At the bottom of this page I added a section on fair trade shopping. There are times where material gifts are appropriate, for yourself or a friend, and fair trade purchases can really rack you up some good karma as the purchaser, while elevating the vibration of the recipient.
Kiva - loans that change lives Kiva.org is a fun way to give small $25 loans to someone who is part of the working poor in a developing country to help them expand their business. You get to see the photo of the recipient and read a description of how the loan would be used before you make the loan. You can donate a few dollars more to go to Kiva operating expenses, so you know that your entire $25 goes to the person. You even get to see all the other lenders that give, and in many cases you can click on their portfolios to click on the loans they have given over time. Once your loan is paid back the money is in your Kiva account and you can use it again to loan to someone else. So far I have given six Kiva loans, and though it is a modest amount of money I feel very good looking at my "portfolio" on the website and seeing the faces of those I have helped. It also helps me learn about different places in the world and I even plot on a wall map where these people live. My most recent loan was to a father who repairs shoes in Mongolia.
Women For Women International Here you can sponsor a woman for $27 a month (with a one-time administrative fee) for a commitment of only one year. During the year the woman is taught business and employment skills, taught to save part of this money, and uses part to support her family. At the end of the year she is more able to earn a living for her family, more aware of her rights, etc. Also the sponsor and woman sponsored exchange many encouraging letters. This group focuses on about seven areas of the world that have been devastated by war including Iraq and Rwanda. This organization was founded in 1993 by author, entrepreneur and activist Sainab Salbi who has been honored by President Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and many others. After knowing about this group for some time, I have just started to sponsor a woman for a year who lives in Bosnia. I emailed a letter for her with several photos, and I am waiting to hear from her. This group appeals to me because it seems that the recipient gets a lot of practical education in business and other areas in addition to the money, and it is only for a year.
Somaly Mam Foundation Caution: This paragraph deals with a sensitive topic regarding those who fight oppression of girls and women. If this is too upsetting for you, please skip this one paragraph now. Somaly Mam is a former child sex slave. She not only survived but is a visionary person and heads a group that helps to rescue and rehabilitate child sex slaves in countries such as Thailand and Cambodia. The book she wrote is intense but if you can handle the subject matter it is wonderful. It is for sale on her site. Also on her site is the option to donate to support her work. Another good book on the subject which introduces you to those who are making a difference in this area in many contries is Not for Sale, by a totally separate author.
Heifer International This organization does very real, basic, focused work. They provide animals, animal husbandry and farming training to people in third world countries so that they can help themselves out of extreme poverty and malnutrition. They also have a give back requirement where the people have to give one of the offspring of the animals to someone else in the program, so the number of people helped keeps growing, and everyone gives as well as receives. They have very moving videos on their website which can help you understand the massive transformation one animal and the right training can bring to a family in need. They have an online catalog with lots of accessible prices, so you can give a gift to Heifer International to honor a friend for a holiday or special occasion. They have very cute online cards you get to send your friend, and paper ones you can print or they will mail. For $20 you can give a flock of chicks with training, for $30 bees and bee keeping kit with training, for $120 a goat with training. I can say from personal experience this makes a moving gift for a compassionate friend.
Tibet Aid The group helps Tibetans living in Tibet as well as those living in exile in India, and you can sponsor children, nuns or monks. "In 1960, the Department of Education of the Tibetan government-in-exile was established by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the specific purpose of providing education to Tibetan children living in exile." There are one-time gift donations you can give or long term monthly sponsorships you can do. An example of a one-time donation is "For $3.50 a month a Tibetan child receives a pre-school education at Yong Ling Creche Kindergarten in Dharamsala, India. The donation is payable for the year at $42. The funds are sent to the school in the form of a scholarship for a needy child. " The website is very detailed and even includes biographies of sponsored orphan children and nuns and monks.
Global Activism Series on the Public Radio Show "Worldview" Every Thursday host Jerome McDonnell profiles a small group of regular people who decided to create compassionate change on a global level. This page is a gold mine of information on amazing organizations you've never heard about that you may want to support. It's also just inspiring to learn about all of these people. There are brief text descriptions, links, and audio files.
Room to Read This group focuses on child education issues. "Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure." They use local leadership and have local co-funding to ensure the relevance and sustainability of every project. One unique aspect of what they do is they work to publish children's books with local artists and authors so young children have books to read in their own language. They offer learning scholarships for girls, and children's language and computer labs. They work in seven countries in Asia and Africa - Nepal, Cambodia, India, Laos, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and South Africa.
Bolivian Street Children Project I heard about this organization on the radio program Worldview, noted above. They focus on helping the mostly homeless street children of La Paz, Bolivia. Though this issue can seem overwhelming to some, this organization really is making a difference in a very organized, focused way. They were founded by an American doctor but have a majority of Bolivian staff members. On their website they give concrete examples of how your donation money would be used.
Global Girlfriend Global Girlfriend is a unique fair trade (online) boutique selling specialty hand-made gifts and goods made by women's non-profit programs, women's cooperatives worldwide and products that benefit women's human rights." They have pretty interesting and detailed descriptions of the various artisan groups right on the website. They offer online shopping only.
Fair Trade Chocolate. OK not to dim your delight in chocolate, but have you heard that a lot of the chocolate available to us for purchase was cultivated by child labor, sometimes even child slave labor? Most of the chocolate consumed in the U.S. is not fair trade, and the growers suffer significant human rights and economic abuses. Major U.S. chocolate companies generally don't even offer a fair trade option at this point. You can help put a stop to this in your own treat-yourself kind of way by purchasing and giving fair trade chocolate. Yummm. I know Whole Foods grocery stores offer several fair trade chocolate choices. Divine chocolate is a fair trade chocolate company and I know they are one of the brands sold at Whole Foods. You can read about them at DivineChocolate.com
Fair Trade Coffee or Tea can be found in many places. One place I know of that goes quite a bit further than that is Intelligentsia Coffee. They have what they call "direct trade" coffee where they develop strong relationships with the coffee and tea growers, and visit them every harvest, often three times a year. They actually pay the grower or coop directly at least 25% ABOVE even the fair trade price! They have very neat structures in place to ensure that the farmers actually get the money and that environmental and social best practices are followed. They sell online or in their three Chicago stores. **If you know of a fair trade vendor that sells fair trade tea in bulk (ie. by pound or oz.) to the consumer please let me know.
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