Andrew Mwenda on African Aid

Andrew Mwenda is a journalist from Uganda who gave a brilliant talk before TED last September. I agree that his talk is, in his words, "like a miniskirt - short enough to arouse interest, but long enough to cover the subject."

Listen closely, he's got an accent.







His main point is that official aid to Africa should provide national governments with an incentive to focus investment among local entrepreneurs, as opposed to targeting primary health, education, and hunger. The idea is that the current aid arrangement entrenches a system of dependency among African governments and does little to really build wealth. If wealth is built through investing in entrepreneurship, an attitude of self-sufficiency will be created that will be infinitely more potent than continuing to pump dollars into government coffers.

As a bit of shameless self-promotion, that is precisely what fair trade does. We work with several organizations all over Africa that have developed successful businesses along the entrepreneurial model. The difference between what fair trade does and what Mwembe suggests is that fair trade's market exists overseas, whereas Mwembe supports the development of the local markets. But hey, we've got to start somewhere, and so far aid on the official level has yet to make much of a dent.

This would be a great excuse to write a letter to your congressman or senator. And while you're at it, ask them to pressure our city to lower sewage fees for downtown. This water bill is killing me!

Think Fair Chattanooga happened.

We were pleasantly surprised at the turnout. A teacher from David Brainerd HS made it an extra credit event for her environmental science class, which accounted for about half the room. But some people were actually there because of the flier and facebook.

Advertising events online and around town is a lot like throwing baseballs at a dunk tank in pitch (no pun intended) darkness. Looks like we hit the mark with this one.

It's encouraging. I think we'll be doing this some more. You know, when we have some free time to plan another one. Will and I were talking about the possibility of a film/book review series to take place during the spring school semester. Stay tuned.

I misspelled a five letter word...

...In a flyer that was distributed all over Chattanooga and the internet. And I'm the one who created it.

It would be one thing if the word were something like, "dystopia," but it wasn't. The word was "trade." As in, fair trade. The whole organizing principle of our business.

Apparently in Marketing, a good strategy is to turn negatives into positives. So to that end, I'd like to think of this limited-edition poster art as a collector's piece that is sure to appreciate in value significantly over the coming decades. Capture a little World Next Door history for yourself, and hang on to those fliers for our "fair tade awareness event" in the same safe you keep your most precious valuables.

Or, find out what "fair tade" is and spread awareness for it!

Robin Hood

This was an awe-inspiring event last year. Our very own E-Wray (that's Elizabeth Wray) spearheaded the effort last year, mobilizing the GPS student body to raise over $60,000 to fund the construction of a girls' school in rural Afghanistan.

It's happening again this year, and everybody seems to speculate that last year simply can't be matched. But public opinion won't stop things from moving forward. This year the fundraising will benefit the construction of an all-girls' charter school here in Chattanooga.

It's a weeklong festival on GPS' campus featuring all kinds of programming. We'll have several booths set up in the quadrangle selling fairly traded goods, and we'll be donating a large percentage of profit to the Robin Hood effort. E-Wray is consulting with Jency to get our part of the game together.

Technically Robin Hood is a GPS event, but anyone is welcome to come and support the intiative. It will take place Oct. 27-31.

Think Fair Chattanooga

October is Fair Trade Month. We're gonna do something about that.

We're teaming up with our friends at Main & Mocha to put on a small event. You want to read a marketing blurb? Thought you'd never ask...



Think Fair Chattanooga will be an evening of engaging Fair Trade with the eyes, mind, and taste buds.

Come in from the autumn chill for a hot cup of coffee brewed from fairly traded beans, and stay for a viewing of Buyer Be Fair: The Promise of Product Certification. This film takes the viewer around the globe to show how conscious consumers and businesses can use the market to promote social justice and environmental sustainability through product labeling.

World Next Door will produce the event to be hosted by Main & Mocha, located in the Carter Center at the corner of Main Street and Market Street in Chattanooga's Southside district.

What: Think Fair Chattanooga
When: 7:00 PM Thursday, October 23
Where: Main & Mocha, 1463 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN
Why: For the poor, for Chattanooga, and for free coffee and chocolate!