Community members on the river in the Peruvian AmazonOur first stop, after a four-hour boat trip into the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon, illustrated the far-reaching impact that our partners have at the community level. Minga Peru, one of our earliest community-based partners, is dedicated to promoting reproductive health, gender equity, and the empowerment of women living in rural villages. As with all of our partners, helping women earn their own income is an important aspect of the organization’s work; and their purses and bracelets made primarily from natural products found in the rainforest are popular GGP products. Beyond the economic empowerment activities, however, lies a comprehensive public health program, which aims to reach communities that do not have access to the information or services found in larger towns and cities. Minga’s award-winning radio soap-opera, Bienvenida Salud, disseminates life-saving health messages, incorporating personal stories and input from local women to keep the information relevant to their needs. In addition, Minga trains local women to serve as the only available health experts in their communities and, when necessary, refers cases to the health clinic in Nauta, a major town over one hundred kilometers downriver.
Next, a very productive ten-day trip through Bolivia introduced us to several local experts who helped us to better understand the current situation in the country, particularly for the marginalized, indigenous population. One of our advisers, Iván Rebolledo, the president of the Bolivian-American Chamber of Commerce, has spent many years working in Bolivia and personally knows many of the country’s leaders, including the recently elected president, Evo Morales. We were also fortunate to receive assistance from the local ProArtesania team (formerly the Bolivian office of Aid to Artisans), who has extensive knowledge of microenterprises throughout the country. With advice from Iván and ProArtesania, we set out to learn about the products being made, the needs of women in the communities, and how GGP’s grants and technical assistance programs could best be applied. In the impoverished neighborhood of El Alto, located in the sprawling urban hills of La Paz, we learned that most women give birth to their children at home without assistance from a health worker. We learned about their limited access to education and healthcare; the real costs of housing, food, and basic services; and how they are learning to be leaders and advocates for their own rights. All of the women we met echoed what we had heard from women in Asia and Africa: As a member of the cooperative Alma de los Andes explained, “We want our children to have all the possibilities of others and to look toward a brighter future.”
Women of Ikamva Labantu sewing teddy bearsFinally, our visit to the northern-most tip of Argentina offered a rare opportunity to visit the very isolated Wichí community, an indigenous population that, for the past century, has witnessed the systematic appropriation and destruction of its ancestral land by outside industries and interests. Ermalinda, a community member and organizer, welcomed us into her home, where she and her family described how the Wichí use fibers from the chaguar—a native, cactus-like plant—to weave bags, jewelry, and other textile objects. The products are sold to the Buenos Aires-based fair-trade organization Pampa Brava, which adds finishing touches and markets them in the city and abroad. Beyond the basic spinning and weaving methods, Ermalinda showed us some of the techniques that the Wichí use to improve their working conditions, such as a piece of rubber tire to protect their thighs from the rubbing of the thread, and cool ash from the fire to protect their hands while rolling the material to make it soft and supple. We were so impressed with these small but inventive improvements that we shared them with our Peruvian partner, Minga Peru, which makes products with chambira, a plant similar to the chaguar. Now, these two groups are interested in meeting one another for an exchange of ideas, and GGP is working to coordinate this exciting effort. In addition to admiring the Wichí’s unique products, we learned about the work of Siwani, a local association made up of Wichí women, that provides literacy training, health education, and technical assistance for their chaguar production and weaving. Association members democratically elect their leaders—women who have clearly defined and respected roles in the community.
Members of Siwani discussing product designTime and again, we were impressed by the passion and ambition of the women that we met who are taking on new roles in their communities as leaders, activists, and educators. They empathize with the other women we work with around the world—from Uganda to Pakistan to Thailand—who are trying to achieve similar objectives. And they have unflagging energy to continue to work against the odds to make real, positive change in their communities.
In all, this trip reaffirmed our commitment to GGP’s multi-pronged approach to supporting community development. The women who create products sold by GGP are interested in more than their own jobs. They are seeking ways to contribute to long-term progress in their communities. Through a partnership with GGP, these women gain much-needed income for their families; but they also know that our accompanying capacity-building services look beyond their products, actively supporting the individuals who created them and the communities that they inhabit.
Meal time at Comunidad WiñayIt is morning in Cochabamba, and people throughout this large, central Bolivian city are preparing for the day. As is the case all over the world, working mothers have much to do before heading off to work. Breakfasts must be made, students must be sent to school, and babysitters must be arranged for younger children. In so many cases, the need to find—and pay for—childcare is an obstacle that forces women to give up full-time employment, thus limiting their families’ incomes and restricting their individual choices.
Not so for the employees of Comunidad Wiñay, a worker-owned enterprise that creates ceramic goods for local and international markets. When finding affordable, reliable daycare for their children became too difficult, the women of Wiñay took matters into their own hands. As a democratically functioning association, the members of Wiñay voted to offer a daycare on the workshop’s premises, providing quality childcare, kindergarten instruction, and after-school programming during the workday, as well as nutritional meals for the children and their mothers.
Women who take advantage of the daycare facilities are required to contribute to a fund established expressly to pay for food, materials, and health services and the salaries of the childcare providers. Not only do the women know exactly where their children are and who is caring for them, but their children are receiving a quality of education that is unusual for low-income families. With the preparation they receive in Wiñay’s program, children are more likely to succeed once they enter primary school. And for those children who are already attending school, Wiñay’s after-school homework help and extracurricular activities provide an important supplement to their lessons, promoting academic success and discouraging them from dropping out of school.
The daycare is not the only aspect of Wiñay that sets it apart. Each year, the employees elect a council that provides overall management for the workshop. When decisions must be made—from offering a new ceramic design to selecting a new kindergarten teacher—all association members cast votes, ensuring democratic decision-making. Moreover, through the daycare fund, Wiñay pays for health insurance for the children of its employees, an exceptional service for any small business.
In all, Wiñay’s daycare and employee benefits are an inspiring example of how successful microenterprises can respond to the needs of their workers, offering services that improve both working conditions and the overall quality of life for women.
African breadbasket created by Gone Rural in SwazilandGone Rural, a GGP partner based in Swaziland, is a finalist for the BBC’s World Challenge 2006.
Coordinated by BBC World and Newsweek, World Challenge finds individuals or groups around the world who have shown enterprise and innovation at the grassroots level. From among eight hundred entries, Gone Rural and eleven other finalists are profiled in six World Challenge television specials, airing on BBC World between October 7 and November 15, 2006, and will be highlighted in Newsweek magazine. The winners of the competition will be selected by online voting on the World Challenge website. The winning project will receive a $20,000 prize, and two runners-up will receive $10,000 each.
Gone Rural is committed to empowering rural women, alleviating poverty, and supporting AIDS orphans in Swaziland. The women and families who work for Gone Rural use traditional techniques to hand-create culturally distinct Swazi products using locally available and sustainable natural resources. In addition to the vital employment it provides, Gone Rural offers an AIDS education program, pays school fees for AIDS orphans, and serves as a community advocate for better government services, such as the provision of clean and safe drinking water. To learn more and to cast your vote, visit www.theworldchallenge.co.uk.
Co-founders of GGP appeared on The Today Show with Katie Couric.
Click here to see the video.
GGP joined the Mary McDowell Center for Learning in Brooklyn, New York, for its first school fundraising program
The Children’s Museum of the Arts in Manhattan hosted an event benefiting GGP partner WEAVE in Thailand
The Rainforest Foundation featured GGP’s Rainforest bag, produced by Minga Peru, as the official “swag” bag for the group’s annual spring benefit
GGP initiated its Global Classroom program by arranging for representatives from its partner groups to speak to students at the New York City Lab School and the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in Manhattan; and the Maret School in Washington, DC
Woven bags made by women of Pampa BravaGGP offers schools an effective, educational, and socially responsible fundraising tool. By raising funds through the sale of artistic, high-quality, and fair trade products made by GGP’s partners, participating schools support advancements in education, health, women’s rights, and economic development.
More than a typical “fundraiser,” this program provides schools with an innovative and accessible way to incorporate into its usual classes and holiday functions lessons about other cultures, current affairs, social responsibility, and ways in which everyday acts—such as an ordinary purchase—can have a global impact.
This fall, GGP is conducting its school fundraising program for the first time. The schools that are taking part in this new initiative include:
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Freehold Township High School, Freehold, New Jersey
George G White Middle School, Hillsdale, New Jersey
Nightingale-Bamford School, New York, New York
North Dover Elementary School, Toms River, New Jersey
S. R. Butler High School, Huntsville, Alabama
Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
Woodrow Wilson Senior High School, Washington, DC
For more information, please contact Joan Shifrin, or visit globalgoodspartners.org/schools.
We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported the launching of GGP this past year. We appreciate the confidence you have placed in us and the commitment you have demonstrated to promoting social justice globally.
In particular, we are grateful for the important grants we have received from American Jewish World Service and The Global Fund for Children, organizations with extraordinary vision and impact. Their support of GGP at such an early stage in our development will continue to strengthen our work in the years to come. We are grateful also to Andrew Bogen and the law firm Arent Fox for their counsel and generosity. In addition, we would like to thank:
Individuals
Woman working at loom for CVCD in CambodiaGail Beharry
Frank Bergman
Jane Bigger
Barbara Boersma
Mary Sherwood Brock
Michele and Morton D. Fisch
Ming-I Huang
Kathleen and Scott Kapnick
Jody and Giulio Martini
Sarah and Peter O’Hagan
Michelle Ores and Charles Schorin
Cynthia Palmer Bussard
Mary Beth Pittaluga
Iván C. Rebolledo
Luis O. and Rae Kaplan Reyes
Rebecca Rivera
George Roberts
Cecilee Schirmer
Beverly Searcy
Joan Shifrin and Michael Faber
Catherine and Rony Shimony
Stephanie and Alfred Shuman
John Slade
Cynthia Weeks
Foundations
Anonymous
The Barry and Teri Volpert Foundation
The Wally Foundation
The Stanley and Dorothy Winter Philanthropic Fund
Wooden bracelets produced by Community Friendly Movement in IndiaA nonprofit endeavor, GGP pursues this mission by partnering with organizations, associations, and cooperatives worldwide that integrate their commitment to community development—specifically, improvements in education, health, women’s rights, and employment opportunities—with socially responsible income-generating enterprises. GGP provides its partners with direct access to new markets in the United States, increasing both their revenue and global awareness of their work. GGP uses proceeds from product sales to provide technical assistance and grant support to its partners, assisting them in building stronger, more effective programs.
Donations to GGP are tax deductible and are used to support capacity-building grants and the promotion of products made by GGP’s partners around the world. To make a contribution in support of GGP’s work, or to learn more about the organization, please visit the website at: www.globalgoodspartners.org.