Ganesh Himal Trading

Category: Fair Trade Connections

Fair Trade is connected to all issues: environmental, social, economic, health, spiritual…. This part of the blog explores these interconnections and attempts to help us see how actions in one area connect to and effect all others.

  • Power of 5 Update

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    We recently had the great joy of sending $15,000 to The Association of Craft Producers for the their Child Education program. Thanks to everyone who helped raise this extraordinary amount of money in just a few months! In particular we would like to thank Ethical Choices, 10,000 Villages Austin, Just Creations, The Bridge, Kizuri, Garuda, Peacecraft, Momentum, Gaia’s, Jubilee, Greater Goods, Yesterday Today & Tomorrow, Sphere of Influence, Made by Hand, Work of our Hands, One World Fair Trade, Trinity Lutheran Church for their recent contributions. And we would like to thank everyone who sponsored a Power of 5 Fundraiser in their stores over the past 13 months! We continue to be so humbled by the generous spirit of all of our customers. Thank you for helping girls in Nepal stay in school!

    Below is a message from our good friend who is the director of the Association for Craft Producers who organize this scholarship program in Nepal!

    Meera Bhatterai, the Executive Director of ACP, wanted to share her gratitude:

    Dear Denise,

    Greetings from ACP!

    You are amazing! You have made it happen!! Congratulations to you and all those who have joined hands together for the Power of 5 Project. It is a remarkable achievement. Our salutation to you and the team! We admire your zeal and untiring efforts.

    We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to you and all those kind hearted individuals who have actively canvassed for this noble cause and contributed towards our Child Education Program. Your support has demonstrated your faith in us and enabled us to provide our children their basic right- Right to Education.

    With your generous support we have been able to double the Education Allowance from this year. This has been a tremendous help to our producers to weather their economic difficulties and keep their children in school. We intend to extend the allowance for another two years from next year.

    Once again our sincere thanks to all of you for your willingness to help our children go to school. Your help for today has provided a hope for tomorrow. This is the difference you make!

    Warm regards,
    Meera Bhattarai
    Executive Director

    For more info, visit www.ganeshhimaltrading.com/poweroffive

    The Power of 5 has sent $35,000 to Nepal over the last 13 months

  • The Photograph We Didn’t Get

    By Candi Smucker

    In western Nepal is the town of Nepalgunj, it is located a couple of miles north of the border with India. This is were we flew on Thursday afternoon.

    The flight from Kathmandu was in a 30 passenger prop plane of some sort (yes, I know, not enough info for some of you). We were in the air about an hour and had been told to sit on the right hand side of the plane if at all possible. When I boarded Denise was already seated and had saved me a window seat for which I am eternally grateful. The view of the Himalayans was worth the entire price of the ticket. The full hour was panorama of one grand peak after another.

    Nepalgunj is a smallish town (population still to be determined, no one seemed to know) that is flat, hot and humid with the tiniest of airports about five miles out of town. If they have 8 flights a day I would be surprised. Kesang met us at the airport with a van, we loaded in with our overnight bags and off we sped to the hotel on the other side of Nepalgunj.

    Kesang is a twenty-something Tibetan who has started Padhma Creations, a group of knitters affiliated with a shelter for abused or trafficked women. Kesang went to college in Minnesota and has now returned to Nepal to carry on her family tradition of assisting the women of Nepal gain higher economic independence. More on the family in a later report from an earlier day, these reports are going to be quite out-of-order.DSC_0143

    The main road to the hotel is full, really full, of motorcycles, bicycles, horse-drawn platform taxis, little mini-mini passenger taxis, bicycle rickshaws, pedestrians, freight trucks coming in from India, goats, chickens, cows and children. Oh, and potholes.

    We made it quite nicely to the hotel, checked-in, dumped our stuff and headed off across the street to the shelter home for a quick visit. It was dusk and as we sat and chatted with a few of the women (Kesang was super translator) the mosquitoes also came to greet us. Of course in an attempt to pack light for our overnight trip no one had insect repellent. The local pharmacy seemed to be out so the ladies at the shelter proceeded to light egg cartons to create smoke to keep them at bay. I am a mosquito magnet so that wasn’t really necessary for the rest of the group but I appreciated it.

    Then it was back across the street for a leisurely dinner at the hotel. Leisurely because it took an hour and a half for the food to arrive. I suspect they had to call the cook back in for this large crowd of North American women. It was a tasty vegetarian buffet once it arrived, not what we had actually ordered but very satisfying. And the beer, pappadams and conversation kept us occupied until the food arrived.

    The first thing the next morning we hopped on bicycle rickshaws and headed south to the border. There were two of us per rickshaw which may have been half a person too many. The morning was sunny and bright, not yet too warm, a pretty good morning for a drive to the border and on a bicycle rickshaw you are right in the middle of all the action with good views of the passing countryside.

    At the border is an arch. That and the border patrol let you know you have arrived. All the traffic flows freely between the two countries with the border patrol stopping an occasional vehicle for a brief inspection. Kathy, Joan and I have multiple entry visas for India but opted not to go across as it would have taken some time to get our border stamp. Everyone but us could freely cross the border. And we kind of stand out in a crowd.

    We stopped to visit the woman who manages the office affiliated with the women’s shelter. Her job is to provide support and assistance to people found being trafficked into India for labor, sex or organs. With the relatively loose border inspections we asked how these women (and some children) were noticed. It seems there is a pretty good network of rickshaw and bus drivers who will clue her in if they suspect something isn’t right.

    After this visit it was back on the rickshaws for the trip back into Nepalgunj and a return to the shelter. By the time we arrived they were all at work, sitting around the yard knitting mittens and stockings. Some of the women are living at the shelter and need employment, others are community women in need of work to supplement meager family income who come to the shelter to knit though sometimes they also knit at home. None arrived as knitters and Kesang has brought several of them to Kathmandu to learn and then return to teach others. The orders received for their knits from Ganesh Himal and a few others still do not keep them employed full-time. As we interviewed them and asked if they had any questions for us the only thing we heard was a request to please place more orders. They knit a colorful Christmas stocking that has been a best-selling product for Ganesh Himal. Denise says her goal now is to find ways to double her sales of these stockings. What are we going to do about that?

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    This was our first visit with bunches of children around so out came the books we had toted halfway around the world. I sat on the sidewalk by the swing set and we all read books together. I left the books with the shelter manager and hope they become well-worn.

    After lunch (we ordered earlier) it was off to visit at the homes of five or six of the knitters a short walk from the hotel and shelter. These are simple homes, often six or seven people to a room within a compound of extended family members. Children were all over the place wanting their pictures taken and giggling like crazy when they got to see them. They also grow mushrooms which was fun to see.

    Our return flight was scheduled to leave at 4:55. At 4:10 (you already see the problem here) the bright, shiny, black, chrome-covered SUV with fancy lights taxi pulls in to take us to the airport. Nine of us plus the driver sardine into the vehicle and pray for the driver to start the car so we can roll down the windows and breathe. Off we go, plenty of time. We wind our way S-L-O-W-L-Y through all those things on the roads listed above. Finally, we make it to the other of side of town where the traffic thins out, the pot-holes mostly cease and the driver can pick up speed. It is now 4:30. Just as the speed increases a flapping sound starts. The driver pulls over. I assume something is wrong with the luggage on top of the car. Wrong. The fan belt has broken. It is now 4:35 and he has called for a replacement fan belt. This is not going to work. Sarah springs to action. From the open window she hollers at a passing van that we need to get to the airport fast. The van flips around and pulls in along side. We all leap from the car, Sarah jumps up and throws down all the bags on the top, we grab them and pile into the waiting van. Denise passes a 500 rupee note to the first driver and dives into the second car. Austin, Kesang and I are in the very back seat facing backwards. As the new driver floors it Austin shouts thank you to the SUV driver and he turns to look at us with the fan belt in his hand and smile on his face standing in front of the SUV with the hood up and waves. It’s the picture we didn’t get.

    We are still about a mile from the airport. Read Candi’s next post to find out if we ever made it!

  • Did I mention Nepal has a lot of stairs

    Ganesh Himal has begun our Artisan Tour in Nepal! Below, Candi Smucker, owner of two fair trade stores in California (Baksheesh) writes about her visit to The Association of Craft Producers.

    ACP headquarters are located in the suburbs of Kathmandu down a short, steep driveway that ends in a postage stamp sized parking area. No problems, we have trained, professional van drivers.

    The buildings cling to the side of the hillside, multi-leveled and a bit warren-like, beautiful decorated with pieces made from the artisans. There are felted rugs in the bathrooms, blocked curtains at the windows, terracotta light fixtures and colorful paintings on the ceiling.

    We met Meera, founder and executive director, in her office. The video equipment was set up and Sarah taped her presentation to us for future use of one sort or anything. Meera loves her work and gave us the history and stories of ACP.

    The tour began. We trooped up the stairs, down the stairs, across the walkways and all around to see the many divisions at work. About 80 people work at this complex, we may have met them all. Headquarters houses the administrative offices, a cafeteria, shipping, design and multiple production units, finishing and packaging units.

    First stop was at felting, where new samples of  felted jewelry was in process. The first group of women sat in a covered area on the rooftop sudsing the wool and rolling little cylinder beads in a wide array of colors.

    Then on to the next set of workrooms where two women where busy making prototypes of potential new products. Next came the ceramic pieces. Back down the stairs and across the wide central court yard. Under this court yard is a massive holding tank for rain water so they can provide much of the water needed for their felting and dyeing processes. The water used is all retained and the sludge removed.

    On the other side of the courtyard and into the next building we see the mounds of dyed yarn coming out of the drying ovens and the HUGE roller presses used to dry yards and yards of fabric when it’s too damp to dry outside in the courtyard.

    Now, please remember here that I am fully aware that the Baksheesh bags we give away in our stores are made here. I really do know that. But being fully engaged in the moment I had totally forgotten. At the top of the next set of stairs the door opens, I walk into a huge workroom covered, really covered, with silkscreened Baksheesh bags set out to dry. On the floor, all over the work tables, everywhere! Naturally, I had to burst into tears. Four silk screeners didn’t miss a beat while I stood there and cried. Joan took about 102 pictures, no exaggeration there. We namasted all over the place and I thanked them for the bags and they thanked me for the orders and I just cried some more. It was wonderful.

     

  • Power of 5 launched and Girls Scholarships get funded!

    While in Nepal in 2013, Ganesh Himal staff had the opportunity to meet with two recipients of the ACP Girl Child Education Fund, an girl scholarship fund at the Association for Craft Producers that Ganesh Himal has donated to for years. Sisters Heema, 16, and Heena, 10, had both received a scholarship for 3 years and loved school, but their scholarships were ending. Due to high demand for the program and lack of funds, ACP had to limit scholarships to no longer than 3 years for the children of their producers. Determined to extend Heema and Heena’s scholarships, we at Ganesh Himal each donated $5 with the dream that we could get 1000 people to do the same. The Power of 5 campaign was born.

    What can $5 do? It can buy you a coffee, or a hamburger. It can buy you a gallon of gas. Or, it can help a girl in Nepal attend school for 2 weeks. That means that for 10 days a young girl is reading, writing, learning with her friends, and stretching her imagination. What happens if she isn’t at school? She is three times more likely to be married before her 18th birthday. She stays at home, and the traditional cycle of exclusion that keeps girls disengaged from decision making continues. $5 helps a young girl battle the cycle of poverty.

    Now imagine if all of your friends gave $5. Then they asked all of their friends to donate $5? 10 friends donating $5 is a scholarship for one girl to go to school for 6 months! That’s a ripple–an ever-expanding body of people changing the lives of girls in Nepal. And the ripple doesn’t stop there. These girls each create their own ripples of change starting with their families, then their village, and even their country. When 10% more girls go to school, a country’s GDP increases an average of 3% according to the Council of Foreign Relations. That affects the world. The ripple is limitless, and it starts with $5. This is the Power of 5.

    Our goal is to sponsor at least 100 girls, or boys if in need, in Nepal for one more year of schooling through the ACP Child Education Fund. In order to do so, we need 2,000 people to donate $5. We’ve created beautiful bookmarks for you to use to collect donations. By asking for a $5 donation for each bookmark you place in your store, you not only help us reach our goal, but you start the discussion about why girls are such an amazing investment and about why they aren’t in school.

    There are two ways of creating a ripple:

    Personal Ripple– Place  bookmarks in your store and ask for a donation of $5 for each.Customers can get involved as individuals and feel good knowing that 100% of their donation is going towards the ACP Child Education Fund. Not only that, their donation is tax deductible through the Conscious Connections Foundation, a foundation started by the founders of Ganesh Himal Trading.

    Power of 5 Ripple–

    Encourage friends/regular customers/community members to take a packet of bookmarks (either 5, 15, or 30) to distribute for donations amongst their friends. If each person finds 5 friends who turn around and find 5 friends, then through networking, the ripple multiplies by the power of 5. You can use your store as the collection point, creating community and exposing new people to the world of Fair Trade and girl’s education.

    Join the Power of 5 campaign today. Here’s how…

    1) Request a packet of bookmarks via the Ganesh Himal website. www.ganeshhimaltrading.com If you want to participate in the Power of 5 Ripple then order multiple smaller packets; if a personal Ripple better suits your store, then order one large packet.

    2) We will issue you an invoice for the number of bookmarks you want and send them with your next order.

    3) You gather donations for the bookmarks and write a check to Conscious Connections Foundation and send it to PO Box 342 Spokane WA  for the amount of donations gathered. Please put  “donation for Power of 5”  in the memo line. The Power of 5 is a project of the Conscious Connections Foundation which is a 501©3 nonprofit organization recognized by the IRS. EIN #:471602190 and all donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

    4) CCF is all volunteer run and so is the program in Nepal so 100% of donations will go directly to sending children, who otherwise would not be able to attend, to school in Nepal. Our focus and priority is on sending girls to school but if girls are served and boys are in need we will sponsor them as well.  If each of us gives a little, it’s no longer pocket change but big change: JOIN THE POWER OF 5!

    Use these to generate donations for the scholarship fund AND raise awareness about the importance of educating girls!

  • Spokane City Forum, Reading, and Product of the Week

    Hello Blog Readers!

    It’s the newly established Ganesh Himal Trading Intern.

    Before I begin I want to share my excitement about a product I discovered while exploring the Ganesh Himal Trading inventory: the little felted elephant bags. They had caught my eye when I was browsing the website and during my tour of Ganesh Himal Trading. Between the adorable design and the story behind them, I couldn’t resist featuring them in my blog post. The design reminds me of a bag I had as a child, a horse purse, who was a stuffed animal with a zipper across the back and the bag compartment was his stomach. Adding to the whimsical design of these bags are some wonderfully unexpected color combinations. Long story short,  I may soon be walking out  with one of these bags for some young girls who live next door.

    The elephant bags are created by a group of crafters that was formed by a former employee of the Association for Craft Producers (ACP), Hari Basnet. Hari, with the help of ACP and Ganesh Himal Trading started his own business, and up until his recent death employed 15 women with steady work and fair wage. The women have been able to continue on carrying on his mission. I find his mission and commitment to women very admirable.

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    I had a fun time herding up some bags for this photo

    In addition to Hari Basnet, I also loved hearing the individual stories of producers from Denise at the Spokane City Forum on the 17th. The stories of the women are so empowering, how through their employment they have become strong and are now advocates for their communities. I hope to bring the same empowerment to women in my career. I was very excited to attend because my dad, who works at First Presbyterian Church, has been encouraging me for months to attend City Forums and I’m glad I finally received  the opportunity.  What I loved almost as much as I loved hearing Denise and Kim speak, was seeing how the audience reacted. They were completely hooked and when Denise passed around some examples of the products made from what was considered trash (tire innertubes and recycled billboards)–the audience was tickled. Each person examined the products with glee, smiles and whispers of admiration to their colleagues.

    After my first day I was given some reading to do, “An Overview of Fair Trade in North America” which gave the basics of Fair Trade: its history; its principles, importance, major names, challenges and personal impact. Everyone should read or a least skim through a copy. The pamphlet may not be every one’s cup of tea, I would say a lot fact based reading isn’t, but it gives a great overview of the subject including a conflict I found particularly interesting. The concern is over the emerging differences between certification guidelines.

    The overview mentioned the specific coffee and how different groups are now allowing hired labor and plantations to have their coffee certified. I would like to avoid becoming pessimistic but I believe caution should be taken to ensure there are guidelines. The typical consumer is most likely unaware of these differences. While this may be good for business and while I am not condemning organizations for altering guidelines to encourage larger companies and corporations to apply for certification to encourage the shift to fair trade practices, I am worried this could dilute the reputation of the fair trade, much like the USDA’s organic certification and corporations strategic use of phrases such as “100% natural”.

    All of this being said I fear preaching to the choir. What are your thoughts readers?

    Until next time,

    Lauren

    The Ganesh Himal Trading Intern[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Meet Ganesh Himal’s First Intern!

    First Entry: October 15th


    Hello Blog Readers, my name is Lauren Merrithew. I am Ganesh Himal Trading’s first intern! I am a senior in high school and I am taking a class that partners me with an organization of my choice whom I than intern with for around 3 hours a week from the beginning of October to the end of May.
    I had a rather interesting way of becoming connected to Ganesh Himal. I was interviewing with another organization when the interviewer stopped me and said their organization wasn’t the place for me. I was shocked, wondering when in my description what I love and value went wrong before the interviewer smiling, sat me down and showed me the Ganesh Himal website that prominently featured aspects of their business that summarized everything I had mentioned in my interview with her.
    What I would like to do is become a fashion major and eventually start my own business, a business based on fair trade, empowering women, and sustainability.
    Ganesh Himal has been an incredible fit thus far and within the less than six hours I have been here I already feel at home. Their message, mission and process is genius—for lack of a better word–and I have learned so much already as to what it takes to run a fair trade minded business. And I am hooked.
    Already I have been exposed to Ganesh Himal’s incredible mindfulness towards the producer, which became evident within minutes of Denise elaborating on product design, including how designs are chosen for specific producer. Each one of their transactions with their producers is thoughtful, and because of their consciousness, Ganesh has been able to facilitate amazing change, which I love. (Read how Ganesh Himal helped build a Medical Clinic below if you haven’t already).
    I will be posting throughout my internship, sending updates on my experiences and what I am learning. I’m excited to see where this internship will take me.
    Until next time,
    Lauren Merrithew
    Ganesh Himal’s Elated Intern

  • Creating a Grassroots Healthcare Clinic in Nepal

    Sita Gurung, Denise Attwood, Ric Conner (Ganesh Himal Trading)

    The Story of the Baseri Health Clinic,  Baseri Nepal

    How does a small, locally owned, grassroots health clinic in Nepal get a start! Here’s the story of how the clinic in Baseri Nepal did!

    Denise and Ric (of Ganesh Himal Trading) met Sita Gurung in 1984 while they were trekking through her remote village of Baseri, Nepal. She was 14 at the time! Sita was an enthusiastic girl in the village who walked long hours to get an education. They became lifelong friends. Over time all of them dreamed together of someday building a clinic in Sita’s village where there had never been any healthcare before. In 2006 Sita’s mother, Ama Gurung and Denise’s good friend Dr. Marilyn Ream both passed away. Their lives and memory gave Sita and Denise the inspiration to pursue that dream.  24 years after their initial meeting in Baseri they decided it was time to build a clinic!

    In the fall of 2007 Sita went back to her village of Baseri  in the mountainous region of NW Nepal and met with the village leaders. She asked them if they were interested in helping to create a clinic.  The villagers were thrilled with the prospect of having their first health clinic ever! They formed their own non-profit, donated community land for the clinic and agreed to donate time and labor to help build it. The team was forming!

    In the spring of 2008 Sita and Denise held the first fundraiser in Spokane and raised the money to start the construction.  Carol Schillios, of the Fabric of Life Foundation, who works with women in Mali met with Sita and Denise, discussed the project and lovingly agreed to have the Fabric of Life Foundation became the home of the Baseri Clinic funds!

    In the meantime, the villagers chose a site that they felt was accessible to everyone in the surrounding area and started building in the fall of 2008. They agreed that they wanted this clinic to be available to anyone who needed help and that they would not turn anyone away. They designed a 4 room, one story building in the traditional architecture of the village and located a local water source. Trees were cut from their local community forest and milled by hand. Slate for the roof was cut from a nearby quarry (all by hand). By the spring of 2009 they were able to construct the main shell of the structure.

    Over the summer of 2009 the villagers were busy planting and harvesting their local crops of millet, barley, corn and rice. Sita and I were busy planning out the future staffing of the clinic as well as where to source electricity (the village of Baseri has none).  Sita and I dreamed of finding a local woman to staff the clinic. We wanted to find a woman who could be a mentor to young girls in the area. Remarkably, just as we were investigating the staffing, a Spokane family approached Denise about helping the clinic. They wanted to help with finding qualified permanent medical staff.  Sita knew of a young woman from Baseri who had dreamed of being a nurse but couldn’t afford the tuition. The Spokane family jumped at the chance to fund her training. So, Nisha Gurung, a Baseri village girl, applied for and was one of 4 rural Nepali’s accepted to the field nursing program at the National Medical College in Birgunj, Nepal. She started the demanding 3 year program in the fall of 2009 and Sita visited her at the college soon after.  Nisha has been a star student and will be finished with her program this fall, 2012.   When Nisha finishes she will be qualified to do minor surgery, maternal and infant health care and primary medicine and at that time she will become the lead medical personnel for the clinic. She is thrilled since this has been her life long goal and she never dreamed she would have the money to complete the schooling!

     

    While Nisha has been in college, a local man, who was a medic in the Nepal Army and worked for 10 years in the Army hospital in Kathmandu, has  filled  the position of medical personnel for the clinic. In 2009 he come to Kathmandu to meet with Sita’s friend Dr. Holly Murphy, an Infectious Disease Specialist, who is working in CIWEC Canadian clinic in Kathmandu.  Holly worked with him to make lists of the supplies of medicines necessary for the village clinic and to make sure that everything needed would be ready for the clinic opening.

    Also in the summer of 2009, Sita was busy with a fundraiser in Seattle that raised money specifically for the solar, toilet and water systems for the clinic. The fundraiser was sponsored by the Living Earth Institute in Seattle http://living-earth.org/ and raised almost $5,000 for the clinic. There was a fantastic program of traditional singing and dancing by Sita and others and many members of the Nepal Seattle Society came to support the clinic. Sita, contributes the proceeds from her traditional Nepali music CDS to the clinic project.  With this money we were able to fund a solar panel, five small tube lights (the first light in Baseri!), a battery, the design and installation of a toilet system, a 5000 liter water tank and piping and have them installed in the clinic.

     

    The building was completed in the winter of 2010 and then a grand opening ceremony was scheduled for February. Sita, Denise, Ric and Cameron were all able to make their way to Baseri for the grand opening. Two other Nepali’s, Harimaya Gurung and Dhane Gurung, who have been instrumental in the construction of the clinic were also able to attend. The grand opening ceremony was held on February 26, 2010 with all of the villagers turning out and much music and fanfare and a ribbon cutting ceremony!

    On February 28 the first 35 people came to receive care! By Sept 29, 2010 1600 patients (an average of 10 people a day) had been seen at the clinic for everything from maternal health care issues to burns, breaks and intestinal disorders. As of Feb 2011 over 3600 had been served! They have been able to save 3 peoples lives, one pregnant mother and child and one very dehydrated young boy! The clinic is supplied with basic lab testing facilities for urine and blood tests an otoscope for ear infections, stethoscopes, a blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and saline iv drip system.

    News travels fast in the remote areas of Nepal and now people living in even more remote areas than Baseri have heard of the clinic and are coming seeking primary care treatment. It is obvious from the popularity of the clinic that we will need to increase the staffing so in the spring of 2012 we hired a young woman of Baseri as a part time assistant to help with record keeping.  Our next steps will be to explore funding for 2 full time medical staff people. The clinic charges cost for medicine and a small fee for those who can afford it and a bank account has been opened in a nearby village. Their goal is to be able to replenish their medical supplies with the funds that they receive. The villagers of Baseri take part in  the care and upkeep of the facilities. Our organization has agreed to pay for the staffing.

    In the summer of 2011, Greg Starling, a board member of the The Nepalese Women’s Health Foundation contacted Denise about their interest in helping to fund women’s health care at the clinic. Sita met with their board member Dr. Devi Dawady, and they agreed to fund specific women’s health care issues at the clinic for $1000 for 3 years. With the first $1000 granted  we have been able to create 1) an emergency fund for pregnant women who may need emergency transport to Kathmandu, 2) purchase prenatal vitamins that are made available to all pregnant women who come to the clinic free of charge and 3) begin to explore hiring a teacher for an adult women’s literacy program at the clinic.

    At present, in the summer of 2012, the clinic is serving on average 10-15 people per day. Last February Sita went to the clinic twice and held meetings with the village board, the medic and the village people in an effort to determine how to make the clinic more effective and self-sustaining. Great progress was made and the village board is taking on more responsibilities. Records are being kept of the illnesses treated and medicines distributed, vitamins are being distributed to women who are pregnant and much more.

    Sita has been working hard to put a strong foundation in place by talking with the village committee members and organizing a plan for the future and her hard work is paying off! The clinic is truly growing from the ground up! In September of 2012  when Nisha  graduates from nursing school  Sita has arranged for her to attend a 3 month training in intensive care at the Dhulikhel teaching hospital in Kathmandu. When she is finished she will return to Baseri and become their lead caregiver! The first woman health care provider in the first clinic in Baseri! A dream come true!

    Nisha has decided that she would like to live at the clinic so our next phase for fundraising is to raise $2500 to build a 4 room addition to the clinic. Two rooms for Nisha and two rooms that we can use for guest physicians, health care educators and perhaps women’s literacy or economic development groups in the future. This project will hopefully be completed this fall.

    On this journey we have had incredible help from many different people. We have one 5 year old who raised over $70 selling bracelets he made and 10 year old twins who asked people to donate to the clinic for their birthday present. A 90+ year old man, Mr. Biele, who is a friend of Sita’s has been a great supporter and has donated more than $10,000. There are dozens of others who have given generously to this dream. This clinic is dedicated to the memory of two amazing women who have held the light aloft for many of us to follow in their service and love of humankind. Aama Gurung, Sita’s mother, was a kind and powerful woman who is from the village of Baseri and led by example. She gave Sita the opportunity to become the first female to have a high school education in the area. Aama Gurung instilled great faith and humanity in all she encountered.  Dr. Marilyn Ream, a physician in Spokane who worked in many rural clinics throughout the world  was bursting at the seams with compassion and love. Both were amazing healers in their own way and a huge inspiration to others.

    Aama and Marilyn inspired this dream and so many of our friends have worked to make it come true!  Thanks to everyone who has helped. We’ll keep you posted along the way!

    If you would like to make a donation:

    For online donations, visit http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/denise-attwood/besarihealthclinicold

    To make a donation by check, please make the check payable to “The Fabric of Life Foundation” and send to the address below. Please write Nepal/Besari clinic on the memo line.

    The Fabric of Life Foundation

    PO Box 547

    Edmonds, WA 98020

    Please write Nepal/Besari clinic on the memo line

     

     

  • Customer and Artisan Partner Testimonials That Make Us Happy!

     

    We wanted to share with you comments from our customers and artisans partners. We work with the best people on this planet, THANK YOU! Please feel free to post your feedback about Ganesh Himal Trading.

    “Traditions Fair Trade cherishes its relationship with Ganesh Himal. Not only have the wide range of products offered been of very high quality and appeal to our customers, but the commitment to their partnering producers in Nepal is evident from their ongoing collaborative product development, their support of the needs and social programs of those producers, and their personal connections with so many of those artisans. And we know we will always have the kind of attention and personal service from Ganesh Himal that makes it very easy to conduct business with them.” –Traditions Fair Trade

    “Ganesh Himal & Association for Craft Producers (ACP), both organizations stared business in the same year and share a strong bonding and long term partnership. ACP highly appreciates Ganesh himal’s untiring effort of promoting Nepali handmade articles for the upliftment of Nepali artisans. Ganesh Himal is one of our key partners in social development projects since the beginning and our relationship goes far beyond than just buying and selling relationships. Ganesh Himal has been actively supporting our various fair trade projects primarily Child Education Allowance. Because of support from Ganesh Himal, it has eased ACP to regularly allot a monthly allowance for up to four years to producers who keep their daughters in school. As incentive to excel, ACP supports the three most outstanding students for a fifth year. ACP has been able to play a key role in providing education to over 400 children till date. Similarly, support from Ganesh Himal has enable ACP to organize dental camp in Sindhukot among cobblers’ community. This has benefited not only ACP artisans & their families but for the entire community.” –ACP, Nepal

    “We have worked with Ganesh Himal since 1993. For seventeen years they have provided us with consistently beautiful clothing, purses, jewelry, and handcrafts. They are standard bearers of Fair Trade with their excellent merchandise, educational information, concern for their producers, and fantastic customer service.”  Thank you Ganesh Himal!! –Global Village, Billings

    “Made By Hand, a 100% Fair Trade retail store located at the shore in Delaware, has had the great pleasure to work with Ganesh Himal for 16 years. Not only are their products fantastic sellers (superb quality and great prices), the staff of Ganesh Himal are a dream to work with. They represent the best of the best in Fair Trade. Ganesh Himal truly makes the world a better place. Adelante!” –Made by Hand

    “Working with all of you at Ganesh Himal is truly a blessing! Your products are of the best quality, your price point can’t be beat and your customer service is unparalleled. All I have to do is wear one of your beautiful jackets in the shop, and I invariably sell it.” –Kizuri

    “Our experience working with Ganesh Himal Trading has been delightful. We are always impressed with the originality and quality of their products as well as their ongoing commitment to their artisans.”–Just Creations

    The variety of quality of Ganesh Himal products draws our customers back, again and again. Of nearly 30 different vendors products sold in our store, Ganesh products are the 2nd best selling! The personal care and attention given by the staff at Ganesh is equal to one!” –One World Goods

    “Ganesh Himal places orders with and receives shipments from ACP every two months. In each of these orders Ganesh Himal always try to ensure that the artisans groups have sufficient work to keep them busy covering as much product category as possible and ensuring sustainable income to the artisans. Besides, time to time visit by Denise & Ric and new product development initiation has helped ACP to obtain updated market trend and remain competitive in the market. Ganesh Himal is currently working with ACP in textile, felt, copper, ceramics, paper, knitwear & recycled items. ACP started life with 38 producers in three skill areas and five full time staff in a rented building with 4000 sq. ft area. Today ACP is providing services to over 1200 artisans (women constituting 90%) from 15 districts of Nepal in 22 skill categories. All this is possible because of strong commitment & support from fair trade organizations like Ganesh Himal. ACP team would like to thank Ganesh Himal for its sincere dedication for the promotion of fair trade for the benefit of Nepali artisans. Your support means a lot to us. We look forward to receiving continued support in future as well. Thank you! ” -Gabish at ACP

    “We love your Western Collar Men’s Shirts. The style is classic, we have half a dozen customers who collect these shirts. We kind of keep track of what colors they already have and call when a new colorway comes in! Classic style, great color and price point – AND it is hard to find great items for men!  –The Fair Trader

     

  • Travel and Trade-It’s all about connecting

    Travel has always been a big part of our family life and our 14 year old son has seen more of the world than most adults will in their entire life! That wasn’t by accident! We planned it that way because we wanted our child to grow up as a citizen of the world and to be in love with all of its diversity. Having just returned from 6 weeks of travel in Peru, I think our plan is working! I watched as our son fell in love with yet another country and its people, cultures and natural wonders. In his short life he has filled his heart with the memories of his friends in Nepal, Turkey, Greece, Australia, Mexico, Peru, Europe and more. These are no longer just places on a map to him, they are places filled with people he knows and cares about and places he wants to preserve.

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    Making friends in Turkey

    Night before last we got to see Rick Steves, the budget travel guru, talk on his new book “Travel as a Political Act” and his talk really struck a chord because travel, when done thoughtfully, opens your eyes to the beauty of the world we live in and opens your heart to the amazing people we share the planet with. Having just opened his book I am struck by his words “We travel to have enlightening experiences, to meet inspirational people, to be stimulated, to learn, and to grow….Travel has taught me the fun of having my cultural furniture rearranged and my ethnocentric self-assuredness walloped. It has humbled me, enriched my life, and tuned me in to a rapidly changing world. And for that, I am thankful.”  He goes on to say “Travel challenges truths that we were raised thinking were self-evident and God-given. Leaving home, we learn other people find different truths to be self evident. We realize that it just makes sense to give everyone a little wiggle room.” These words ring true. We won’t all come home with the same impressions but we’ll all have our eyes opened wider and have the faces of those we’ve met and who have treated us so well indelibly etched in our hearts. That makes it more difficult to see them as our enemies. Travel, by connecting us to others, can truly be “A political act”.

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    Making friends in Nepal!

    As I sat and listened to Rick Steves I couldn’t help but think of the similarities between “purposeful travel” and “fair trade”. Each is about connecting and recognizing that through our differences we have a beautiful shared humanity that should be celebrated as one of the most precious gifts on earth. We get to see through the eyes of others and glimpse their own version of the world and they get to see through ours. As I’ve stood beside women producers in Nepal who have far less materially than I do, I have seen a richness of spirit that made me feel as if I were poor. The beauty though is that they shared that richness with me without a single hesitation and made my life much richer for it. In turn I’ve shared some tools with them to help them access a market that will give them more monetary stability and help them plan for their future. Fair trade and travel, they are about the rich exchange of the gifts of humanity and working toward the betterment of all. When we connect, whether through travel or trade, we remember that place of brother and sisterhood and the true meaning of a global family. Happy holidays, safe travels and thanks for supporting Fair Trade!

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    Lunch with friends in Peru!

     

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  • Fashion, Fair Trade & Our Earth

    At Ganesh Himal Trading we are always searching for the most environmentally sustainable fibers as well as recycled fibers to use in our fair trade products. This is challenging and we’re not 100% there yet but we continue to hold it as our vision. As we all move forward with Fair Trade it’s important to recognize how fashion and home accessories can be a major trend changer. If we educate ourselves and consumers about their impacts not only on producers lives but on the environment as well then we can make our voice, the movement and our impact even stronger. At Ganesh Himal Trading we strive to make a product that is long lasting, affordable,fun, functional, fair trade and which has the lowest environmental impact.

    Safia Minney, Founder of People Tree has written a new book called Naked Fashion. Here is a recent piece that she wrote for the Ecologist that we found inspirational and important for these times. The book Naked Fashion is published by New Internationalist and People Tree.  For more information See www.newint.org/books or www.peopletree.co.uk. Her article from the Ecologist on Sept 15, 2011 is below.

     

    It seems like a very small thing to us, choosing a t-shirt or a dress made of organic rather than conventional cotton. But it can make a big difference at the other end of the chain. The environmental impact of fashion is something that needs to concern us all. What’s clear is that fashion’s environmental footprint at the moment is unsustainable. The evidence is overwhelming. For example, the British clothing and textiles sector alone currently produces around 3.1 million tonnes of CO2, two million tonnes of waste and 70 million tonnes of waste water per year – with 1.5 million tonnes yearly of unwanted clothing and textiles ultimately ending up in landfill. This means that we each throw away an average of 30 kilos a year.

    We need to consume less fashion and wear our clothes for longer, while the fabrics and clothes that we do buy need to have more ‘value added’ – benefiting not only the farmers but also as many artisans as possible in its transformation to clothing. Fair Trade can make a big difference here. Fair Trade takes a long-term view, working in partnership with producers and enabling communities to ‘invest’ in environmental initiatives and diversify. It recognizes that, if farmers are given even half a chance, they will protect the environment. After all, why would people whose lives are so dependent on the resources of their natural surroundings, destroy their environment? The answer is that they only do so when driven to it by low prices, unfair terms of trade and the insecurity that comes from not knowing where your children’s next meal will come from. They only do it when there seems to be no alternative.

    Fair Trade, social businesses and new economics are leading the way in showing how we can protect the environment and help the poor feed themselves. Supporting low chemical inputs, transitional and organic farming is also vital. Polyester, the most widely used manufactured fibre, is made from petroleum. The manufacture of this and other synthetic fabrics is an energy-intensive process requiring large amounts of crude oil and releasing millions of tonnes of CO2. With oil supplies dwindling, we have to find alternatives to oil-intensive farming methods now, before it’s too late. Organic farming takes 1.5 tonnes of CO2 per acre per year out of the atmosphere.

    Water is another vital resource being over-consumed by the fashion industry. And, as water scarcity becomes as big an issue as global warming, this is critical. Conventionally grown cotton is one of the most water-dependent crops to be grown. It takes over 2,000 litres of water to produce the average t-shirt with conventional cotton. Organic and Fair Trade cotton has helped to reduce water consumption by over 60 per cent in the Indian state of Gujarat, by supporting farmers who invest in drip irrigation.

    The conventional cotton industry has a devastating effect on farmers and the environment. Heavy pesticide use reduces biodiversity, disrupts ecosystems and contaminates water supplies. Worse still, pests exposed to synthetic pesticides build up a resistance to them so that, each year, farmers have to buy and use more pesticides to grow the same amount of cotton. Not only does this increase the annual damage to the environment, it means the farmer gets less and less profit from the crop. These pesticides also harm the farmers and their families. Many of the chemicals used in cotton farming are acutely toxic. Around 10 per cent of all chemical pesticides and 22 per cent of all insecticides used worldwide are sprayed on cotton crops. Cotton growers typically use many of the most hazardous pesticides on the market, many of which are organophosphates originally developed as toxic nerve agents during World War Two. At least three pesticides used on cotton are in the ‘dirty dozen’ – so dangerous that 120 countries agreed at a UNEP conference in 2001 to ban them, though so far this hasn’t happened.

    The World Health Organization estimates that three million people are poisoned by pesticides every year, most of them in developing countries. When pesticides leak into the environment, chronic poisoning can affect entire communities. Symptoms of chronic poisoning include numbness or weakness of arms, legs, feet or hands, lethargy, anxiety and loss of memory and concentration. Young women are particularly vulnerable – exposure to pesticides can affect the reproductive system, causing infertility and spontaneous abortions. In the light of all this, any support we can give to small farmers growing organic cotton is vital. Organic cotton is grown as a rotational crop alongside organic foods that are often consumed by a farmer’s family, with the surplus sold locally. But cotton farmers in India trying to make the transition to organic often struggle to do so because the soil takes five years to recover its yields as it is weaned off agrochemical methods. They desperately need more support from the government. The only support at present is coming from NGOs and advocacy organizations – and from consumers prepared to pay a Fair Trade premium and to insist on organic cotton.

    If we pay farmers a higher price for their cotton, they will be able to diversify their crops, use less polluting farming methods and protect the environment. Though it must be said that an even greater service to small farmers – and 99 per cent of cotton growers live in the Global South – would be if world prices were not kept artificially low by the glut of cotton on the market caused by the US government’s extraordinary subsidies to its own farmers. In 2002, for example, US cotton was being dumped on the world market at 61 per cent below the cost of production. As this suggests, there are huge forces at play here. The same global trading system that keeps so many of the world’s people poor also destroys the environment. The economic and accounting system we have today only measures financial outcomes, not the social and environmental bottom lines. Our present system pursues short-term profit, propelling environmental destruction and widening the gap between rich and poor.

    Faced with these huge issues, it is easy to throw up our hands in despair and feel powerless. But at least in the area of supporting Fair Trade fashion, organic fabrics, second hand and upcycled clothes, we have something clear and positive we can do.
    Fair Trade and organic fabrics currently account for a tiny percentage of the total amount of cotton sold worldwide. We have a lot to change! But every time you opt to support Fair Trade, organic or second hand clothing you are making a difference.

     

     

    Naked Fashion, £14.99, is published by New Internationalist and People Tree. Seewww.newint.org/books or www.peopletree.co.uk for more information

    Artwork by Mina Nakagawa