Trip to Nepal 2013

Denise & Laxmi of ACP

….When one of your mentors says they want you to lead them? Well, a few years ago, Candi Smucker of Baksheesh Fair Trade, asked me if I would take her to Nepal to meet with the artisans Ganesh Himal works with. Well, I said no! I’m not a tour leader, I’m just an on the ground hands on worker! Candi didn’t believe me and persisted and because of the amazing work that she and Brian have done on behalf of Fair Trade, I finally relented. So with some angst, this past February, I organized Ganesh Himal’s first (and only) artisan trip to Nepal, in honor of Candi!

Four others came along with Candi, and each of them from different areas of involvement in Fair Trade; Joan Frisz from Just Creations, and Sandi Thomson-Royer from Jubilee are both managers of non-profit stores; Martha Newell is a fair trade advocate and has been involved in Fair Trade education through FTRN board membership and the Women’s Donor Network; and Kathy Lukefahr-Jewell is a fair trade consumer and just a lovely person! It seemed like the right mix and it was. We had an amazing time together and although I ran them rather ragged (I warned them I would) they were troopers and absorbed every last bit of information the artisans had to offer. The artisans, in turn, gave an amazing amount of their time and energy to help to educate the group. Sarah and Austin from the Ganesh Himal staff were along and were indispensable, as were Eileen, Michele and Ric who reluctantly stayed home to keep business running smoothly.

I know that each of the individuals who traveled with us is available to talk with you about their experience and to give you their own personal insight into Ganesh Himal. And, as much as I know each and every one of you would have liked to come along, it’s just not possible, so I chose those who had asked me for years and who had committed to moving this experience forward to the nth degree. They will have to be your eyes to these beautiful people we work with in Nepal. There is just too much work to be done to provide you with the beautiful products for me to take on another career as a tour guide but I want you to know how I wish you were all along for this wonderful journey (and in a way you were).

To give you a taste, we’ve included a bit of the thank you notes we received from Candi and Joan….enjoy.

Imagine going to work and finding five people in your office, smiling kindly but leaning over your shoulder and asking questions while you’re trying to get your job done. Add to that a work day that is much longer than eight hours, a work week that’s eight days instead of five and it’s all happening in a different culture and those five people could do something really dumb at any moment.

Great thanks to Denise, Austin and Sarah for putting up with exactly this situation with grace and humor and patience as five of us joined them for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see fair trade on a very personal level in Nepal.

It was a great privilege for me to see Denise in action. Her genuine love of the people of Nepal and their culture was evident in every communication. Her commitment to fair trade is strong. To see concrete examples of the fair trade principles of long-term commitment and capacity building was awesome. She has worked with most of these groups for over 25 years. In many cases she has become part of their extended family. She continually develops new products to satisfy the North American market while taking careful consideration of artisan skills and restrictions. She hasn’t given up when groups fall on hard times but searches for creative ways to increase her purchases. She is sensitive to the realities of their environment and work situation making sure that her orders are placed to maximize continuity of work for them. The balancing act needed to accomplish all of this and make sure you have a sustainable business while doing it is amazing.

Thanks to all who remained in the States to keep things running while we rambled through Kathmandu.

I know this was a disruptive and exhausting thing for the Ganesh Himal team to do and that it won’t be repeated. I appreciate this opportunity. I take my role in moving this forward seriously.

Great, great thanks.
Candi Smucker