Spice up any outfit with our popular Nepalese Wool Fabric Flower Pins, similar to ones sported by Camilla and Kate! Made by women employed by Friends Handicrafts, our wool fabric products are created though an ancient technique of felting, unique to Nepal. Proceeds from these products go directly towards empowering these marginalized women and creating sustainable incomes for them and their families.  Empower women and look like a royal doing it! [caption id="attachment_1056" align="aligncenter" width="249" caption="Photo Credit: Huffington Post"][/caption]

 

Imagine a bracelet that changes the life of a Guatemalan rural family . . . forever. That is what these BRACELETS FOR CHANGE do!!! In collaboration with our partner from Guatemala, Wakami, we teamed up with Hayley to launch a new program at her school--New York's The Brearley School--that will change lives in Guatemala. With the purchase of each bracelet you provide a job and income for rural women in Guatemala, eager to feed and educate their children and partner with a Guatemalan woman to split the cost of providing clean water, healthy food, and a safe home for her and her family. Each bracelet buys a different product:

• Earth (dark brown) 4 bracelets = 1 organic garden to grow nutritious herbs and vegetables
• Water (dark blue) 6 bracelets = 1 eco-filter for water to keep bacteria out and the family healthy
• Sky (light blue) 34 bracelets = 1 solar energy kit (two light bulbs and a phone charger) to help with homework and chores once the sun goes down
• Fire (rust) 18 bracelets = 1 smokeless stove to keep the home cleaner and healthier

Hayley and fellow students at Brearley are trying to sell 600 bracelets to provide clean water, clean air, electricity, and fresh vegetables to 60 people!! Let us know if you're interested in starting a Bracelets for Change program at your school. Buy the bracelets online>> [gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="2" orderby="rand"]

“It must become a calling for the many.” United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, Excerpt from International Day for the Eradication of Poverty address, October 17, 2006 On October 17, 1987, more than 100,000 people joined together in Paris to honor victims of poverty and hunger. Since then, people around the world – cognizant of the deep physical and emotional pain caused by poverty and compassionate towards their neighbors in a global community – have recognized October 17th as the annual global observance of the effort to eradicate poverty. The United Nations General Assembly officially designated this day in 1993 to further raise the international population’s awareness of the horror of poverty. Kofi Annan, the 7th United Nations Secretary-General said it beautifully, “The campaign to make poverty history – a central moral challenge of our age – cannot remain a task for the few, it must become a challenge for the many.” You can observe this day by taking some time to raise your own awareness about global poverty, learn something new about what is going on right now around the world to end it, think about what you can do to take an active role in its eradication, and spread the word about this important day. Let us all, together, lessen this immense challenge to make poverty history. Here are some ideas of ways to observe this important day: 1. Find out what the United Nations is hoping will be accomplished by checking out the United Nations Millennium Goals. 2. Explore what is going on in your own neighborhood to aid those less fortunate than you 3. Take a moment to visit our website and read about our partners around the world, each working toward economic stability for women in their community. They are pockets of hope in a world that sometimes looks bleak, but as they empower individual woman to lead a sustainable life without poverty, those pockets will continue to expand. Our aim is to introduce these artisans’ fair trade goods to a larger market, which is the best way to ensure that they can in fact obtain economic stability through their trade.

Human trafficking is a growing problem in all parts of the world, and despite the increased action by the law enforcement, criminals are rarely prosecuted and victims seldom freed. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime states that every year the traffickers make tens of billions of dollars by transporting, selling, and exploiting children, women, and men. News like this can leave us wondering: Is the anything we can do to combat crimes against humanity? One leading cause for human trafficking in developing countries is the extreme economic hardship that many communities endure. We at Global Goods Partners hope to prevent some of these atrocities by providing more economic opportunities for women, who are too often at risk of being marginalized, recruited, and transported to miserable conditions. It’s a micro-level way to alleviate global problems. A great example is our partner group Friends Handicraft in Kathmandu, Nepal. Human trafficking in the region is rampant due to fast urbanization, poverty, and a high demand for young women in the neighboring countries, India and China. The women at Friends Handicraft have become financially more independent and secure as a result of their artisan collaboration. The group uses traditional Nepalese felt to make beautiful accessories, all according to fair trade principles. To learn more about the impact that Friends Handicraft has on the community, visit our website, or check out an interview with Vinita, one of the young women from Friends Handicraft.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng5k3EsXDGk&w=560&h=315] Marcelina works with our newest partner, Mantay, a leather workshop that provides a second chance for single mothers in Cusco, Peru. La Casa de Acogida Mantay is a refuge for teenage mothers, many of whom have been victims of abuse and are unable to stay with their families. Mantay provides teenage mothers and their children comprehensive care, including accommodation, food, clothing, medical care, counseling, basic education, parental guidance, legal counseling and vocational training. As part of the vocational training program, all of the inhabitants apprentice at a leather workshop on the grounds of the home. Once 18, they transition out of the home with their children but can return to work full-time in the leather workshop, earning sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their families. CLICK HERE to read more and purchase Mantay Products>>