A Trip to Nepal: Mahaguthi, Crafts with a Conscience

The Saint Denis store manager Joni Ward recently came back from a trip to Nepal. In her time there she was able to meet with the artisan group Mahaguthi and take some wonderful pictures for us to share.

Photo of Wool Room
(Taken by Joni Ward)

Mahaguthi, Crafts with a Conscience, is an artisan group based in Kathmandu, Nepal and has been making and selling crafts since 1984. They have over 1,000 artisans throughout 150 workshops which are spread across Nepal. A majority of these artisans live in remote mountainous areas and 85% of them are women, who use their craft skills to work and are able to do so from their homes. Mahaguthi aims to provide employment with good wages and benefits, encourages the revival of traditional crafts, and empowers the marginalized of the society.



Although the artisans share in the profit, a large portion is given to Tulsi Mehar Mahila Ashram to provide food, shelter, clothing, health care, education and skills training for women and children. Mahaguthi has now also established three retail outlets

throughout the Kathmandu valley, and they are the founding member of Fair Trade Group Nepal.

Come in to the store to see what products this amazing group has created!

Shepherds of Good Hope Partnership Event - April 7th

On April 7th, our Westboro location will be participating in Help Halt Hunger, a campaign created by first-year public relations students from Algonquin College who have partnered with the Shepherds of Good Hope. We will be donating 10% of our day's sales to help support The Soup Kitchen and The Grocery Program put on through the Shepherds of Good Hope.



Please come out and help raise awareness about hunger in our own community, and Help Halt Hunger.

New Products - Planters

Who's ready for another beautiful summer full of beautiful flowers?! Well, if you are, then you're in luck because we've got some wonderful new planters just in time for spring.

We have these terracotta pots, painted with bright colours, which is a product that has been used since ancient times to make functional and attractive pottery and sculptures. A fantastic Fair Trade product from Corr: The Jute Works, an organization that focuses on job training, literacy and health issues, and seeks to develop leadership skills and awareness of women's rights in Bangladesh.

Or, for a lighter touch, liven up your home or garden with these floral planters in pastel green, pink, and orange. For centuries, Vietnamese artisans have been known for their exquisite ceramics. Using traditional techniques at a small family workshop, the artisans of Viet Lam create these wonderful ceramic planters.

And, for those vibrant people, there are delightful blue flowers blossom against a yellow background on this vibrant planter and tray. Created using the "blue ceramic" process in which ground quartz and glass are kneaded, moulded and low-fired, resulting in a unique look and vivid yellows, greens, and blues. Handcrafted in the walled city of Jaipur, these designs were first painted for the royal spice gardens of the Maharajah.

These planters will look as beautiful in your garden or home as they do in the beautiful towns where they are made!

New Products for the Early Coming Spring!

We are excited to be getting some new products into our stores inthe next weeks to greet the spring with!

Come check out the new premium jewellery set from Allpa. The earrings and necklace are crafted from lapis lazuli and sterling silver. Exquisite accessories from the skilled jewellers of Allpa, and innovative Fair Trade group actively devoted to empowering Peruvian artisans through skills training and workshop development programs.

We also will be getting in new scarves wich are full of fun and vibrant colours. Show your true colours with this bright crinkle chiffon scarf. A fun, fashionable personal accessary from the artisans of Asha Handicrafts Association, and organization founded in response to the abject poverty of artisans, the problem of exploitative middle men, and the disappearance of many traditional crafts in India.
There is also a new set of linens which will compliment any spring and summer weather that is coming. This set is handloom woven from 100% cotton and is a beautiful example of weaving from the artisans of Heed Handicrafts. They are an organization that provides employment to refugees, widows, the poor and illiterate, as well as indigenous tribal groups living in northeast Bangladesh.

Come by and check out these new items, or go to the Ten Thousand Villages Canada website to see what else we carry!

2012 is the International Year of Co-ops

This year is the International Year of Cooperatives! Ten Thousand Villages is proud to be part of the Fair Trade movement and support co-ops. Three of our largest co-op partners are La Siembra/Cocoa Camino, Just Us!, and Divine Chocolate.

The Fairtrade Foundation says that "Fairtrade’s roots also lie in the cooperative movement, and today a whopping 75% of all Fairtrade producer organisations are cooperatives of small scale farmers."

For more information about the impact of cooperatives worldwide, go to the Fair Trade Blog.

Also, go the the United Nation's website, and view their section on the International Year of Cooperatives.

"Cooperation has always been the backbone of the Fair Trade Movement."

Join us in celebrating them and supporting them this year, and for those to come.