Get excited because we’re branching into Uganda!
Participants of the Bishop Asili Handicraft Project are either patients or family members of patients, that live in rural villages in Uganda and are now on life saving AIDS treatment through the Centre. These bags help participants to gain income to obtain nutritious food for themselves and their family members and to provide education to their children.
The Health Centre provides HIV/AIDS screening, counseling and drugs free of charge to patients in the tri-county area of Luweero, Nakaseke and Nakasonglola, as well as education sessions and training.
Faber 451 Thursdays 12-2pm. Shop Fair Trade.
PATIENT HANDICRAFT PROJECT-Ugandan Tote Bags
We just uploaded our current inventory to the blog as a means through which to reach more people. If you are interested in buying we are interested in selling! Checks cans be made to Fordham University and we’ll soon have a credit card option. Just let us know which items you want, based on item number, and well ship your order immediately. Thanks for your support!
~SFT
Our Partners
Nyabigena translated roughly means “land of soapstone.” These carvers are located in areas west of Kenya near Lake Victoria. These areas in which the organization is located are abundant with soapstone deposits. The group consists of one hundred and twenty men and thirty women. They are well-known for both the quality of their soapstone and their carving skills. No electrical equipment is used; the carvers use simple tools such chisels, picks, and wood to hand-carve all the designs. They’ve sponsored a women’s literacy program, HIV/AIDS awareness, and a program which supports school dropouts. This group has also dug two wells that provide clean water. Some of their proceeds have gone towards an elementary school which was opened in January 2007; it now instructs 71 students. Their products include plates, statues, animal decorations, and various ceramics.
Trinity Jewellery Crafts
Trinity Jewellery Crafts is located on the outskirts of Nairobi in Mathare Valley. This small business is run by seven men and five women. They are all a part of a profit sharing plan in which 10% of profits are set aside every month in a pension plan. The director of Trinity, Joseph Muchina, was trained and educated by the National Christian Council of Kenya. Afterwards, he shared his new knowledge of business with fellow workers from his community. The jewelry that Trinity makes is all hand-made using brass, beads, and seeds. The beads are from a local family who supply Trinity with amber, wood, clay, and brass beads. Other materials Trinity uses include aluminum, bone, reeds, and glass beads. They produce various types of jewelry including earrings, bracelets, and necklaces.
~As reported by Michael Liu
Outside of haute couture, fashion is not known for its ethical practices. By definition haute couture entails high-quality, expensive fabric sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish that is both time-consuming and technique driven.
This is why the presence of People Tree, Pachacuti, Oxfam, Ethical Fashion Forum and Trading for Development on the Parisian and London runways is a huge statement and one worth noting.
http://www.wfto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1048&Itemid=305
These leading Fair Trade fashion clothing and accessories distributors and their team of designers have shown that socially responsible products sourced from small producers could end up in the high end fashion, boosting the incomes of small textile and garments producers in poor countries.
From sidewalk to London’s catwalk
In-house and collaborative designs of famous fashion designers were exhibited inLondon’s catwalk. Oxfam DIY collection for independent style seekers displayed a range of electric sidewalk fashion designed by Fee Doran aka Mrs Jones, famous for styling The Killers, Madonna, Kylie, Fred Perry, Topshop and Matthew Williamson and Giles Deacon. While the latest collections of Fair Trade fashionpioneer People Tree presented brand new creations of Bora Aksu, Richard Nicoll, Thakoon, Sam Ubhi, Eley Kishimoto, Jessica Ogden and Karen Nicol.
Pachacuti, the first Fair Trade Organization to complete WFTO’s pilots for its certification process project – the Sustainable Fair Trade ManagementSystem (SFTMS), is a newcomer that catwalked its way to showing products produced by Andean producers in Latin America.
Designers with a cause, the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) and their army of young ethical fashion designers, bravedLondon’s high end fashion with its socially responsible creations and ideas. EFF used the catwalk platform to bring social and environmental responsibility to the fashion industry by providing support, training, consultancy, ethical sourcing of materials and tools for designers and businesses.
Paris Ethical Fashion Show
Challenging French haute couture with socially responsible designs and materials,Trading for Development (TfD) founder Judith Condor-Vidal showcased herFabulous Fibres collection sourced exclusively from 40 WFTO memberproducers. Judith’s fibres, with the UN seal of approval, are natural fibres from alpaca, wool, silk, peace silk, jute, sisal, cabuya, hemp, soya and organic cotton. The UN, in celebration of 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibres, has give Judith the right to use its mark certifying the fibres are natural and environmentally friendly. Not surprising the fibres were a sold out attracting many French buyers.
Alongside TfD, Pachacuti and EFF have also participated in the event, breaking more grounds in major Euro fashion runways. Pachacuti displayed top of the line hats, fashion wears and other accessories. EFF presented ethical creations by young and emerging socially responsible designers.
Next moves
The coming months will be busy for these Fair Trade fashionistas. EFF will host the International Ethical Sourcing Marketplace for Fashion in London at ChelseaCollege on 21 November. This one-day event will be the culmination of EFF’s 2009 campaign on ethical sourcing for fashion materials and products. WFTO is one of the partners in this event.
TfD will participate in the UK Knitting week on 20-21 October at the Botanical Garden in Oxford, and the fourth Canning House Ethical Christmas Fair in Londonon 30 November.
People Tree Youth will launch its 2010 Spring/Summer in February with a clean and easy to wear collection. This collection will have Harry Potter star Emma Watsoncollaborative designs with People Tree’s in-house designers.
To learn more about Fair Trade fashion, ethical sourcing and new events, visit the web sites:
- Ethical Fashion Forum http://www.ethicalfashionforum.com/home
- People Tree http://www.peopletree.co.uk/
- OXFAM UK http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/content/diy/oxfamdiy.html
- Pachacuti http://www.pachacuti.co.uk/
- Trading for Development http://www.tradingfordevelop
As we pass the half way point in this year’s Fair Trade Month there are still ways for you to get involved and stay connected. The website http://www.fairtrademonth.org/ offers daily ways to spread the Fair Trade message like cupcake recipes, a calendar of Fair Trade events happening all around the country, a flower haiku challenge and more.
Divine Chocolate is holding a contest http://www.divinechocolateusa.com/contest called *Share the Love* calling for recipe stories. The First Prize winner in each category will receive a year’s supply of Divine Chocolate, $250.00 in cash, Divine Share The Love Recipe Contest trophy, recipe featured on Divine and partner websites, and a goodie bag featuring gifts from Divine marketing partners.
A year of chocolate?! Amazing.
If you have ideas or questions you can always ask us, send an email to fordham4fairtrade@gmail.com
In solidarity.
Hey Team,
I’ve been looking at a calendar of events for Lincoln center. However, I don’t think the calendar on their website is the most up to date copy and I don’t think it covers all events. I’ve emailed a couple of people at Lincoln Center. One of the students I emailed is on Lincoln Center’s USG. Also, LC has an interesting club called Face Aids. I though this is very relevant to what we are doing as we are working with AIDS widows. So i’ve reached out to the clubs president. I am waiting to hear back from both of these contacts. I’ll see you all in class.
-Brendan
We will be selling fair trade jewelry, accessories and other products at the McGinley Center at Fordham’s Rose Hill Campus from 10am until 3pm. Be there for some great buys and to support a good cause!
Did you know? There’s a Fair Trade store located in Faber 451 that’s open on Thursdays from 11am until 2pm. If you see something you like, we may still have it in stock at the store. Stop by, our products make amazing gifts!
