By Wendy Chappell-Dick, Manager, Bluffton Ten Thousand Villages

This fall over eighty Bluffton University students have visited Ten Thousand Villages with the aim of learning about Fair Trade. Fair Trade is an approach to business and to development based on dialogue, transparency, and respect that seeks to create greater equity in the international trading system. Fair Trade businesses partner with farmers and craftspeople in developing countries who are socially and economically marginalized to find markets and customers for their goods. Ten Thousand Villages carries Fair Trade products exclusively.

University students were asked to check the tags in their clothes and notice how the countries that manufacture their clothing overlap with the countries Ten Thousand Villages serves. This is because so many manufactured goods come from the poorest countries in the world, where workers are often exploited. Ten Thousand Villages does the opposite, helping the artisans who make their products break the cycle of poverty.

The students were asked to choose something in the store they would like to get for a gift.

The unique gifts and practical household items sold in Ten Thousand Villages come from over 20 countries. Ten Thousand Villages has been importing goods and sharing the stores of their makers for fifty years. Below are some projects that Ten Thousand Villages invests in through its purchases.

India: Palam Rural Centre offers employment opportunities to people of the marginalized Harijan community. With money from the sale of scented soap, Palam has purchased land and homes for artisans (ownership traditionally unavailable to lower castes) and built a school for artisans’ children. Palam artisans see education of their children as the key to hope and change. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Palam Rural Centre since 2001.

India: Asha represents more than 6,500 artisans in 10 states of India. The association’s name, meaning "hope" in Sanskrit, represents its goal to sustain the marketing ability of individual and

family–based artisans. A not–for–profit organization, Asha works to ensure that benefits of handicraft production reach the craftspeople themselves. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Asha since 1976.

Indonesia: Mitra Bali, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, functions loosely as a cooperative, representing artisans who make wood, silver, bamboo, coconut, ceramic and other handicrafts. Located on the island of Bali, the organization was formed in 1993 to support poor artisans facing ruin because well-established businesses controlled prices and monopolized the burgeoning Bali tourism market. The cooperative only works with producers who support gender equity, provide healthy working conditions, use environmentally sustainable materials, and do not exploit child labor or women. Mitra Bali helps artisans during periods of low orders with no-interest loans and the loaning of cows. Mitra Bali also supports a reforestation program, an environmental initiative, as well as an effort to prevent artisans from selling their land. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased from Mitra Bali since 1989.

Nepal: Mahaguthi markets the handicrafts of more than 1,000 Nepali artisans working in 150 workshops. Most of the artisans are from remote and mountainous areas; among them 85 percent are women who use traditional craft skills while working in their own home. Artisans receive medical and education allowances, paid leave and maternity leave. Mahaguthi was founded in 1926 with the objective of making the poor self-reliant. The founder was exiled to India and worked with Mahatma Gandhi before returning to Nepal to do rehabilitation work with women and their children. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Mahaguthi since 2000.

Pakistan: Dominion Traders works with underprivileged artisans in Pakistan who make stone and shesham wood crafts in the city of Karachi. It disperses orders to independently owned and operated onyx workshops that own their own equipment and rent or own their facilities. Most are family businesses employing several family members. Benefits to artisans include profit-sharing, pension plans and medical benefits. Dominion Traders provides interest-free loans and advances to artisans. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Dominion Traders since 1983.

Peru: Intercrafts Peru is a nonprofit civic association promoting export sales of Peruvian handicrafts. A democratic cooperative of artisan groups, Intercrafts Peru allows artisans full participation in organizational decisions. The group's aim is to keep overhead costs low, to share responsibility so more income remains in the hands of the artisans, and to explore new markets. Benefits to members include health care, loan funds and advances, school supplies and books, training programs and technical assistance. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Intercrafts Peru since 1993.

Vietnam: Mai Vietnamese Handicrafts is a nonprofit organization that runs several craft production projects. During recent years, Mai Handicrafts has established itself as the primary marketing agent for artisans from neglected families and women. It practices a model of social development in which social service cannot be separated from economic self-reliance. Mai Handicrafts sales fund various community development activities, including clean water projects, vocational training equipment purchase and teacher wage subsidies. Mai Handicrafts artisans receive social and health insurance, and can apply for scholarship funds. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Mai Handicrafts since 1994.

Philippines: SAFFY, Inc. stands for Social Action for Filipino Youth. SAFFY, Inc. markets handmade crafts for many small artisan workshops, and specializes in capiz shell items. Artisans benefit from educational seminars, vocational training, financial and medical assistance. An in-house Product Designer assists artisan groups in the development of new product lines. SAFFY was founded in 1966 by Sr. Juliaan Mullie, a Belgian nun, to create alternative sources of livelihood for impoverished women and youth in marginalized areas of Manila. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased a wide variety of capiz ornaments and crafts from SAFFY, Inc. since 1986.