Won't somebody please think of the children?

Put an ad on the radio and people will respond!

We've got a spot running on WUTC mentioning our availability to come speak in local schools. Well we've gotten tons of calls to line things up, which is exciting. Last Tuesday we went down to Dalton to talk to some 4th graders at Brookwood Elementary. They were great, well-behaved, interested kids who had fun with our activities and products.

Something that struck us about the 4th graders is that they respond to things the way we ought to naturally. Here's what I mean by that. We like to do an activity with kids to help put global poverty in perspective. We divide up the room into groups to represent wealthy nations, middle nations, and poor nations. This class had 24 kids. We had 3 kids represent wealthy nations, 7 represent middle nations, and 15 represent poor nations. This reflects the proportions of the human population living in those nations. We then hand them baggies of Cheerios to illustrate the distribution of food in those nations. The 3 "wealthy" kids each get a bag full of 50 Cheerios. The 7 "middle" kids each get a bag of 7 Cheerios. The 15 "poor" kids must share a bag of 5 Cheerios.

While the older groups we speak to, especially adults, simply nod their heads as they grasp the idea, the 4th graders exclaim, "What?! This is so unfair! You mean this actually happens in the world? We need to do something about this!" As we grow older we become desensitized to big injustices like global poverty. These kids are still young enough to have a very visceral response to the revelation that most of the world doesn't have enough food to eat. That's inspiring to us as we continue in our work trying to play our small but significant role in fighting global poverty.

Now we feel professional...

Our new business cards came in yesterday, and I'm not ashamed to say that they look gooooood.

Design by yours truly.
Printing by Blair Digital.

Weekend plans?

Friday afternoon is wearing on and the time is drawing near... for the lake! There's not much better, IMHO, than a drawing-on-hot summer day, an icy drink, and the sound of water lapping on the shore.

Which brings me to this. What unique opportunities does summer create for "living fair"? The regular school year is full of educational openings as we go into schools to share about fair trade. At Christmastime, philanthropy is on the brain--plus, people loving giving/getting gifts that tell a story. And I, for one, down a lot more coffee, tea, and hot chocolate when it's cold and dreary out.

But I've yet to hear of fair trade lemonade. I might be missing the fair trade swimsuit market, but we, at least, don't carry swim trunks or bikinis.


So, let me know--do you have any ideas about what a "living fair" summer might look like? Here's one idea to start you sports fans off right: these fair trade sports balls (for soccer , football, basketball, and even rugby) available here. Get your game on!

The Red Light District

Nearly every city has its own version. In this place, women and girls stand saucily on darkened streets or wait silently in one-room hovels. Their product is their body, and there is no shortage of takers.
Make no mistake, the sex industry is worldwide big business. The trade of humans ranks as the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world, coming in behind only drugs and weapons. (U.S. Department of State) While statistics on the grim business are difficult to collect and verify, it is safe to say that human trafficking touches every corner of the globe.
The U.S. State Department believes that somewhere between 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. In 2007, British law enforcement expert Josh Dillon told the United Arab Emirates' Gulf News that 75% of international human trafficking cases involve women who are ultimately forced into the sex trade. (Click here for the article.) Again, the U.S. Department of State estimates that up to 50% of the trafficked are minors under the age of 18. And UNICEF puts the number of children in the commercial sex trade at nearly two million.
I've seen the fruits of this rotten seed personally, as I lived in the midst of a large city in southwestern China for two years. There, women light their "massage parlors" or "hair salons" with fluorescent pink lights to let customers know what is really on sale. A Chinese friend, a university student from a small town in rural Sichuan, spoke of the girls from his high school class. Most of them had left the area, pushed by their parents to move to prosperous southeastern China, where a Sichuan mistress is a prestige symbol for wealthy businessmen. The families of his former classmates, my friend said, had new homes: paid for by their daughters' labors.
This tale is told the world over. But there is hope. As Jency and Nathan wrote during their time in India, we are working with some of the people fighting this trade on the front lines. We've written about them before, but we mean it--check out Sari Bari and Freeset to learn more about how something as simple as a bag is helping to free women from bondage.

Here's a little bit about Freeeset (taken from their website) to whet your appetite:

Our Neighborhood
Freeset is located in Sonagacchi, the largest, most infamous sex district in Kolkata, India. Within a few square miles more than 10,000 women “stand in line” selling their bodies to thousands of men who visit daily. Many are trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal and rural India. For others poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies.

At thirteen, Sonali* was stolen from her village, dragged to the back streets of Sonagacchi and sold into prostitution. Her first customer drugged and raped her unconscious body.

Bashanti*, a daughter of poverty-stricken parents, was sold into the sex trade by her mother, sacrificed so the rest of the family could eat.

In India, prostitution is big business and thrives on exploitation and slavery, robbing the poor of dignity and innocence.

* names changed

Clean Water in Africa

Would you want to spend three months running through the world's largest desert?

I didn't think so.

But that's exactly what ultra-marathoner Charlie Engel and his two teammates did in 2005-2006, when they ran through the Sahara for 111 days, trekking an estimated 4,300 miles and inking their passports with the stamps of six countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt, if you're keeping track).

Charlie is in town tonight for the Arts and Education Council of Chattanooga-sponsored film screening of Running the Sahara, a feature length documentary that chronicles the amazing feat (Click here to watch the trailer). A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit H2O Africa, an organization fighting to raise awareness and funds for clean water in Africa, and the Rodale Institute, which promotes organic farming methods as a tool to combat global warming.

As you might have guessed, although we couldn't set out across the African sands ourselves, at World Next Door we've packed up some of our products from nearby countries and are headed to the screening. We hope to serve as an educational resource about poverty across the globe, while also giving people an up-close glance at how they can help some of the poverty-stricken help themselves.

Here's a quick glance at some of the stats we'll share tonight:

GLOBAL POVERTY
· 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. (World Bank)
· Poverty causes the deaths of 25,000 children every day. (UNICEF)
· There were 3 billion people living on less than $2 a day, and 1.3 billion living on less than $1 a day in 1999. (Global Policy)

We Did It!

So, tweeting is not just for the birds anymore. World Next Door has joined Twitter, and are soon to be tweeting (or is it twittering? or twitting?) away.
Obviously, there's a lot we don't know yet about this world. But check us out--we can be found at https://twitter.com/World_Next_Door.
Can't wait to see you there!

Tonight's the night

Yes, the long-awaited, much anticipated day has arrived: we get to hear Nathan and Jency share the good, the bad, and the ugly from their travels to India and Nepal. Tonight I'll bake something delicious and chocolate-y and head (with about 40 of their other closest friends) to Jency's grandparents' house for a dessert de-briefing of their world travels.
This will be much more than just a tell-all, though. I feel certain that I'll get a glimpse inside their hearts as they let us know about the heartbreaking, amazing, and heartbreakingly amazingly things they saw and experienced on the other side of the world.
An update will be coming soon--I'll let you know what we hear.

An Fair Cup of Joe

Here in World Next Door land, we love our coffee: a cup (or three) in the morning to start the day off right, gathering with friends for a good chat and a warm mug of java anytime, lingering over that last cup of decaf after dessert. But one thing we love even more than that jolt of caffeine that makes mornings bearable is knowing that our consumption is helping, not hurting, the little guy.

Drinking fair trade coffee does just that. Today I stumbled across this article posted on the citizen journalism site www.examiner.com. Brenna Coleman looks at how buying fairly trade coffee makes a difference, touches on the history of the fair trade coffee movement, and throws out a few general interest coffee facts. Did you know, for instance, that only about one in five cups of coffee are fairly traded? I didn't, but Coleman claims that only 20% of coffee beans are fair trade. But--here's the good part--consumers drive the coffee industry, so our demands can make a difference.

Start small--come by our store and pick up a bag of Equal Exchange or Land of a Thousand Hills coffee. These coffee companies work with local farmers to ensure that the folks who grow the beans are paid an equitable price for their labor. They promote sustainable agriculture and are working to build healthy, growing economies in the countries where they operate.

So get on board. In the words of Land of a Thousand Hills: "Drink coffee. Do good."

Summer Hours

Official or not, summertime is here in the great state of Tennessee, and starting this Saturday (May 23), so are World Next Door's extended summer hours.

We will be open:

Sundays 1-8 pm
Monday-Thursday 10 am-8 pm
Friday-Saturday 10 am-9 pm

Come and see us!

Fair Trade is a Beautiful Thing

Hi, world. Meet my new wind chime. This collection of old shells started its life in the waters off the coast of Indonesia. After farmers harvested the "Jingle oysters" inside the shells, the shells were discarded.

But not for long. A fair trade group called "zen zen" works with artisans all around the Pacific rim. Fishermen (and women) who work with "zen zen" harvest the trashed capiz shells, and string them together to make beautiful works of art like the wind chime that is now on my front porch. It's almost too much--one simple chime is a) made of recycled shells that would otherwise become trash, b) helping to sustain fishing families in Bali, Indonesia, and c) looks really good on my porch.

It's true--fair trade is beautiful! Come by our store and see what other amazing products (and stories) you can find.

This reading nook is my favorite spot in the house (or, in this case, outside of it)! The chimes make it even better. Birds chirping + gentle wind + chimes = a perfect Chattanooga morning. (Don't get lost--that's the chime in the upper right-hand corner of the picture.)

Spreading the word

Nathan and Jency, hurry home: we have a job for you.
Customers, browsing about our store, often comment on our unusual and distinctive products. A placemat made of recycled newspaper in the Philippines, a cute tote purse from the hands of former prostitutes in India, a skirt made by a women's cooperative in Ghana. There's a wealth of options, to say the least.
Today, though, a customer's interest went beyond mere curiosity. Stephen Doss, a youth minister at New Covenant Fellowship Church here in Chattanooga, marched into our store armed with his camera, eager to learn--and share--our work with his kids at church.
He'd been here befoe, and was fascinated by what he saw and read. Today, he asked questions about us, our stuff, and the people who make it. He took tons of pictures to show to his youth group. He wanted to know how we help people, who we help, how they help themselves. He wanted to know how he could help, how his kids could catch the vision for fair trade.
That's what we do, I told him. We want to spread the word, to let people know what it means to "shop fair trade" and how on earth that makes a difference. We love to talk about the vision behind our little shop and it brings us great joy to see others becoming as excited about fair trade as we are.
So, Nathan and Jency, when ya'll get back from your world travels and have (somewhat) recovered from your jet lag hangovers, your plates will be full. Because not only would Stephen Doss love to get you together to share with his kids--a local synagogue e-mailed us last week looking for speakers, too.
All this commotion puts a big smile on my face.

Fair Trade Group Nepal

First off, we're feeling much better today, thanks to helpful friends and antibiotics. We were a little sluggish getting started today, but we're miles ahead of where we were over the weekend.

We just came back from a great meeting with Kamal Shrestha, who runs the Fair Trade Group Nepal, which acts as a fair trade membership organization here, much the same way the Fair Trade Federation operates in the US. Basically, organizations apply for membership, get examined by FTGN, and are then approved or denied. If an organization is approved, it means they meet the essential criteria of fair trade, so seeing that FTGN label (or FTF, if in the US) saves lots of time in investigating their operations.

We also took a tour of the Nepal Leprosy Trust, where people with leprosy are able to have dignified employment in fair trade standards. They make excellent leather and felt products. Some pictures to come. We're not sure whether we'll carry products from here, but if we do, I'm pretty sure we can get them through a representative in the US, so we won't be bringing anything back with us. That's a good thing at this point because I think the extra bags we brought to bring inventory back home in are already over the airlines' weight limit!

Off to rest up now, since we're still not 100% and are tiring out quickly.

Anti-trafficking and stomach bug

So here's why we came on this trip to begin with. A Chattanooga-based ministry run by some friends of our asked us to come along with them to Nepal to scope out a group here that is engaged in the prevention of human trafficking at a couple points along the Nepal-India border. We spent a couple days with this group last week visiting their centers and offices, and had lots of great conversations.

Here's how it works.

The overland border between Nepal and India is strikingly open, with just a few guards checking paperwork and thousands of pedestrians, animals, buses, and delivery trucks passing to and fro each day. Historically this has been a very active border for the trafficking of persons from Nepal, where rural poverty leaves girls and women with very little options, into India, which is one of the biggest hubs for trafficking around the world. Once in India, girls from Nepal, Bhutan, and other countries can be sent to the Middle East and other countries in South Asia to become domestic slaves or lost in the sex trade.

A group of Nepalis has set up border surveillance booths at a couple crossing points to look out for potential trafficking victims. They are recognized and aided by the Nepali government, and have the support of the local police force. They have been trained to recognize the signs of traffickers and their victims, and pull the girls aside to ask them questions and give them information. In this way they have saved hundreds of girls from becoming victims. They help them get in touch with their families to make arrangements to go back home, and they have no home to go back to they provide skill training that gives them a marketable skill for future employment. Girls in the halfway houses who are being trained in sewing and knitting make some outstanding winter hats and scarves, and are beginning to make some clothing.

While World Next Door has agreed to work with this organization and has made an initial purchase, this is very much a Nepali-conceived and Nepali-run effort. We don't want to portray ourselves as the savior or missing link in this effort, and we don't want to be seen as the wealthy West coming in to throw money about and call it development. We're excited to be involved in our own small way, and hope to stay in communication with them to offer ideas on product development over the coming months.

On another note, we've been down with some kind of stomach bug for the last 2 days. We're not sure where we got it, but we've each thrown up and have had some pretty exciting times in the bathroom. Fortunately we've got some antibiotics that are starting to help us feel better, although we have had to cancel a couple meetings. This is the point in the trip where we're bothing aching to be back home, but there are still 3 more days left and we intend to make good use of them.

The Market with La Paz

So, I'm definitely late in posting this, but I wanted to let everyone know what a great time we had last weekend at the Chattanooga Market. The Market is a beloved weekly tradition here in Chattanooga--it's the perfect place to catch up with friends, amble the aisles browsing local crafts, grab lunch, and pick up some fresh produce from area farmers.

Last Sunday, World Next Door was able to set up shop at The Market, thanks to sponsorship by La Paz de Dios, a local organization that provides resources for Chattanooga's Latino community. That day The Market was ablaze with color and rhythm as La Paz put on an all-out celebration of Latino culture: the food, music, and many of the crafts had a distinctly "south of the border" feel. Our booth was next door to a burrito booth; after smelling the sizzling tortillas for hours, I decided I needed to order a delicously cheesy and greasy burrito, even though I brought my lunch for the day.
My camera has been having serious issues, so I don't have pictures of World Next Door's booth, but Laurie of La Paz graciously sent me a few of her photos from the day.

In keeping with the day's Latino theme, we brought lots of items from countries like Guatemala. Here are a few of the things that we took to The Market:

Guatemalan worry dolls and worry doll hairbands

Hackey sacks

Thanks La Paz for a great day at The Market!

We're Still Alive

Nepal has turned out to be quite the adventure so far.

We met our American friends at the airport on Sunday, only to find out from our Nepali contact that a political strike was in progress that had all roads into Kathmandu blocked indefinitely. So we weren't able to leave straight for the border region as we had hoped. So we went out for pizza and ice cream instead and had lots of great conversation.

We woke up early the next morning (5 AM) to catch a 7:30 flight to Pokhara as a means of hopping over the roadblocks. From there we hired an SUV to drive south towards the border regions where our Nepali contact has his operations. It was a 6 hour drive, at an average speed of about 40 km/h, through winding mountain roads. We found out that the head of the national military had been sacked and that the Maoists were putting pressure on the coalition government to appoint one of their own as military chief. Strikes and demonstrations in Kathmandu continued.

Jency got pretty car sick and we had to pull over for a minute. But she's a trooper. She got right back in and kept going. We checked into a hotel in a town close to the Indian border, and then went to visit some of our Nepali contact's points of operation, which was a very good experience.

Tuesday we visited some more areas of interest. That night the Nepali news broadcast a leaked tape recorded 2 or 3 years ago of the prime minister outlining the Maoist plan to take over the country by first staging an election that would put them in power (which happened last April), followed by a takeover of the military (which is what they're struggling for at this very moment). The president, who represents the non-Maoist portion of the coalition government, refused to give into pressure to appoint another Maoist as military chief. The prime minister resigned his position out of protest, basically bringing the parliamentary process to a halt. We went to bed uncertain of what the next day would bring.

This morning we woke up at 4 AM to get on the road by 5 AM for a beeline to Kathmandu, in hopes of arrving before too many strikes got into full swing. Along the way we visited a couple more points of interest, and had some awesome Dhal Bhaat (traditional Nepali dish - rice with lentils and other stuff) for lunch. We were 20 km outside Kathmandu and making really good time when traffic came to a complete stop. Our driver skillfully weaseled our vehicle in and among the trucks, buses, motorcycles, and pedestrians that were jamming the roadway, occasionally leaving our vehicle to negotiate for a better position and rearrange other vehicles. We found out that some villagers up the way had lost a child in an accident on that very roadway, and their request for compensation from the government apparently fell on deaf ears. So to begin a clamor for justice, they organized the village to block traffic in both directions for an indeterminate period of time. We made it close to the blockage point, and could go no further. We paid our driver, picked up our bags, and began to hoof it. Our Nepali contact whipped out his cell phone and arranged for a couple of taxis to meet us on the other side of the blockage. We passed through the central point of the demonstration where several dozen people were quietly gathered to block the road (this demonstration had nothing to do with the current political situation). They had been there for several hours and intended to stay until the night. They had cars backed up for several km in both directions. We found our taxis, loaded up, and slowly and laboriously passed through all the traffic gathered in the opposite direction, and after a while we broke through to the end of the line of vehicles and it was smooth sailing into Kathmandu. The whole ordeal added 2 or 3 hours to our trip. Most of the hundreds of bus passengers and truck drivers are probably still out there. It sure does help to be friends with a savvy local.

Sorry for the vague language concerning our work over the last couple days. We haven't yet had a chance to discuss the level of information we can disclose. We have another meeting later in the week with our Nepali contact, and hopefully we'll be able to share more after that, once we determine how much we're all comfortable with sharing. I'll try to get some more pictures up soon -- it's kinda hard to find a computer that I can upload pictures on.

Thanks to all for reading!

World Fair Trade Day

We're having a party, and you're invited.
This Saturday, May 9, is World Fair Trade Day and there is no way World Next Door is going to miss out on the excitement!
Did I mention that we are offering a 10% discount on everything in the store (last minute Mother's Day presents on the cheap, people) and giving out free fairly traded coffee and chocolate?
Here are the details:

WHAT: 2009 World Fair Trade Day.

WHEN: Saturday, May 9, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

WHERE: World Next Door, 100 Market St., Chattanooga, TN

WHY: Participate in “World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break” to help set the record straight: Everything is Better When It’s Fair

Take a coffee break for justice with us as we mark this year’s World Fair Trade Day. On Saturday, we will join Americans across the country as they gather to surpass last year’s largest fair trade coffee break in support of the United States’ growing fair trade movement.

For more information on World Fair Trade Day, check out the Fair Trade Resource Network at www.ftrn.org.

Namaste from Kathmandu

Well, we're in Kathmandu. We made it without a hitch, except for the traffic jam as we entered the city.

Chances are we'll be "off the grid" for the next couple days as we travel around some more rural parts of the country, but then we'll be back here for several days visiting contacts in the area until we leave on the 14th.

Thanks for sticking with us! Everybody's words of encouragement have been well-received and are much appreciated.

Oh, and sorry for the lack of pictures on the Sari Bari and Freeset posts. Because of the nature of the industry their workers have come out of, it's just not a good idea to be plastering their faces all over the internet on our blog. It's for their dignity and protection. I think there are a few images available on their websites - Google them!

Scenes from India