also help free local children from bondage and provide them with educational services. These FTOs aim to improve the standard of life around the globe, and educate more developed countries about the world around them.
If you are asking yourself where to buy these products, thanks to Martha Miller and Ten Thousand Villages, you can do your hand-made holiday shopping locally. Martha Miller, founder of One World Handcrafts, decided to open this North Manchester store after living in the Philippines for some time.
“I’ve seen how the world lives…this is one way to help them no matter how many miles away,” Miller said. After 13 years, One World Handcrafts is still helping nations around the world. Decorated with handmade baskets from Bangladesh, ornate pottery from Vietnam and Peru, and a variety of native garments, Fair Trade stores such as One World Handcrafts are ideal places for holiday shopping.
One World Handcrafts is not the only Fair Trade participant near Fort Wayne. A Ten Thousand Villages store can be found on Stellhorn Road and World Market can be found on Coliseum near Borders Book Store. For more information regarding Fair Trade, visit fairtraderesource.org.
FTOs and people like Martha Miller help make the season a little brighter. Stores such as One World Handcrafts promote holiday shopping without the guilt and provide gifts that keep on giving. As Martha Miller would say, “Instead of asking, ‘what am I going to get?’ ask, “what am I going to give?'”
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