Thursday, July 30, 2015

Where hope lives...

18 countries + 1,000 jobs + 6,000 boxes + countless lives redeemed = one year of Fair Trade Friday

This August we're celebrating 1 year of Fair Trade Friday. A year of redeeming lives and consumerism.


Last year while I was in Africa, The Mercy House Kenya launched Fair Trade Friday as an avenue for women to empower women. I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I can't tell you how many times I had asked my best friend what more we could do. This was a new avenue to do that. Sometimes I keep my pieces and sometimes I give them away as a way to spread awareness. 


Maybe you've wondered, but isn't it just accessories? 


Well, sure. 


Fair Trade Friday stands for so much more than that though.


You're empowering women around the world. 




You're not giving them a handout. You're partnering with them. You're giving them the dignity of providing for their families. 



To us it's just accessories. More gorgeous necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and bags. 



To them it's so much more than that. It's the ability to live in a house, feed their children, drink clean water, or send their kids to school. You're bringing hope, redeeming lives, and redeeming consumerism.


"Probably one of the most profound moments was in a mud home in Kenya talking with a woman we were buying paper bead bracelets from a Fair Trade Friday box. She grabbed my hands and squeezed them tight. She looked me straight in the eyes and said, 'Tell the women in American that we need them to keep buying what we make. Tell them it is feeding my son and two daughters. Tell them not to forget us.' I will spend the rest of my life reminding these marginalized women they are not forgotten." - Kristen Welch

So, what can you do? 

You can sign up for a one time box.

Or get on the wait list for Fair Trade Friday.

Every box shares a story. 

Every box empowers women.

You can be a part of that!

Find out how here!


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