Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Grace Episcopal Bookstore

World Next Door now has another remote location -- Grace Episcopal Bookstore.

The official opening (or reopening, rather) was on September 21st. But I just now made it over there to take some pictures. Feast your eyes! Kim and Jency did a wonderful job of creating a bright, colorful, appealing display. They're quite good at it.

We worked with Dabney Carter at Grace to get everything set up, and we're excited to be there. We very much believe in mobilizing those who follow Jesus to engage and support fair trade in their community of faith. As ones who believe that God hates injustice, we're excited to partner with the American church to promote fair trade and its mission to combat injustice in the economic realm.

The Grace Bookstore is open Tuesday-Friday from 10:00-2:00, and Sundays 9:00-10:30 and 12:00-12:40. It is also open Wednesday evenings, 4:00-6:30. The church is located at the corner of Brainerd Road and Belvoir Road in Chattanooga.

Here's a small part of our section. We also occupy lots of shelf space and a couple windows.

Other items for sale in the bookstore include books of theology and Christian apologetics, as well as commentaries and more. Other gift items are offered, including hand-blown glass balls, wooden sculptures, and more.
There's a lounge area too, for anyone who wants to just hang out and enjoy the atmosphere and community.

We're excited to be there, and there's more in the works.

We're currently exploring a partnership with a coffee shop on Main St., one of Chattanooga's hottest spots for new development. More to come as things develop...

CultureFest was muy festivo!

Here are a few pictures from CultureFest. It was a great event. Sometimes (read: Riverbend) events are just lots of work. CultureFest, which took place Saturday, didn't feel like lots of work, even though we were there from 9 to 7. Coolidge Park is a great venue for things like this. Everybody goes there anyway, but to have tents and food and performances going on just adds to the already pleasant energy.

We sat at our little booth talking to folks, listening to the range of music coming from the stage, and smelling the awesome food. I had some chicken tikka masala and a samosa from the Curry Pot, Chattanooga's newest Indian restaurant. Jency had some Thai stir-fry, but I forget where it came from. Both were awesome.

We heard Chinese opera, Japanese taiko, a bilingual drama act, and lots more. The music closed with this Isreali drummer who displays complete ownership of his many instruments. Simultaneously.

Sales were good for us, and we got to connect with the great people at GoFish, who also had a booth. So all in all, a great day! Here are a few pictures...














Thursday, September 25, 2008

Culture Fest - Saturday 9/27

Just a note to let everyone know that World Next Door will have a booth at CultureFest this Saturday! Coolidge Park, 11-7.

It's put on by our Arts and Education Council. Here's a line from their site...

"AEC Culture Fest is an annual celebration of the Chattanooga area's rich cultural diversity through music, dance, food, and fine arts."

Last year it was lots of fun. There was music, dancing, food... well, basically everything the AEC said. Anyways we really hope to see you there! Admission is free, and it's a great afternoon if you've got kids.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Good News from India

The following is an email we recently received from Mata Traders, one of the organizations we work with. It is always encouraging hearing good news from the other side of the world!


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Greetings to friends and customers,


Michelle and I have been working in India on Mata's Spring 09 collection for a month now, and I just wanted to check in and tell you all how it is going. Being in India reminds me of a postcard I got once at a museum in Germany, with a funny looking man in spectacles holding up a handwritten sign that says: "Everything is connected. The point is to know it and understand it." While we meet and get to know the women in India who make our clothing, YOU and your customers are actually the ones that make our work here possible. We thought it would be nice to share a little bit about these ladies, and to let you know how you are connected to making lives better in such a faraway place.


One particular story I'd like to tell is about Harshali. I met Harshali two years ago when she was a shy 17 year old with limited English speaking skills. At that time she was working as a helper at our Mumbai cooperative and we struck up a friendship on our shared path home after work. I was staying in an apartment close to the co-op, and Harshali's grandmother and sister were selling fish on the side of the road next to the apartment complex. After work at the co-op Harshali would help her grandma and sister until the small stand closed, at around 9 pm. Harshali is from Tamil Nadu, a state in the south of India, and her parents died when she was very young, leaving her and her younger brother and sister behind, with only her grandmother to fend for them. Joining the millions of others who comprise Mumbai's enormous migrant workforce, Harshali's grandmother decided to emigrate to the big city in the hopes of finding work to support her two granddaughters. Two years ago Harshali had just started work at the co-op. Soon after she was able to afford to send both her younger siblings to school, as well as start a college economics course. Now she is an assistant to one of the co-op's designers and oversees all sampling work, and is just about to graduate her program. She dresses smartly, in cute matching salwar suits that show her evolving fashion taste, and speaks English well, with the confidence of a young professional woman. I believe she is on her way to becoming a designer herself someday, and I know that without her work at the co-op she could very well still be selling fish on the side of the road with her grandma and elder sister.


India as a whole is not a society that encourages social mobility. Economic brackets are enforced by caste lines, and like most industrializing nations, the poverty class is growing as the rural poor migrate from villages to mega-cities to find new kinds of work. The opportunities for economic advancement that fair trade organizations offer to women in poverty are truly a rarity. Being a part of the fair trade community means that we are ALL connected to this positive change.



Working on Spring 09 clothing!
Harshali at work