Portland Fair Trade

By Claire, board member, Ten Thousand Villages

A weaver of fairly traded rugs from Pakistan

I’d been volunteering with Ten Thousand Villages for several years before I really caught the fair trade bug.

Of course, I loved Villages (what’s not to love?) for its mission, the products, the other volunteers and the staff.

But it wasn’t until I read a Nicholas Kristof column that I felt an urgency around fair trade. Kristof was writing about Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani woman who was sentenced to be raped by four men because of an alleged offense by her brother against a wealthy family.

In an amazing act of courage, she fought back through the judicial system – and won. With the settlement she received, she opened schools and a women’s shelter. She also had to spend much of the settlement on body guards, as her life remained in jeopardy for several years.

After reading the column, I remember saying to myself (I wonder if I actually said it out loud), “What can I do?” What can I do in Portland, Oregon that could affect the life of a woman in Pakistan?

I realized that I already was involved in change – and what I needed to do was reinforce my commitment to Ten Thousand Villages. While fair trade won’t wipe out thousands of years of repression of women, it can start to break the cycle of poverty, dependence and ignorance that traps both men and women.

I don’t know much about international economics, but I do know that educating women is an essential step toward improving social, cultural and economic conditions in emerging countries. Our rug vendors show us how the purchase of their products helps children go to school; helps women gain independence; and helps men gain economic security.

Despite death threats and legal battles, Mukhtar Mai continues her fight to protect women and help them become independent. Kristof continues to write about her courage and the miracles she is bringing about for other women. And Portland’s own Mercy Corps has helped direct thousands of dollars to Mukhtar’s programs.

I can’t match Mukhtar’s courage or her energy. What I can do is to continue supporting Villages with my time and my dollars. I like to think that every Pakistan-made rug sold at Villages means one less woman who’s going to need Mukhtar’s help.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.