What is Fair Trade?
Fair trade provides under- and unemployed artisans with an opportunity to earn vital income and improve their quality of life by establishing a sustainable market for their handcrafted products. So, your purchase is super important. YOU could help someone earn an income and improve their quality of life all across the world.
What is Fair Trade Friday?
Fair Trade Friday is a monthly membership club that delivers high quality fair traded items to your door. The items in the box are fairly traded and provide employment to women all over the world. Plus, they are really cute!
FTF exists as an avenue for women to empower women. They are tackling poverty through job opportunity and empowerment rather than enablement. 100% of the proceeds support the artisans, more than 500 women and their children from all over the world. FTF is a ministry of Mercy House Kenya, a non-profit organization.
How Does It Work?
You’ll need to decide which of these two different options you’d like to go with (or you could always do both).
- You can choose to start with a recurring box for $31.99 per month. It’s easy and quick. Click the button HERE. Enter your info. Wait on your box. Done. They keep sending you a box (and, of course, billing you for it) until you cancel. Pretty great, huh?
- Or, you can try out a box (but I promise you’ll just end up wanting more…) for $35 plus $10 shipping. This one is a great gift option. Click HERE to sign up for this option.
- Or, you can join the Earring of the Month club, where you’ll get a stylish and beautiful pair of earrings made by the artisans every month. What a treat for yourself! CLICK HERE to sign up for the Earring of the Month Club.
What a Story…
As always with Fair Trade, there is a story behind your purchase. For example…
Pauline was only 15 years old when she became pregnant through force. When she moved into Rehema House in Kenya, the maternity home funded by Mercy House, she was desperate and hopeless. In just a few short years, her life has been transformed through the Gospel. Her son, Melvin, is thriving. Recently, Pauline graduated from the residence program and moved back home. She attends vocational beauty school 5 days a week, while Melvin is in school because of sponsorship. Every Saturday, she goes into the heart of her slum and teaches more than 20 mothers how to make beautiful product that is then sent to the USA and mailed out in Fair Trade Friday boxes. The women in this community outreach make around $50 a month from the product and that’s enough to pay for rent, provide food and school fees for their children. From a pregnant teen to a mother/teacher, Pauline’s future is bright and she is a beautiful example of what God can do.
What’s in the Box?
I received my first box last month and woah, was it a “happy mail day”. All these goodies were in my Fair Trade Friday box.
I always keep a little soap dish in our half bath downstairs for guests. My new preference for soap in that dish is from The Zambian Soap Company. This organization was generously given a plot of land by a local king, families harvest organically grown herbs. Workers distill the herbs to make essential oils for soap, while women widowed by the AIDS epidemic weave gift baskets and attach labels. All workers receive fair wages, and all profits go into initiatives overseen by the local Zambian churches. Buying this top-quality, all-natural soap is not only the best thing you can do for your skin, it’s the best thing you can do for Africa.
And how adorable is that JOYN clutch? I mean, really! I love the story behind JOYN. Don’t you?
Leave a Reply