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And if you haven't been waiting for it, I have. We've got audio of Jency's interview, which aired last week on Around and About. Jency talks about human trafficking, the experiences she and Nathan had as they traveled to India, and her dream to stop the exploitation of women and girls through an act as simple as selling bags.
Her radio interview is posted below.
Showing posts with label Freeset. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freeset. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Read All About It!
We're in the news! This week has been rather media-intense, as we've interviewed with Around and About on the local NPR affiliate, and have also met with Joy Lukachik, a Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter. Her article on fair trade, which headlines with World Next Door, is in today's paper.Here it is:
Local fair trade businesses helping poor of world
By: Joy Lukachick
Forced to work the redlight district in the slums of India since she was 12 years old, Sunita finally found an escape from her prison.
She was approached by two Americans 10 years ago who offered to teach her to sew.
Today, Sunita, whose name was changed to protect her identity, is a manager for an American-run fair trade company in India called FreeSet, which produces handbags and blankets to sell in the United States.
She is able to support herself through the fair trade system, said managers of Chattanooga's World Next Door who sell only fair trade products including FreeSet hand bags and met Sunita in April.
"We can, as Americans, help countries that have workers who were taken advantage of," said Jency Shirai, a World Next Door manager.
Seventy-one percent of U.S. consumers have heard of the term "fair trade," the global movement to promote fair pay and economic growth in Third World countries, according to a report released by the Fair Trade Federation in March.
But of that number, less than 10 percent have purchased a fair trade product, the study shows.
Despite those numbers, fair trade is a growing industry in the United States, said federation Executive Director Carmen K. Iezzi, noting that the same report showed a 56 percent increase in the sale of fair trade products from 2007 to 2008 in North America.
Ms. Shirai said World Next Door sells only fair-trade products, including necklaces from Kenya and hand-carved boxes from Peru. The store owners pay a fair price for goods to ensure the Third World craftsmen are making enough money to support themselves.
When the local owners buy products from Third World craftsmen, the money is paid upfront, Ms. Shirai said. Her store is not nonprofit, but she said its mission is to be "a better alternative to business."
Owners of other fair-trade businesses in Chattanooga agree that people are not as educated as they should be on the treatment of farmers and craftsmen in the Third World.
If you ask shoppers at Greenlife Grocery, which carries a large range of fair trade products, some say they have never heard of fair trade. Others, however, seek out fair trade products.
"Fair trade is helping people (and) helping them develop a better life," said Dori Elliot from Trion, Ga., who makes special trips each week to shop at Greenlife.
Pasha's Coffee and Tea in St. Elmo only sells fair trade coffee and espresso, owner Ladonna Cingille said.
"If everybody did something small it could really help," she said. "It could put more pressure on people who are enslaving people."
On Frazier Avenue, Go Fish Clothing and Jewelry Co. displays pictures of craftsmen and seamstresses beside products sold in the store. The pictures put a face to the products, owner Sherra Lewis said.
"(The signs) notify shoppers of where the items came from," Ms. Lewis said.
Still, although fair trade is benefiting many people in poverty, there are still policies that can be improved, said Stone Cup Roasting Co. owner Jennifer Stone, who sells about 40 percent fair trade coffee. For example, she said some companies that claim to be fair trade are not paying enough to farmers.
Consumers should do their research when they purchase fair trade products and also consider giving money directly to organizations that help Third World workers.
She was approached by two Americans 10 years ago who offered to teach her to sew.
Today, Sunita, whose name was changed to protect her identity, is a manager for an American-run fair trade company in India called FreeSet, which produces handbags and blankets to sell in the United States.
She is able to support herself through the fair trade system, said managers of Chattanooga's World Next Door who sell only fair trade products including FreeSet hand bags and met Sunita in April.
"We can, as Americans, help countries that have workers who were taken advantage of," said Jency Shirai, a World Next Door manager.
Seventy-one percent of U.S. consumers have heard of the term "fair trade," the global movement to promote fair pay and economic growth in Third World countries, according to a report released by the Fair Trade Federation in March.
But of that number, less than 10 percent have purchased a fair trade product, the study shows.
Despite those numbers, fair trade is a growing industry in the United States, said federation Executive Director Carmen K. Iezzi, noting that the same report showed a 56 percent increase in the sale of fair trade products from 2007 to 2008 in North America.
Ms. Shirai said World Next Door sells only fair-trade products, including necklaces from Kenya and hand-carved boxes from Peru. The store owners pay a fair price for goods to ensure the Third World craftsmen are making enough money to support themselves.
When the local owners buy products from Third World craftsmen, the money is paid upfront, Ms. Shirai said. Her store is not nonprofit, but she said its mission is to be "a better alternative to business."
Owners of other fair-trade businesses in Chattanooga agree that people are not as educated as they should be on the treatment of farmers and craftsmen in the Third World.
If you ask shoppers at Greenlife Grocery, which carries a large range of fair trade products, some say they have never heard of fair trade. Others, however, seek out fair trade products.
"Fair trade is helping people (and) helping them develop a better life," said Dori Elliot from Trion, Ga., who makes special trips each week to shop at Greenlife.
Pasha's Coffee and Tea in St. Elmo only sells fair trade coffee and espresso, owner Ladonna Cingille said.
"If everybody did something small it could really help," she said. "It could put more pressure on people who are enslaving people."
On Frazier Avenue, Go Fish Clothing and Jewelry Co. displays pictures of craftsmen and seamstresses beside products sold in the store. The pictures put a face to the products, owner Sherra Lewis said.
"(The signs) notify shoppers of where the items came from," Ms. Lewis said.
Still, although fair trade is benefiting many people in poverty, there are still policies that can be improved, said Stone Cup Roasting Co. owner Jennifer Stone, who sells about 40 percent fair trade coffee. For example, she said some companies that claim to be fair trade are not paying enough to farmers.
Consumers should do their research when they purchase fair trade products and also consider giving money directly to organizations that help Third World workers.
Check out the Time Free Press's online version of the story to see a quick clip from Jency's interview.
I'd also like to note that, although I'm sure we didn't do a good job clarifying this initially, the couple who initially started FreeSet are New Zealand natives, not Americans.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Listen Up!
Listen for us in the coming week on 88.1 WUTC, Chattanooga's NPR affiliate. Jency met this week with Julie Burrage of Around and About to talk about fair trade and share stories from the trip she and Nathan took to India and Nepal.Not sure yet when this will air, but we'll keep you updated!
Friday, June 26, 2009
I fear that we are about to beat a dead horse into the ground on this blog with our continued talk of Freeset and Sari Bari, but we're putting a press release out on Monday and I thought I'd post it on here for you to see.
Thanks for your continued support of all we're about here at World Next Door!
The designs are simple: swirling daisies, the dark silhouettes of gnarled trees, cheerfully placed dots. A recycled sari, once used as a traditional Indian dress, is now a bamboo-handled purse.
The stories behind these bags, however, are more complex. The purses, available at World Next Door, downtown Chattanooga’s fair trade store, are made by women who were formerly forced to work in the sex industry in Kolkata, India. Today, thanks to fair trade, the women are able to support themselves and their families by creating and marketing the bags.
World Next Door managers Jency and Nathan Shirai traveled to eastern India in April and May, where they were able to meet some of the women who make the bags that line the shelves of their store.
“Every time I sell a Freeset or Sari Bari bag, I picture the women’s smiling faces and the joy in their eyes from having a job where they are treated with dignity and respect,” Jency Shirai said. “By selling their bags, we are playing a small part in Chattanooga to transform a community from the inside out.”
Sari Bari and Freeset are two of the companies the Shirais met with while in India. Sari Bari takes its name from two symbols: a sari, which is the traditional clothing worn by Indian women and the representation of womanhood, and bari, which means house or home. The company seeks the freedom and restoration of Kolkata’s red light districts by giving women affected by the sex trade industry dignified employment opportunities.
Freeset employs former prostitutes, many of whom were trafficked into Kolkata’s sex districts from neighboring countries like Bangladesh or Nepal. Today, more than 140 women work for the company, which produces approximately 1,000 bags each day. Employees at Freeset are paid a fair wage for their labor and receive health insurance and a pension plan with their job.
World Next Door’s relationship with these Kolkata-based businesses is living proof that local consumers who shop with their conscience in mind can make a global difference.
Fair trade is an alternative business practice that hinges on guaranteeing fair wages and dignified working conditions for producers in marginalized economic systems.
Thanks for your continued support of all we're about here at World Next Door!
The designs are simple: swirling daisies, the dark silhouettes of gnarled trees, cheerfully placed dots. A recycled sari, once used as a traditional Indian dress, is now a bamboo-handled purse.
The stories behind these bags, however, are more complex. The purses, available at World Next Door, downtown Chattanooga’s fair trade store, are made by women who were formerly forced to work in the sex industry in Kolkata, India. Today, thanks to fair trade, the women are able to support themselves and their families by creating and marketing the bags.
World Next Door managers Jency and Nathan Shirai traveled to eastern India in April and May, where they were able to meet some of the women who make the bags that line the shelves of their store.
“Every time I sell a Freeset or Sari Bari bag, I picture the women’s smiling faces and the joy in their eyes from having a job where they are treated with dignity and respect,” Jency Shirai said. “By selling their bags, we are playing a small part in Chattanooga to transform a community from the inside out.”
Sari Bari and Freeset are two of the companies the Shirais met with while in India. Sari Bari takes its name from two symbols: a sari, which is the traditional clothing worn by Indian women and the representation of womanhood, and bari, which means house or home. The company seeks the freedom and restoration of Kolkata’s red light districts by giving women affected by the sex trade industry dignified employment opportunities.
Freeset employs former prostitutes, many of whom were trafficked into Kolkata’s sex districts from neighboring countries like Bangladesh or Nepal. Today, more than 140 women work for the company, which produces approximately 1,000 bags each day. Employees at Freeset are paid a fair wage for their labor and receive health insurance and a pension plan with their job.
World Next Door’s relationship with these Kolkata-based businesses is living proof that local consumers who shop with their conscience in mind can make a global difference.
Fair trade is an alternative business practice that hinges on guaranteeing fair wages and dignified working conditions for producers in marginalized economic systems.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
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.
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.
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
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