Ten Thousand Villages is nestled in the main shopping district of Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill. photo/Amanda King

Starving artists rescued from poverty

By: Amanda King

Posted: 5/31/09

In a day and age where merchandise is thrown together on an assembly line in a factory, it is unusual to find a store filled with fair trade handcrafted items from far away, poverty stricken lands.

Located on busy Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill, Ten Thousand Villages is Pittsburgh's only independent, non-profit, fair trade retail store. Seventy volunteers help with unpacking and inventorying handcrafted items made by 131 different artisan groups in 38 countries.

"All of the artisans we serve live in very underdeveloped areas of the world, so they are at a disadvantage when it comes to the potential to earn a fair wage for their product," Mary Frey, marketing manager of Ten Thousand Villages told the Voice.

"We build long-term relationships with them, take their products to the market and practice the principles of fair trade."

Ten Thousand Villages is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and Fair Trade Federation, which strengthen and promote the organization to fully commit to fair trade by building equitable and sustainable trading partnerships with the artisans and creating opportunities to alleviate poverty.

"You can do fair trade anywhere, but Ten Thousand Villages focuses on people with no access," Jennifer Legler, volunteer coordinator and outreach manager of Ten Thousand Villages told the Voice.

"Last year, they looked at regions that they felt needed the most help economically."

Ten Thousand Villages determined Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa needed the most. Artisan groups already have been established in Ghana and South Africa and are helping financially through trading. The store also trades with artisans in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Once these groups have traded with Ten Thousand Villages for a set time period, they are eligible for the store's business classes that help the artisans create their own businesses.

"The idea is that these groups should not be dependent on us forever," said Legler. "It doesn't benefit them in the long run if working with us is the only way they can sell anything."

Surprisingly, 70 percent of these artisans are women who are earning income in poor countries where women are looked down upon as financial providers for their families.

"It's about giving them a way to sustain their income and benefiting them over time and being able to change those things on their own," said Frey.

Julian Gallegos, CCAC North Campus professor of economics and former member of the Peace Corps thinks the idea is superb, yet unrealistic.

"If the artisans take their revenue and reinvest it, then that is business at its best," Gallegos told the Voice. "If the product inspires more demand, it will increase production, employment will increase, their standard of living will increase and it will be good for the self esteem of the country."

However, the process sounds easier than it actually is.

"The only problem I can see in these countries is the heavily involved governments," said Gallegos. "Although 100 percent of the revenue is sent back to the country, their government will want to take its share, and more products will have to be brought to the Unites States to be sold."

Ten Thousand Villages pays the artisan 50 percent when the order is placed, so the artist can purchase available raw materials or use accessible natural resources. This goes along with the environmental eco-sensitive business practices of which Ten Thousand Villages is a part.

The other half of the order is paid in full when delivered to one of the 81 network stores in the United States.

Ten Thousand Villages has come a long way since its beginnings in 1946 when Mennonite Central Committee member Edna Ruth Byler traveled the world and had a passion to help artisans earn an income by selling their work out of the trunk of her car.

By 1968, her project was titled SELFHELP crafts, and in 1996, the name was changed to Ten Thousand Villages. Since then, the practice of fair trade has spread throughout the social culture of the United States.

Ten Thousand Villages has grown to 150 retail stores nationally and recently opened four stores in Florida, Georgia and Delaware.

Click here to view Ten Thousand Villages slideshow. Photos/Amanda King/Voice