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Category: Fair Trade News
If it Were Easy Everybody Would be Doing it.
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Celebrating 40 Years of Connection, Part 2
If it Were Easy: Navigating Business Half a World Away in 1987
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I used to say “if it were easy everybody would be doing it”, referring to the joys and challenges of starting a business and specifically to working in what at the time was considered the 4th poorest country in the world. This was 1987, the era before computers were widely used. There were no cell phones, fax machines, or internet. Denise did have an American Express card which allowed us to get mail at the Amex office in Kathmandu. And, once a month with a passport and a personal check we could buy $1000 in travelers checks. Remember those? They just handed you the money. The ATM of the day!
Banking was a nightmare. There was one bank, the King’s bank, and no computers or electronic transfers-just walls of ledgers and often water overflowing from the toilets into the lobby. I remember going through the ledgers with a teller who kept telling me that the money hadn’t arrived. I kept saying yes it has, keep looking. It was a long and frustrating process. Also very few people we were working with had bank accounts, so as they say in Nepal “ke garne”, what to do! Mail was another impossibility. There was only one post office which was horribly inefficient and corrupt. We would send mail that was never received, which sometimes would include money and our orders.
We had three choices for conducting business: mail (difficult at best), travel to Nepal–which one or both of us did twice a year on a regular basis but was expensive and exhausting, or phone calls made from the one and only international phone office. Our main contact was Nirmal, an Indian man, whom we had spent hours with in his little craft shop in KTM. He was a great guy– fun, well educated, honest and spoke perfect English. And he really enjoyed the handcraft business. So he would arrange shipping, and stay in touch with the various small shops about orders. But he had two main drawbacks. He was Indian, so had to have a Nepali partner (more on that later) and he never got the idea of the time difference between our two countries. So we would routinely get phone calls in the middle of the night. I remember how frustrating it was to be woken up at three o’clock in the morning to talk about orders. I finally had to unplug the land line.
Denise had started at the University of Washington law school the fall after we returned from our extended travel. But she was emphatic from the outset that during those three years she would take time off and return to Nepal, go trekking and continue the quest to find women focused craft projects to work with. In the winter of ‘87 we arranged a trek with our erstwhile trekking guide Ram Karki, trekker at large.With one porter and Ram, we set off around the Annapurna circuit, a three week trek which involved the challenge of crossing the 17,769 foot Thorong La pass. It is one of the most spectacular walks in the world and, although not easy, is incredibly rewarding. There were very few roads into the Himalayas back then so the trail passed through remote villages. We slept in schools, peoples’ homes and tea houses. Ram would cook our nightly dinner of dal bhat, often with potatoes bought in the villages. We crossed Thorong La on a glorious morning, with two snow peaks reaching another 10,000 feet above us on either side. After a quick picture and a cigarette break for the porter we descended to a more reasonable elevation,12,000 feet where it began to snow. The final week took us down the beautiful Kali Gandaki valley and into Nepal’s second city, Pokhara.
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Denise, Ram & Ric at Thorong La Pass, 17,769 ft[/fusion_text][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” user_select=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_color=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_delay=”0″ animation_offset=”” logics=””]
Our best experiences in Nepal have always been interacting with people from diverse tribes, cultures and backgrounds. In Pokhara we met a delightful Tibetan man, a refugee, who was selling beaded necklaces from a blanket on the side of the road. Thubten, a former monk, slightly crippled, had fled Tibet after the Chinese occupation. Whenever we were in Pokhara we would visit, drink tea, talk about his life and buy his jewelry.
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Thubten selling necklaces in Pokhara[/fusion_text][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” user_select=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_color=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_delay=”0″ animation_offset=”” logics=””]
These sometimes fleeting interactions were experiences that expanded our world and were the beginnings of what became Ganesh Himal Trading. Another example was buying bracelets from a street kid in Kathmandu named Neil. We always looked for him and his little stall. He supplied us with copper medicine bangles and tingshas for years until he grew up. We’ve stayed in touch with him over the years and watched as he became a respected business person. He now sells beautiful thankas the world over and has built and supports an orphanage in the village where he grew up.
Speaking of Kathmandu, when we got back from the trek, we discovered that Nirmal had returned to India, a family crisis, and would be gone for at least a month. He had left us in the less than capable hands of his Nepali partner. Often when traveling you run across people who just can’t be trusted. This was one of those times and it all could have ended there. But as you know, it didn’t. We were doing business with many of the small shop owners in the tourist enclave of Thamel. One which sold Tibetan bags, which we bought. The owner, Namgyal Lama, had been sponsored by a Swiss couple to attend high school and college in India after they had fled Tibet. His father, Pa La, had been a trader in Tibet bringing salt down to Nepal on yaks and trading for rice and vegetables to take back.The bags they used were heavy colorful cotton duffels. These are the same Tibetan duffels that Ganesh Himal Trading still sells. Pa La had his own shop but spoke no English and mostly hung out with friends, chatting, drinking Tibetan tea and doing his daily prayers. Namgyal pretty much took care of business. We were talking to him about this problem partner of Nirmal’s, and his response was: “first, you can’t trust this guy and second, ok you need someone to do your shipping? I’ll do it.” “Have you ever done it before?” we asked. “No, but I’ll do it”.
There are so many elements to this story, many of which will come out in future narratives. But let me just say that over the years Namgyal built this chance encounter into one of the largest shipping companies in Nepal, and was given an award by the Prime Minister for outstanding business leadership. His wife Pemala has been a wonderful partner of ours for over 35 years, turning a small craft shop into a sizable operation, while providing her workers benefits they would not have had elsewhere. Namgyal and Pemala raised and educated their three daughters who have all gone on to successful careers. One, Kesang, now has her own fair trade business, but more on her later. This was really the beginning of our experience in Fair Trade. Namgyal and Pema La have been more than partners in this journey, they became friends and family. Over the years much has transpired to cement this relationship and others.
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Namgyl, Pema La and young Kesang[/fusion_text][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” user_select=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_color=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_delay=”0″ animation_offset=”” logics=””]
Making connections and if it were easy – part two.
More than any particular business prowess on our part, the success of GHT involved chance meetings with people of integrity and insight. Hospitality is an honored tradition in Nepal. Nepalis and Tibetans love their cultures and enjoy sharing the myriad stories revolving around customs, religious traditions and crafts. We took every opportunity to sit in the shops, drink Nepali tea and listen to stories. We didn’t exactly get a lot done during the day, but we learned so much, made great friends and expanded our horizons.
However, with some investigation we reached out to a couple small development projects we’d heard about. One was Bhaktapur Craft Printers (BCP) whom we were introduced to by a Spanish woman who worked with UNICEF. BCP was located in the city of Bhaktapur, one of the three ancient cities in the Kathmandu valley, now a world heritage site. The people who worked there were trained by UNICEF in the art of making paper products, specifically cards. Many were women who had no education, no background in business and little contact with life outside of their village. UNICEF was in the process of scaling back their involvement in Nepal and wanted to find other buyers for BCP paper products, that’s where we came in. The workers were invested and wanted to continue on; they had a manager who wanted to see BCP succeed, a nice facility, and access to traditional Nepali paper which we’d seen being made in some of the villages we had trekked through. What they lacked at this point were buyers other than UNICEF. Thus began another long term relationship. We worked with BCP for years until UNICEF eventually pulled out causing the larger organization to fold. But with the help of Ganesh Himal a group of the least educated women workers were able to organize and start their own small business so they wouldn’t lose their income. We continue to support and buy from them to this day. Through their determination and hard work they have been able to provide education for their daughters all the way through college. One woman, Kamala Giri, who leads Bhaktapur Women’s Craft Paper has 3 daughters, one a nurse, one a pharmacist and another a dental assistant. Kamala is amazingly tenacious and resolved early on that her daughters would not suffer what she had suffered as an uneducated woman. She is now a representative for her district in Bhaktapur and has been re-elected with more than 90% of the vote for another 5 year term. Her main campaign message was empowering women. It is always such an honor to meet with them and visit Bhaktapur, and to experience their amazing culture and hospitality.
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BCP Making Paper[/fusion_text][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” user_select=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_color=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_delay=”0″ animation_offset=”” logics=””]
At the same time we encountered BCP we discovered another project, led by one of the most dedicated women we have ever worked with, Meera Bhatteri. Meera founded the Association for Craft Producers (ACP) around 1986 with the aim of providing training and employment for women who came from marginalized backgrounds and to put money directly into their hands. At the time, ACP had an American man, Mike, working with them to design craft products and develop skills. They had a vision of building a space where women could learn new skills like spinning, dying, and knitting, or make money directly from their traditional work like block printing, weaving, woodwork, and ceramics. For most of the women this pay was the first time they had held money in their own hands. Meera told us how empowering this was and how one of the women weavers, Laxmi, wept as she realized the power she held in her hand. Laxmi went on to organize 40 other women weavers in her village to weave with ACP which transformed their community. We are so fortunate to have been involved with ACP over the years. It is truly another lesson in humility, watching the women and this project grow. Mike had to return to the states some time later but Meera continued to lead ACP and became a mentor to us. Last year, after years of dedicated service, she turned over the reins to Revita, another incredibly capable woman who has worked beside her for 25 years. Over the decades ACP has grown into a project that has impacted thousands of women across Nepal. They provide daily lunches for women working in the facility, which are a feast (as we can attest), employment for women throughout Nepal which once again has allowed women with little education to send their daughters to school and given them the financial ability to be equal partners in their families. We’ll share more about ACP in the future.
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Denise with ACP founder, Meera Bhatteri[/fusion_text][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” user_select=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_color=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_delay=”0″ animation_offset=”” logics=””]
This, along with so many other relationships, has been the joy and the reward of working in Nepal for the last forty years. But like I said at the beginning “if it were easy”… Once again we hit a snag, one that shows the difficulties of small scale international trade. So after we had established these wonderful connections and had begun to get crafts here relatively efficiently, the US government stepped in, slapping quota and visa requirements on products coming from Nepal. This was because India was transhipping cotton goods through Nepal to avoid Indian quotas. It so happened that a large and expensive shipment of ours had left Nepal before the requirements were put in place but arrived after they were in force. The goods in the shipment had no visas and so could not legally clear customs and enter the US. Our shipment was held at customs and was due to be destroyed. Denise went to work talking to everybody from the Nepal Desk at the State Department (who knew!) to the Nepali Ambassador, explaining that these were handcrafts made by cottage industries and women’s projects. She was finally able to convince the Ambassador that the State Department would not hold it against Nepal if they provided the documentation to release our shipment. Again it could have all come to an ignoble end here, but it didn’t. Denise spent the last part of law school writing her thesis discussing the impact of multinational corporations tran-shipping through or mass-producing in small, underdeveloped countries, like Nepal. Multinationals “shop” for favorable quota regulations in countries like Nepal, using their favorable import status into the US until the US imposes visa and quota regulations, then leaving once these regulations are imposed. This practice leaves small countries, and especially small scale craft producers, with draconian requirements and a system that is unable to accommodate them. She argued that handicraft products should be exempt from these kinds of import regulations, which in some instances has happened with Nepal.
From the beginning, we were committed to the small producers and Nepal. The fact that we’ve done this for forty years still amazes us. The trials and tribulations, not to mention the treks, have been a lifetime of learning. We have been incredibly fortunate to have had this experience, and look forward to sharing more of these adventures about Fair Trade and Nepal.
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Your Content Goes Here
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Your Content Goes Here
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Your Content Goes Here
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Newness!
Newness! That’s what education is about. New friends, new ideas, new ways of seeing and engaging in the world, the chance to explore. That’s what Fair Trade is about, new ideas, new communities, new allies and new ways of perceiving trade and providing ways to engage in more just and equitable trade. These are challenges and opportunities we all love; learning, creating, molding and recreating newer, more imaginative, kinder and richer ways of being in the world.
I’ve had the incredible opportunity for the last 38 years to learn to see the world through the eyes of Nepalis and have learned how much their perception exceeds anything I have been taught through a Western lens. I’ve grown so much by engaging with our Fair Trade community (that’s you) about the richness of your interactions with different cultures. And for the past 20 months I have been engaging on a weekly basis with 12 Qero elders in the Andes in a class exploring their exceptional ways of perceiving and engaging with nature. The learning never stops and it’s exciting to think of how much is out there that we still haven’t learned or even thought of seeking out.
Newness also means accepting change and having the faith to know that together as community we can evolve. Just this week my dear friend and mentor, Executive Director and founder of The Association for Craft Producers, Meera Bhatterai, who I have worked alongside for 34 years, is retiring. Her position will be filled by her capable protege, Revita Shrestha. In her letter of retirement she states, “It’s hard to believe 38 years have passed by in a blink of an eye…. It seems like yesterday I started ACP in a rented building with just 38 artisans. Today it has become a thriving institution serving over 800 artisans and employees…I got the opportunity to serve grassroots artisans and empower them economically. It has been an immense honour … We have weathered many storms and achieved many milestones. We are proud we have become a socially oriented and commercially viable enterprise.” Many of you know ACP and have even visited there. You know what a visionary and courageous organization for women’s empowerment it is. And so new wings will fly this amazing ship and with the strength of our community, we can help them to continue to thrive far into the future.
So here’s to all of those heading off to school (whether at an educational institution or in the rich school of life or into retirement) and to all of us engaging in life-long learning. May your journeys be rich, mind and heart expanding and shared widely. Thanks to all of you engaged in Fair Trade for bringing our beautiful world a little closer for those who aren’t able to physically travel in it and for helping others see through new and different eyes. It is truly through these lens-opening experiences that we can touch the newness and possibility of each day.
Namaste,
Denise
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[/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” flex_grow=”0″ top_margin=”25px” bottom_margin=”25px” width=”” alignment=”center” border_size=”” sep_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” icon=”” icon_size=”” icon_color=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” /][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”none” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]
Beyond the Binary
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From the beginning, Ganesh Himal has considered the majority of its clothing to be gender fluid, though the term that we used for many years was “Uni-Sex”. Our focus was on making comfortable, long-lasting clothing, and beyond that, we let the customer decide what fit their body and style the best!In particular, our cotton pants and shirts have been loved and worn by all genders throughout the years.Recently, we have chosen to take the next step, and have de-gendered our shopping navigation on our website as a way to support a more inclusive shopping experience. Instead of dividing our clothing by Men/Women categories, the navigation will just be divided by clothing type (shirts, pants, etc). We feel that this way of shopping opens up more possibilities in the way our clothing can be worn, and by whom! #genderfluid[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_6″ layout=”1_6″ align_self=”auto” content_layout=”column” align_content=”flex-start” valign_content=”flex-start” content_wrap=”wrap” spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” link_description=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” type_medium=”” type_small=”” order_medium=”0″ order_small=”0″ dimension_spacing_medium=”” dimension_spacing_small=”” dimension_spacing=”” dimension_margin_medium=”” dimension_margin_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” padding_medium=”” padding_small=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hover_type=”none” border_sizes=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_radius=”” box_shadow=”no” dimension_box_shadow=”” box_shadow_blur=”0″ box_shadow_spread=”0″ box_shadow_color=”” box_shadow_style=”” overflow=”” background_type=”single” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ background_color=”” background_image=”” background_image_id=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend_mode=”none” render_logics=”” filter_type=”regular” filter_hue=”0″ filter_saturation=”100″ filter_brightness=”100″ filter_contrast=”100″ filter_invert=”0″ filter_sepia=”0″ filter_opacity=”100″ filter_blur=”0″ filter_hue_hover=”0″ filter_saturation_hover=”100″ filter_brightness_hover=”100″ filter_contrast_hover=”100″ filter_invert_hover=”0″ filter_sepia_hover=”0″ filter_opacity_hover=”100″ filter_blur_hover=”0″ animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_position=”all” first=”false”][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Sometimes it’s Just Destiny
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Sometimes it’s Just Destiny
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Sometimes things are just meant to be. It’s more than coincidence, it’s more like destiny. That’s what happened in Sertung, Nepal in 2015. We were doing earthquake assessment in an area to the west of Langtang on a 12-day trek that few had traveled since before the Maoist revolution 20 years earlier. We trekked directly east of the epicenter of the enormous earthquake of April 25, 2015, wanting to understand what relief had come to these remote villages.As usual, our beloved friend and guide Ram Karki, with who we’ve trekked thousands of miles, was our fearless leader along with his son Pradeep. We set off into this area armed with solar lamps and questions of how Conscious Connections Foundation (CCF) could be of help. Midway through our trek our cook collapsed falling backward into a stream and Pradeep thought he had died. Running to the next village of Sertung, I asked in my simple Nepali, for the local medic. That is where the serendipity happened. I was led by two young girls to the home of Yogendra & Pema Tamang, the Certified Medical Assistant of the Village who helped us revive the cook (who we later found out was suffering from alcohol withdrawal!)
With a warm bed and some scolding from Pema, the cook survived, and because we had to lay over longer in Sertung than we had planned we interviewed Yogendra about what their needs were after the earthquake. He said they had received a few tarps, but their village was too remote to be the recipient of
much aid. We asked him what they needed and he said “good steady income so they could rebuild”. That’s when my Ganesh Himal hat popped on and we began to discuss their handwork skills. Together we began the exploration of potential products they could make and now 6 years later Ganesh Himal has purchased over $56,000 dollars directly from village women who have used it to rebuild and send their children to school. Because of this serendipity, you get to experience Sertungs handwork when you purchase their beautiful recycled sari-wrapped trivets, bowls, coasters, baskets, and trays. All because our cook passed out! Such serendipity.
CCF has also worked directly with Pema & Yogendra over these years to fund menstrual hygiene & emergency first aid training and distribute reusable menstrual kits to over 500 women and girls in the area. Many of you have helped fund that work!
Developing products in such a remote area is tricky & challenging. Items have to be lightweight to transport the two-day walk (for Nepali’s) to the nearest road. That’s why we work with recycled saris. But also developing products in such a remote area can present tremendous opportunity to work with ancient skills. That is how we developed these new market baskets you see featured today.
Nepali’s traditionally carry items in a handwoven basket (doko). Villagers either make their own or purchase them from someone nearby. These doko’s arephenomenally strong & the weaving beautiful, but they are in danger of being replaced by duffels, large plastic bags, or encroaching roads. Always being one to want to revive ancient skills I recently asked if there was a doko maker in Sertung and if they could think of anything besides bamboo to work with (bamboo is extremely difficult to import from Nepal). Serendipity again as Yogendra’s uncle is a skilled doko maker and agreed to teach the women of Tamang Handicrafts his skill. Yogendra came up with the idea of using strapping tape (about the same width of a bamboo strip and incredibly strong) and voila, these beautiful, long-lasting market baskets were born. The staff of Ganesh Himal Trading each has one and they are a tremendous success!So here’s to destiny and to long-lasting relationships. The villagers of Sertung have become a part of our family and we continue to look to their skills and determination for inspiration. We feel it was our destiny to work with them and in Nepal in general and we love those relationships. We also love our relationships with you. Thanks for supporting all of this wonderful work and for being our face to the world.
Namaste,
Denise Attwood
Co-Owner of Ganesh Himal Trading[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_6″ layout=”1_6″ align_self=”auto” content_layout=”column” align_content=”flex-start” valign_content=”flex-start” content_wrap=”wrap” spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” type_medium=”” type_small=”” order_medium=”0″ order_small=”0″ dimension_spacing_medium=”” dimension_spacing_small=”” dimension_spacing=”” dimension_margin_medium=”” dimension_margin_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” padding_medium=”” padding_small=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hover_type=”none” border_sizes=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_radius=”” box_shadow=”no” dimension_box_shadow=”” box_shadow_blur=”0″ box_shadow_spread=”0″ box_shadow_color=”” box_shadow_style=”” background_type=”single” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ background_color=”” background_image=”” background_image_id=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend_mode=”none” render_logics=”” filter_type=”regular” filter_hue=”0″ filter_saturation=”100″ filter_brightness=”100″ filter_contrast=”100″ filter_invert=”0″ filter_sepia=”0″ filter_opacity=”100″ filter_blur=”0″ filter_hue_hover=”0″ filter_saturation_hover=”100″ filter_brightness_hover=”100″ filter_contrast_hover=”100″ filter_invert_hover=”0″ filter_sepia_hover=”0″ filter_opacity_hover=”100″ filter_blur_hover=”0″ animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_position=”all” first=”false”][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
International Women’s Day, Ganesh Himal Trading, and Fair Trade
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Interview with Denise Attwood,
Co-owner of Ganesh Himal Tradingby Meredith Pietzman
Fair Trade WindsWhat inspired you to start Ganesh Himal Trading and work with artisans in Nepal?
When we arrived in Kathmandu in 1984, Ric and I had no idea that the experience would be a defining moment in our lives. Having just graduated from Huxley college of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University, Nepal was one of our first stops on an 8 month trip to explore what other countries were doing in regards to the environment. Prior to departing on a month-long trek through the Himalayas, we bought two wool sweaters from a Tibetan refugee family. We were amazed by how well the sweaters performed in harsh conditions and when we raved about them to the family, they replied: “Do you know how we can market them?”
Unprepared for that response we weren’t sure what to do but recognized that putting money directly in people’s hands allowed them to build the lives they wanted. So, with an initial investment of $400, we bought sweaters and socks and shipped them home to Spokane, Washington. Six months later, returning from our trip, and surprised to see the boxes had arrived, we presented a community slideshow and put the Nepali goods out for sale. People loved it! They loved the items and the concept that these families were making them to send their children to school. It became apparent to us that providing a fair wage and access to the U.S. market could offer economic empowerment. This could change lives. We had made the initial contacts and decided to dive in.
Our venture soon turned into a full time business. With the goal of supporting work that enhances people’s lives and traditions, we began establishing partnerships with small cottage industries and development aid projects. When we chose our partners in Nepal we looked for groups that were focused on women, the environment, refugees and other marginalized groups. We wanted people to have a place at the economic table and we saw this possibility through creating solid, caring mutually beneficial relationships through trade. When we started in 1984, there was no “Fair Trade Federation” or “fair trade criteria.” We used our own principles to guide our work:
- treat people with respect,
- make sure they get a fair return for their work,
- provide continuity over time along with safe working conditions, design assistance, and financial support.
At the heart of Ganesh Himal Trading is long term partnerships that empower each partner. We are committed to respectful and long term partnerships. We believe that building long lasting relationships based on trust, dialogue and mutual respect is key to community building and helps move us all toward a more equitable future.
Our partnerships are grounded in reciprocity. We work diligently to establish mutually beneficial relationships with our producers in Nepal by encouraging a balanced level of give and take. We work directly with producers as a team, expanding each other’s talents and ideas. We believe everyone’s insight and perspective is needed to create systems that address the changing nature of our world.
Striving for economic justice is where our business began. When Ganesh Himal Trading was established, we decided to seek out producer groups that worked with marginalized individuals (e.g. women and Tibetan refugees) so they could gain access to trading relationships for economic mobility. This has led to years of partnering with women producers to co-create a world where women have control over their money, are empowered to make their own decisions, and have a respected voice in all discussions. Overall, we believe that trade is interrelational and that access to trading relationships is key to enhancing people’s lives and traditions. After 36 years we are still firmly committed to this path.
How is Ganesh Himal Trading organized (i.e. Do the artisans work from home or go to a workshop, etc.)?
We work in partnership with 18 producer groups that employ hundreds of artisans from Kathmandu to the most remote rural areas in the country. Each group is organized based on how it works best for them. For example, many of the knitters work from home allowing them to tend to their families, knitting allows women to work for their own income in between caring for children and completing housework. But it does so much more.
For Ganesh Himal knits, women gather together in village or neighborhood teams, select a leader who can travel to get supplies, learn a new skill which gives them confidence, make money they can manage, discuss problems in their lives and community, all while staying at home. Their income earnings and greater confidence result in greater voice in their homes and communities resulting, over time in an increase in status and community leadership. This income gives them a greater voice and ultimately leads to more choice for them, their families and their children. Ganesh Himal also has created “social development funds” for each knitting group where an extra payment is made into a special fund that the women can manage together as a group. Some of these funds have been collectively used to pay for children’s school fees, funeral expenses and given as small loans to members to help pay for emergency services.
Most of Ganesh Himal Trading’s woven products come from The Association for Craft Producers (ACP). ACP is a fair trade organization that provides design, marketing, management, and technical services to low income, predominantly women, Nepalese craft producers. Meera Bhatterai, founded ACP in 1984, with a vision to pay women directly, teach them how to price their work so as not to be exploited in the market & ultimately to give women a greater voice. Today, because of ACP, nearly 1000 women from 15 districts in Nepal have the opportunity to become more financially independent, and have gained more credibility in their communities through the production of their crafts. Each of these groups is set up according to what works best for their producers in their villages.
For example, The Lagankhal Weaving Group joined the Association of Craft Producers (ACP) in 1985 with the hope of earning money for their families and children. Starting with four women who had no weaving skills, ACP trained the group in simple flat weaving. After receiving their training the group chose to create their own communal workshop near their homes in Kathmandu so that they could work in their spare time and be near their children when they needed them. Since 1985 the group has expanded to thirteen women weavers, of which a majority are the main breadwinners in their families. Ganesh Himal Trading has worked with the Lagankhal Weaving Group since they joined ACP in 1985. We help them to design products and order from them every two months on a year round basis so that these women are constantly receiving orders and income. They make many of Ganesh Himal’s most popular and beautiful table runners, placemats and rugs.
The Lagankhal group chose to work in a rented space so that they could be close to their children and families. After 25+ years their workspace had become run down yet their landlord was not interested in remodeling. Ganesh Himal Trading knew how important the community workspace was to these women so in 2011 we agreed to raise $5000 to remodel it. In partnership with our wholesale customers Ganesh Himal agreed to donate $2500 if our customers raised the other ½. By January of 2012 the money was raised and with ACP’s leadership the workshop restoration was finished by October of 2012! This was a wonderful collaborative process between Ganesh Himal Trading, our customers, ACP and the weavers. Now they have a beautiful, well-lit workspace and it even survived the 2015 earthquakes!
Each group has their own story about where they want to work and why. It is their decision what works best for them and Ganesh Himal Trading works alongside them to help them make their work spaces safe and comfortable for them within their cultural settings. Now our partner non-profit Conscious Connections Foundation (CCF) has also worked with artisans to help provide safe, earthquake resilient work spaces. In 2015 after the devastating earthquakes in Nepal CCF along with Ganesh Himal and many of our retail partners in North America, helped weavers who had lost their looms and homes in Kirtipur, Nepal, build a community weaving workshop that now not only provides a safe earthquake resistant workplace but also provides a community safe space in the event that another earthquake occurs.
There are so many other stories to share but I hope this gives a sense of how we work with artisans.
We know that every business has had to pivot during the pandemic. How has COVID impacted the way the artisans work (and/or how you work with them)?
Ganesh Himal Trading has had one continuous goal during Covid and that is to keep artisans working and getting paid in a safe environment. We are lucky in that many work in their homes which allowed them little exposure while they continued to work. For those who come into facilities to work it was harder since Nepal was in a complete lockdown for many months. Facilities for ACP had to be paid for and artisans and operating expenses needed to be paid. Since there were no PPP loans in Nepal, Ganesh Himal worked with our non-profit to raise funds for operational expenses in Nepal and was able to send $40,000 to ACP to help them survive during the lockdown. You can read my detailed blogpost on this relief here .
Usually GHT has shipments that leave every two months from Nepal and each artisan group has orders that are in those shipments. This allows them to continually receive income and ship orders. Covid changed that because we could not get flights for our goods out of Nepal for what would normally be our May 2020 shipment. Luckily that was the only shipment that had to be postponed and we stayed in close contact with all groups to make sure that if they needed funds to survive we would be there to help them out. Luckily they had each received large payments right before the lockdown in April and so all were able to survive. ACP was the group that had the largest operational expenses to maintain so that is where we focused most of our relief efforts for the artisans.
One thing I was very proud of with the groups that we work with is that because of our long term relationships with them they had resiliency. Now we are coming back to more of a “normal” shipping schedule and orders are coming and going more regularly.
What is your personal favorite product and why?
That is a tough question! I have so many. If I had to chose one item it would probably be our recycled sari placemats. I use them every day and they incorporate so much of what Ganesh Himal stands for. They are made by an amazing group of women who control their own money, they use recycled materials, I designed them, they are long-lasting (I think I have had one of my sets for 12 years) and they are beautiful. I love all of our products because they are not only beautiful but they are long lasting, affordable, many use recycled materials and all help marginalized makers create the world we all want to live in, one that is good for our families, our communities and our planet.
When women work, the impact of the investment is greatly multiplied. What benefits or positive changes have you seen in the communities where the artisans work and live?
There are many powerful stories to tell here but my favorite is the story of Laxmi Maharjan and the weavers of Kirtipur. Ganesh Himal has worked with them through the Association for Craft Producers since 1986.
Laxmi is a traditional weaver who never went to school but dreamed of sending her children to school. Raised in a culture that never allowed her to handle or control any of the money made from her craft, she understood that to be able to send her kids to school and pull her family out of poverty she needed to control the money from her work. In 1984 she discovered, The Association for Craft Producers (ACP), which would pay her directly for her work and help her set up a savings account. Now more than 34 years later her daughter and 2 sons have college educations and Laxmi has organized 60 other traditional women weavers in her village to understand fair trade and receive their earnings directly as well! Her work & leadership have transformed their lives and their culture!
ACP taught Laxmi how to calculate the value of her work and how to save. Now after earning fair wages and getting consistent orders, the men in her village value the women’s work and their economic contribution to their community. The women’s management of their income has changed the power dynamic in these women’s lives and allowed their voices to be heard, giving them more decision-making power in their families and in their community.
The income earned by the women weavers in Laxmi’s village is now so significant that the men work together with the women to help with the weaving production. Laxmi, as director, has become her husband’s boss, which is something that would have been unheard of 34 years ago!
ACP pays wages directly to the women artisans so that they control their money. In partnering with ACP these women also receive the benefits of social programs set up specifically for the producers. They have access to peer counseling, a scholarship fund to help them keep their children in school, access to workshops on topics such as how to vote, menstrual hygiene and how to exercise their rights as women and citizens and much more. This is a long way from the world Laxmi grew up in.
Traditional weaving is a labor intensive process but one which can be done in the home. This is vital to the women of Laxmi’s group. To work in their homes means they can look after their children and the farming. It takes 2 people 16 hours to create 200 meters of warp. The warp once completed is taken to a weaver’s home and placed on a floor loom that has been passed down to the weaver through generations. It will take one hour for a weaver to complete 1 meter of cloth, 200 hours to weave the entire warp. This one warp will make about 500 of Ganesh Himal’s dishtowels or about 200 sets of napkins. These are beautiful and durable products that will last for years. Machine weaving slowly encroaches on these women’s work but Ganesh Himal, ACP and these weavers are determined to keep this home based craft alive.
Women like Laxmi are improving their lives and educating their children, as they have always dreamed of being able to do. They have been given and they have taken the chance to control the money earned from the fabrics they make. They have been educated about the value of their work, learned about business and have been treated fairly.
As more people become aware of the value of fair trade, more women will have the opportunity to change their lives and improve the lives of their children and their communities. Laxmi is retired now but her daughter, Sudha, with a masters in social work and trained as a traditional weaver herself, has taken leadership of the group.
We love your commitment to empowering others. What advice would you give to women and girls who are interested in getting involved in causes they are passionate about?
My advice is to look at the story of Laxmi above and understand that these women who have been marginalized are incredibly powerful and when given the opportunity can achieve great things. You have to be patient and allow them to work their magic according to their own culture and traditions. You have to stand beside them as an equal, not as a superior and you have to understand that real, lasting change takes time. You have to really understand that it is not your say, but theirs, that matters for their future. As Westerners we want to fix things and do it quickly but in reality as a person who is interested in empowering others you have to realize that it is about facilitating the change they understand needs to occur. I see our role as helping people cultivate the ground and plant the seeds that will sprout in their climate and conditions and which will ultimately make us good friends and partners for a very long time.
What woman artisan or woman in your life has had the biggest impact on you personally?
Again, there are so many! I would say Laxmi has had a huge impact but someone else I have not yet mentioned is my dear friend Pema-la Lama. Pema-la fled Tibet at the age of 12 with little schooling and no money. A refugee in Nepal, she taught herself to read and write in Nepali and learned how to knit and sew, all the while caring for 6 younger siblings and tending to a father dying of cancer. In 1984 she lived with her husband Namgyal , also a Tibetan refugee, who fled when he was one, and their baby daughter, Chimi in a small room in Kathmandu with no water, bathroom or kitchen. They supported themselves with sales from a small shop where they sold bags and knitwear that they made.
As we came to know Pema-la and Namgyal we quickly learned that as Tibetan refugees they had little help from the Nepalese government and that to survive they needed to make their own way. They wanted to partner with us to create a business that would support them, their young family and their dreams. They recognized the need to educate their children and give them skills. They wanted their educated children to become ambassadors to the world and expose the brutal takeover of their country by the Chinese. As Tibetan Buddhists they wanted to pursue their path with compassion and respect for others. Ric and I wondered, as we heard their stories, how we could work together to help make their dreams reality. They were one of the inspirations for us beginning our own venture into Fair Trade and creating Ganesh Himal Trading.
Since 1984 we have worked together with Pema-la and Namgyal as families, friends and business associates to develop businesses that work to benefit all involved. Pema-la has worked harder than almost anyone we know to create this reality. From their humble beginnings, she and her husband have built a strong fair trade business that has helped send their three daughters to good schools and improve the lives of many others. They have set an example of how a successful business can be run with compassion at its core.
In February of 2007, more than 20 years after our first meeting, Pema-la and I sat and reflected on what they have done. Here is more of their story.
As their business grew Pema-la needed to bring other tailors and knitters in to help. She worked side by side with people who had been dispossessed to help create meaningful and profitable work for them. Men like Durba Pariyar who was no longer able to support his family through his small sewing shop. Pema-la asked him to become her master tailor and taught him cutting and patterning. When he wanted to provide work to young men in his village she brought those young men to Kathmandu and taught them to sew. When they had all worked together as a good team she set up a profit sharing plan for all of them so that as the business grew they would all benefit. This profit sharing plan gave them all a voice in the decision making process and a percentage of the profits. It was the first example of its kind in the Kathmandu Valley. When the Maoists came into Kathmandu during the early 2000’s demanding that workshops be closed because owners were not present, Pema-la’s group told them they couldn’t close their workshop because they were all owners. Their workshop was one of the few that was allowed to remain open.
Pema-la and Namgyal did not stop there. As the Nepalese countryside was ripped apart with civil war they reached out to village women who had been widowed in the conflict. As women fled to the cities to escape the fighting, some were given shelter by a friend of Pema-la’s in Nepalgunj. There they had shelter and food but no work. Pema-la heard of their plight and brought 10 of these women to Kathmandu and put them up in a hotel and gave them a month-long intensive training course in knitting. These women then returned to the shelter and taught others to knit. They are now making many of the knit socks, hats and other knit accessories which Pema-la provides to us at Ganesh Himal Trading.
Early in our business together Namgyal-la taught himself the intricacies of cargo freight forwarding so that we could all avoid the graft and corruption of existing shipping agencies. Over the 30+ years we’ve worked together this cargo company has become one of the best and most respected freight companies in Nepal. He was so well respected for his work and dedication that he was elected as the head of Nepal’s Freight Forwarding Association and as such brought forward the need to treat all workers within the cargo arena with care and respect. As head of the Freight forwarders association he even locked high government officials out of their offices when these officials denied the cargo porters needed work just because the officials wanted the day off. His work with government officials to promote trade and graft free shipping won him the “Civil Voice for Peace and Development “ Award in 2006. He was thrilled to have been handed this by the Prime Minister himself.
Pema-la and Namgyal’s three daughters are grown now. They all finished college in the US and their daughters have been the pride of their lives. Tragically, Pema-la’s husband and our dear friend Namgyal died suddenly of an aggressive liver cancer in 2007 leaving us all with a great sense of loss. It would be to his great pride to know that his middle daughter, Kesang, an accomplished and well educated young woman returned to Nepal to take over her father’s role in running the freight cargo business he had built from scratch. Kesang and her elder sister Chimme also created their own fair trade business, Padhma Creations, working with the abused and trafficked women their mother had trained to knit in Nepalgunj. Namgyal and Pemala had taken Kesang to the shelter in Nepalgunj when she was younger and it had a profound impact on her. “I remember being shocked at the sight of a 13-year-old village girl being rescued from trafficking by the police,” Kesang once said. “The story was that a distant relative of hers had intentions of selling her to a brothel in Mumbai. This incident created a lasting and profound impression on my life.”
Kesang and Chimme are now the second generation of a family committed to fair trade practices. They are both strong believers in helping others and Ganesh Himal has partnered with them since the inception of their business to bring their products into the North American market. It is remarkable to partner with these young, strong and compassionate young Tibetan women.
Ganesh Himal now works closely with Kesang and her company Padhma Creations. Our goal together is to provide Nepali women who have been trafficked or abused, economic development skills so that they can gain economic self-sufficiency. Understanding that it takes more than just a fair wage to bring women out of severe crisis together we have sought to provide women with health, education and social welfare programs. Since 2012 Ganesh Himal has contributed $1.00 for every item purchased from Padhma Creations to a Worker Development Fund. This money is set aside to provide a social benefit package that will give the infrastructural support lacking to women in Nepal and to compliment the already existing fair wage. The women have used a portion of this fund to provide scholarships for education, medical expenses, funeral costs, family emergencies and retirement. Originally, the educational scholarships were prioritized for the women most in need, but as the fund grew the number of recipients grew and now, all of the children of Padhma knitters are on scholarship (49 children as of 2015). Microloans are also available and each month a knitter can borrow up to $200 at 1% interest. From 2013 to 2016 Ganesh contributed -$21,532 to Padhma’s social welfare fund and is proud to have given them the financial stability in the fund to create lasting change in the lives of these knitters and their families.
Pema-la continues to work with her group of knitters and manages 15 tailors in Kathmandu. Each employee is paid on a per piece basis and she pays 50% higher than regular tailor’s wages. Free lodging and electricity is available for the producers near the workshop if needed. They receive a one hour break for lunch, afternoon tea with snack are provided daily, and they can work for paid overtime if they choose. They are given a one month extra salary for a holiday bonus and are paid medical leave. Many of the tailors have worked with Pema-la for over 15 years.
As Pemala nears her own retirement she has realized that she needs to begin to think of the retirement of those, particularly the women, she has worked with for so long. I got an email from Pemala stating “I am writing to ask you a request on behalf of my knitters. Many of the knitters have been working with Ganesh Himal for the past 25+ years, they are my extended family. Last month, one of our old knitters was having a personal family issue where her husband was cheating on her and I felt very bad and tried to console her. It is a very complex family matter but I would like to help her with a retirement savings fund. As I am nearing retirement, I have been thinking of setting up a small retirement fund for all my knitters who have worked with me for many years.
This is a small request on behalf of my knitters. If it is possible, for each item they knit could you add 70 cents so I can set up this fund just like Kesang has set up the education, festival and emergency fund for her knitters. All this money will go directly towards helping the women and by helping the women, we realize that we are supporting her entire family.”
You can tell the type of woman that Pema-la is from this email. She has always done her work from a perspective of offering help to others, especially those less fortunate. We at Ganesh Himal have been thrilled to help develop this retirement program alongside Pema-la. It is reflective of the strong and trusting relationship that we have that she can send a request such as this to her trading partner. Throughout 34+ years of relationship, we have created a close bond between our two companies and are able to have honest and direct communications about our needs. This is the value of fair trade and the long term relationships it requires.
I can tell you so much more around the work that Pemala, Kesang and Ganesh Himal Trading were able to do around earthquake relief for the artisans but that would require more time than I know that you have!
So, in reflecting over these years together and our shared path of fair trade it’s amazing to see the work that has been done and the lives that have been affected just in this one family. Pema-la and Namgyal’s dreams of compassionate work, educating their daughters and creating sustainable, lasting partnerships that benefit those with the least advantage have all been realized and continue to grow stronger and provide more benefit despite a 10 year civil war. Tibet is not yet free but Pema-la and her children continue to remain proud of their heritage and promote its enhancement, in their adopted home and throughout the world. These amazing people have helped to create big change in the lives of many less advantaged people, including their own. It has been a great gift for us at Ganesh Himal Trading to work with them these many years.
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Ganesh Himal Trading Interview with Tekia Thompson
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Ganesh Himal had the chance to interview Tekia Thompson who is the assistant manager at Ten Thousand Villages in Overland Park, Kansas. She is also the host of the new talk show serving the fair trade community, AmplifyLIVE! Recently, she started a blog on Instagram, Black & Fair.
GHT: Tell us all about Black & Fair and why you feel this is a topic that needs to be explored.. blog… ( what are you calling this?)
TT: Wow where to begin. Black & Fair (an Instagram blog) was born out of the internal struggle I’ve had with myself and this question of “Where do I, a black woman who wants to support and live out the mission of fair trade fit in?” I rarely saw myself as the consumer or leader. Rather, I should say someone who represents me, a woman of color. Every trendy hip photo, blogpost, webinar, YouTube show etc. showed a certain look. I’ll be honest, a very white look. Black & Fair is about learning, challenging, and changing the narrative of how people of color are viewed in the world of fair trade. I AM NOT an expert and I don’t speak for all people of color, but I firmly believe that the conversation should be happening and if there wasn’t a platform to do it on, so I created one myself.
GHT: How did you get involved in fair trade?
TT: I think I’ve always been involved in some aspect of fair trade before I even know what fair trade really was. I have spent a good majority of my life in the mission field locally and abroad and always found it disheartening when others worked alongside me believing the communities in which we served needed saving or couldn’t thrive without us there. I wanted to be different and always approached it as a place of doing life together and creating a space for others to be seen. At its core, fair trade is about putting people and planet first, so I think it has always been with me. I became more involved on the “corporate” side of things when I started working as the Assistant Manager at Ten Thousand Villages in Overland Park KS.
GHT: How do you hope Black & Fair influences the discussion around racism within the Fair Trade Community?
TT: My hope is to plant the seed within the fair trade community that we, people of color are a vital, active contributing part of this community! All communities in fact. Not just as marginalized artisans but as makers, doers, dreamers and yes, leaders! I am hoping for an open, honest discussion. I know I’m walking a fine line in the content I’ve been sharing and how for some this may be great but for others I’m poking the bear. But hey we all know winter is coming and I don’t want that beast going back into hibernation. We need to be talking and actively working together to seek actual change.
GHT: You have been leading small group discussions on racism. What inspired you to do the small group settings? How have they been going?
TT: Yes, my best friend who is also black started an initiative called Colorful Conversations. The focus of Colorful Conversations was to create a grace-filled space in which our white friends and family have the opportunity to openly share their thoughts, concerns, ideas and perspectives on racism and its very real impact as well as listen to our unique perspectives and experiences as black women in America. We have been leading these discussions with a spirit of grace and humility; meeting people where they are in order to build a bridge toward cultural and personal change. At first we didn’t want to even think about it but after having several talks with various friends and feeling this tug on our hearts we thought, we can do this. We have held 12 small group sessions so far and each one has been raw, real, eye opening and life changing. Having the small groups allowed for people to feel more comfortable sharing and asking the tough questions. We have been bold in sharing our stories as well and in some ways it’s been an emotional rollercoaster and in other ways it’s been very freeing! We have been asked to create a community -wide event so that’s next on our very full plates.
GHT: You are very busy with several projects, what do you do for fun? Or to unwind?
TT: SLEEP! Ha. I have been listening to a lot of music. Everything from classical to country to KPOP (yes I love Korean dramas and music)! It has helped me take a step back and regroup. I do know that I will have to slow down soon and delegate one of my many projects, so we’ll see what that will look like in the upcoming months.
Visit Black & Fair
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From Crazy Science Fiction to Untold Possibility…
Welcome to the craziest science fiction story ever imagined. So glad you are in this story with us. As things get stranger, we at Ganesh Himal Trading feel and experience more powerfully than ever that our community is truly here for us and for each other. There is a beautiful supportive environment from everyone and it is heart-warming. Our dynamic fair trade community feels solid and full of untold possibility.
I told our Ganesh team last week, as we realize things will never go back to the way they were, we are invited to create together the reality that we would like to see emerge. This is our time to help a world of economic justice come into being and we get the chance to help midwife the birthing. Scary, yes, but so is every birth. Full of fear of what could happen but also the hope of what could be.
I admit, these have been incredibly stressful times but I find hope in the strengthening of the vision we as fair traders have of a different world where all benefit and thrive. We have been walking this path already. We have understood that the pathways of old only worked for the few and that to forge a new reality we’ve had to walk on yet unrevealed paths with only each other by our sides. We truly are meant for these times and in some ways luckier than most in that we have already had the courage to venture into new terrain and believe in a new reality. So, we know it can be done. As I said before, so glad you are here creating this new story with us.
To these ends, Ganesh Himal is working on some smaller and some larger ways to adapt and hopefully make things easier for all of you. We are trying to look at the world through different eyes and tell our story differently. Here are some changes you will see highlighted in this newsletter:
- In the past GHT was the “land of assortment” which works for many brick and mortars, but now we want to spread the word that we can also provide depth in design and color in many items for those who are on the web.
- Even though we have never done trade shows (because our carbon footprint is already big) new technology gives us the opportunity to open our doors virtually to you. Now you can schedule a virtual shopping experience, see all of our products and choose what you want. We’ll get to know each other even better and you’ll experience the same GHT amazing customer service.
- We realize that the world does not revolve around GHT alone and that you are always looking for a great variety of products that compliment each other. So with collaboration and growing the Fair Trade movement in mind GHT has created a page of wholesale FTF partners linking you to their websites and we will begin featuring WS FTF partners in our newsletter (to show how cool our products look together).
- Thanks to FTF we are joining with other Fair Trade Wholesalers to create a Fair Trade presence and GHT site on Faire.com. We won’t have our entire inventory on Faire.com but we will have about 200 products. More information on that below.
- We continue to promote the Conscious Consumer Network & AmplifyLIVE! on Facebook to brink a larger community into the awareness of why fair trade matters.
- Finally, (and this is not a change but a continuation of 30+ years of work), we are, through GHT’s non-profit partner Conscious Connections Foundation, supporting artisan relief to help really amazing businesses in Nepal from going under.
In the words of the brilliant writer Terry Tempest Williams in her new book “Erosion: Essays of Undoing”:
“What we experience as heartbreak, the loss of a job or a marriage, or illness, or another disruption in the life we had planned for ourselves, may be our liberation-an open door to growth.”
We look forward to growing together as we take even bigger steps toward an equal, equitable, and just world where people and planet thrive. Thank you for taking the challenge, we hope to be there for you in any way we can.
Be safe and be courageous, in these times.
Hugs, Denise
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Interview with Kevin Natapow: Cultivating Strong Customer Relationships
Kevin Natapow is a retail consultant specializing in inventory management, business development, POS systems, HR, customer service and marketing. His company, Creative Retail Solutions, serves to lend retail/inventory expertise to Fair Trade and other retail shops around the nation. Before starting Creative Retail Solutions, Kevin co-founded Momentum, a Fair Trade store in Boulder, CO. He helped grown Momentum in to a successful Fair Trade business and now lends his expertise to other retailers.
Strong customer relationships are the foundation of a successful retail business. Ganesh Himal Trading had the chance to sit down with Kevin and ask him what he thinks helps cultivate stronger relationships.
GHT: What are some ways retail shops can build strong customer relationships?
KN: After choosing the best possible location for your shop one of the next best things you can do is build strong customer relations and have a strong customer service ethos for your shop. It can be hard at times for smaller brick and mortar retailers to compete on price with other larger and online retailers, but the one place we can really shine is the customer service experience. Basically, you want as many customers who walk through your doors to leave feeling like they just had the most amazing retail experience ever. The easiest way to do this is to have some very robust and clear customer service expectations of your employees/volunteers. You will need to lay out how you envision the customer service experience and then create comprehensive protocols for training your employees/volunteers around those expectations. Anyone you put out on the floor to interact with customers is now the face of your organization so having them well trained and clear on expectations is critical as well as holding them to those expectations.
GHT: How do you lay the foundation for long term, repeat customer relationships?
KN: A great strategy for creating long term, repeat customers is again, making their retail experience the best it can be with customer service but rewarding them for their loyalty can go a long way. Many POS systems these days have built in customer loyalty/rewards programs that make it easy to implement and track. Brand your loyalty program somehow with your store’s brand so that it is easy to pitch and can have its own identity and buzz around it. Make the rewards something substantial and memorable. For example, my shop had a program that rewarded customers with a $50 reward for every $500 they spent. It never expired and the POS system tracked everything for them and showed on the receipt how they were progressing in the reward. When they reached that mark it popped up in the system and could automatically apply the $50 reward to their purchase. As part of the enrollment process we gathered their birthday month and address and mailed them a $15 gift certificate on their birthday. The whole program was free and within 3 years of implementation our email and member list grew from around 1,500 subscribers to over 11,000. Customers love feeling special and being known by the shops they support so rewarding them for their loyalty will keep them coming back and spending more. Plus, the word of mouth advertising they will do is priceless.
GHT: What are some ways retail shops can build a sense of community through their store?
KN: Partnering with other local NPO’s and community-focused organizations and businesses is a great way to attract new customers and reach possible demographics that may not hear about you or naturally come across your shop. Host events in your shop that help raise money for local NPO’s or host events where you are helping to raise awareness around certain local and/or global issues. When you host these events the organization you are working with will cross-market with their supporters and get them to show up for the fundraiser and now you have a whole new group of potential customers that at least know about you and the work you are doing, but also know that you are supporting something they believe in. You can also hold book readings by local authors, participate in art walks, food events with local restaurants, etc. If there is something going on in your downtown area, participate in it and attract customers by showing up and being present and engaged.
GHT: How important is it to network within the larger community to get the word out about your store?
KN: This plays into the strategies above but as a business owner or manager it is very important to network within the larger community. Seek opportunities to speak to different groups about Fair Trade and artisan support. You can talk to business organizations, schools, etc. Look for ways to connect through your chamber of commerce or a local downtown business organization. It is also a great way to seek mentorship from other successful business people who can offer advice or expertise.
GHT: What are some of the most effective ways a store owner can communicate the values behind their brand to their customers?
KN: This is a tricky one as we don’t want to come across as over “preachy” about Fair Trade but it is great when customers know more about the impact they are making by supporting fair trade and local businesses. I don’t feel floor staff should lead with fair trade and focusing on the values and mission of the shop. Lead instead of cultivating that amazing customer service experience and making a personal connection with your customer. Once that relationship is established and you are engaged with them, you can talk about the products, the artisans and 9-10 times the conversation will evolve into something powerful and meaningful around fair trade and the work your shop is doing to create positive change. It can be hard to accept sometimes but we are just retailers trying to sell products to consumers. Yes, we are fair trade and more than just that but to most of the first time customers coming into our shops, they don’t know that. Win them over first, gain their trust and confidence and build the relationship, then use that as your opportunity to grow their knowledge about the impact they are making by shopping in your store.
Off-Setting Our Carbon Footprint
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“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree” are the words of poet Joyce Kilmer. Words I have carried with me since childhood. I love trees, I seek their solace, shade and beauty. Recently I grew to love them even more as I listened to the words of Indian scholar and environmental activist, Dr. Vandana Shiva. In an interview with Claire Dubois of treesisters.org Vandana so eloquently stated that if we are looking for the best way to sequester carbon and heal the earth, nature has provided us with the ultimate carbon sequestration machine… trees. They are the complex lungs of the earth and provide a way where all of us can step in to help collectively in the healing of our planet.
Ever since Ganesh Himal Trading started we have worried about the environmental impact of transporting goods halfway around the world. To mitigate this somewhat, we have used only recycled boxes, built a super insulated, energy efficient warehouse on 40 acres that preserves pine and aspen forests and created as little waste as possible. But listening to Vandana’s words I realized we had an avenue by which to do much more. We could plant trees. Through Treesisters we found Eden Projects and are now entering into a partnership with them (read below) to plant trees in Nepal to offset the impact of each of our shipments.
As members of the Fair Trade Federation we are required to “cultivate environmental stewardship” as “fair trade seeks to offer current generations the ability to meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. This is our commitment to you, to your customers, to our partners in Nepal and to our beautiful planet. We have been paying to plant and care for 4000 trees/year since 2019 in Nepal going forward and 1000 trees/year going backward. This tree planting, through Eden Projects, will not only help produce beauty and sequester carbon, it will also provide Nepali’s, 70% of whom are forest dependent, with good paying jobs and an ability to stay on the land for years to come. We are thrilled to be a part of this work.
Please check out these websites above and learn more about these amazing movements. It is by all of us joining together that we can move forward through to a more loving, healthy and just world. Enjoy the fall and remember the trees.
Namaste,
Denise
We plant 4,000 each year, equaling 8,000 trees planted in total over the past two years.
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Climate Strike / News
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Climate Strike!
On Friday, September 20th, the Ganesh Himal team joined thousands of people around the world and participated in the International Climate Strike. We attended our local event in downtown Spokane WA, to demand action on climate change now.
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Announcing Our Plan to Off-Set Ganesh Himal Trading’s Carbon Footprint
Eden Reforestation Project is the organization we work with who plants trees in Nepal. Photo Credit: Eden Reforestation Project.Planting Trees
Ganesh Himal generates C02 emissions when we airfreight our products from Nepal. In order to decrease our carbon footprint we are making a commitment to plant 500 tree seedlings in Nepal for every shipment we receive. That’s 3000 seedlings per year. Trees are one of the best ways to sequester carbon which helps limit global warming, providing for a cleaner, healthier climate. (see Project Drawdown-afforestation)
Our Partners in Nepal
To plant the seedlings, Ganesh Himal Trading will donate to Eden Reforestation Projects, a California based non-profit that has been working in Nepal to support poverty alleviation and environmental restoration since 2015. Eden Projects has already planted over 3 million trees in 3 distinct regions across Nepal and aims to:- Alleviate extreme poverty by hiring local villagers, giving them a fair wage, to grow, plant and guard large-scale forest restoration sites,
- Provide a consistent income to poverty stricken communities encouraging economic growth and,
- Restore the environment through reforestation efforts, improving fisheries, agriculture and carbon sequestration.
The Math
We did the math and figured out that each shipment from Nepal weighs approximately 5000 lbs which, when airfreighted creates 13 tons of Co2. In order for us to offset 1 ton of Co2, we need 4 mature trees. So that means 13 x 4 = 52 mature trees per shipment. With 6 shipments a year, we need 312 mature trees total to offset the Co2. Our goal is to to plant 3000 seedlings per year with this reliable project to grow enough trees to maturity to reduce our footprint. The cost to do this is a mere 33 cents per tree or $990 a year and the benefits are huge.
We aren’t Stopping There
Finding Eden Projects in Nepal also means we can begin making up for the Co2 emissions from years past, so Ric and Denise (co-founders of Ganesh Himal Trading) have pledged to donate $330 a year to plant 1000 more seedlings. That means a total of 4000 seedlings per year planted & cared for in Nepal and fair income for impoverished villagers. We think it’s a win win!
A Few Ways You as a Fair Trade Business Leader Can Take Action for Climate Change
- Show up and strike! Find a local march/protest in your community and join them; if you are a business owner, pay your staff to take time off and participate. This tool kit can help you get the word out and encourage others to do the same.
- Use Social Media to show your support for climate strikes, even if you are unable to attend any events. More ideas here.
- Get politically active and vote! We must elect a government that will take bold action to reduce emissions, prepare for climate change and build a strong, diverse, equitable and clean economy.
- Green your commute: try to drive less and choose public transportation, biking or carpooling.
- Consider a workplace energy audit to identify where you can make the most energy-saving gains.
- Promote products in your store that encourage preserving the environment by offering a discount. Get creative and have fun raising awareness of this important issue.
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