New at WND: Lucia's Imports

This morning we met Eduardo and Teresa of Lucia's Imports, a new fair trade company based in Lexington, KY that imports handmade goods from Guatemala. They just qualified for membership in the Fair Trade Federation, and we're excited about all the great stuff they left with us!

Lots of great beaded jewelry, as well as a few bags. They had a sample of a really great messenger bag, but we're going to have to order it from them once they get home because they didn't have enough with them!

Here are some pictures...

Jency picks out some bags

Teresa, Jency, and Eduardo

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me.

African Leadership is a ministry that changed the lives of some friends of mine when they visited Kenya and Uganda with them a couple years ago. They're doing a T-Shirt campaign to raise money for aid, but the video they've put together to promote it is the first one I've ever seen that gives a realistic, dignified treatment to people's situations.



The idea is this: Joy can and does exist in Africa, a place we normally think of as containing nothing but despair. Happiness doesn't have to depend on circumstance, as much as we in America feel like it must.



Check out the video...

We're going to Nepal.

On April 24, World Next Door managers Nathan and Jency Shirai will leave for India and Nepal for 3 weeks.

This will be our second foray into the "field," the first being Will and Kim's trip to Ecuador last year. We're very excited to be able to pursue fair trade opportunities through contacts we've made in that part of the world over the last year.

In India we'll spend several days in Kolkata visiting fair trade organizations with whom World Next Door currently does business. We do this with the intent to learn more about how fair trade works at producer's level, knowledge we hope to put to use in the future as World Next Door moves toward its long term goal of engaging in fair trade directly.

In Nepal we'll spend a week investigating a ministry that has potential to become a great partnership. We'll spend another week or so following up on some contacts we've made here and there over the last several months. We hope to bring back lots of great stories, pictures, and products, so stay tuned over the next two months!