Time for Fall Shows!

We have been blessed with many volunteers — individuals, churches, schools and organizations that will be hosting a sale and showing and selling the beautiful  Fair Trade weavings and handcrafts from our artisans!

Our upcoming sales include:

• Arkansas Fiber Extravaganza, Hot Springs Arkansas, September 18 – 20
• Junior League Holiday Galleria, Century II Convention Center, Wichita Kansas – October 2 -5
• Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Rochester Minnesota – October 4-5
• Ten Thousand Villages, Lawrence Kansas, Trunk Show – October 16 – 18
• Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Wichita Kansas – October 25
• First Christian Church, Abilene, Texas – October 31 – November 2
• Lake Travis United Methodist Church, Austin Texas – November 8
• Kansas State University Fair Trade Marketplace, Student Union, Manhattan, Kansas – November 12-14
• Bizarre Bazaar 2014, Lawrence, Kansas – November 28 – 29
• Community Fellowship Church, Lawrenceburg, Indiana – December 4-6
• Zion Lutheran Church, Leola Pennsylvania, December 5-6
• Clarkston United Methodist Church, Clarkston Michigan – December 6-7
• St. James Catholic School, Sewickley Pennsylvania, December 7 – 11
• Tomahawk United Methodist Church, Tomahawk Wisconsin
• Falk School, Pitttsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Environmental Charter School, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
• St Francis Xavier Church, St Louis, Missouri
•  Atlantic Iowa Fair Trade, Atlantic Iowa

 

Be sure to let us know if you would like to host a sale at your church or in your home.  See more information on our website here. 

Thank you to all our volunteers!  Each and every sale makes a tremendous difference in the lives of the women and their families!

Kansas University Fair Trade Marketplace

Kansas University students are hosting their 2012 Fair Trade sale.  It will be held in the upper floor of the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building just north of the KU Student Union.

Education And More has lots of their gorgeous textiles and handcrafts from Guatemala at the sale.  Be sure to take time and do a little shopping and help impoverished artisans in Guatemala earn a fair income for their work!

Come see the variety of our Fair Trade handcrafts!!

• Purses
• Neckscarves
• Jewelry
• Coin Purses
• Shawls
• Mayan Textiles
• Placemats / Napkins
• Table Runners
• Handwoven Rugs
• Clergy Stoles
• Gospel Bracelets
• Friendship Bracelets
• Hacky Sacks and Stocking Caps — Soccer
• Weekend / Sport Bags
• Sofa Throws
• and so much more!!

The Fair Trade Marketplace opened yesterday– November 23, 2012  and will run through December 1, 2012.

Helping Those Less Fortunate

Are you curious about our projects in Guatemala?  We have several projects and many ways in which you can help  those that are less fortunate than you.

Our new projects are:

Sweaters, Socks and Bibles project –  We are raising funds to purchase new sweaters, socks and Bibles for each of our artisan groups.  Many of the women have only one sweater to wear when it is cold and that sweater is usually very ragged.  We want to purchase new sweaters for all  90 women artisans that are in our groups.  The children wear socks if they have any but usually they do not own any or maybe have one pair, so we want to provide the children of our artisans with new socks — that is 129 children!   Our artisans speak 3 different Mayan languages – 1 group speaks Queche, 3 groups speak Kakchiquel and 2 groups speak T’zutujil – with very few of the artisans speaking  Spanish and on top of these language barriers most of the women are illiterate.  We want to provide the Bible in audio format in their own language and in Spanish so they will have it to listen to in their homes.  We need funds to help with this — won’t you help?

Vacation Bible School project – We are raising funds to have VBS programs for the children at each of our groups.  We will need VBS materials, craft projects materials, Bibles, translators, mission teams  plus much more to make this a continuing effort in the coming years. We would love to have two programs each year with each artisan group. These VBS programs will help the children learn about Jesus and His love for them and will also provide materials for them to practice their reading and writing.  Most children do not have books to read or other materials to learn skills necessary to improve their education and we hope to be able to provide some help through VBS classes.   We need funds to help with this — won’t you help?

Sewing Centers – We have identified another of our artisan groups that need our help with a sewing center.  We hope to provide a new building for a sewing center along with sewing classes for this group in the coming year.  This group was devastated with a tropical storm a couple of years ago and lost nearly all of their homes, their workshop, their looms — nearly everything.  We need funds to help with this — won’t you help?

Our ongoing projects in which we need help —

Fair Trade Handcraft Sales / Bazaars –  Now you can help the artisans in our Fair Trade women’s groups by volunteering to sell their Fair Trade handcrafts. Hosting a Fair Trade sale/ bazaar at your church, office, community center or in your home can benefit the women because every sale improves their lives by giving them more income to help support their families.  Email us for more information through our website contact page.

School Supplies project – If your group would like to collect basic school supplies for the students,we will distribute them to the children of our artisan groups.  It costs several thousand dollars to purchase needed school supplies for all the children.  Many of these children cannot go to school because of a lack of school supplies.  Also please consider donating used or new laptop computers to Education And More. We want to supply the older students in our Sponsorship program with a computer so they can benefit from technology as they continue their education.

Fundraising Project – Looking for ways to raise money for a youth trip or for your women’s programs?  We have several different fundraisers available to help you raise money and at the same time help artisans in Guatemala support their families. Hacky sack balls, ID Badgeholders, Friendship bracelets, Beaded bracelets and Neck Scarves — are a few of the fundraisers available for you to help your group and help families in Guatemala. Email us for more information.

Educational Support project – In addition to our Sponsorship Program, Education And More   helps many students attend school by providing their school supplies, backpacks and often by giving new school shoes and clothing and school fees.  Many of the children in Guatemala need this help or they are unable to attend school.  Please consider donating to our Educational Support project so that we can help even more children or get your Sunday School group or your women’s group involved in raising funds for the students.

Student needing help with school expenses.

Making a Difference This Holiday Season!

Are you going to make a difference with some of your purchases this holiday season?  If we all try to spend  some of our dollars on gifts that provide a fair wage what a difference that would make to artisans around the world!  Artisans that live on $2 – $3  per day can have hope of a better year ahead with each and every purchase we make.

Education And More is a Fair Trade nonprofit organization and we are a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation.  The artisans we work with make a per hour wage that gives them the ability to help care for their families.

This time of the year we are busy shipping crafts to Fair Trade bazaars around the country that are hosted by universities, schools, churches and individuals.  If you have a Fair Trade bazaar near you be sure to stop in and help artisans around the world by shopping with certified Fair Trade organizations and bazaars. We have already shipped to many bazaars and we would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers for their help in selling our artisan handcrafts!

Coming up soon are Fair Trade bazaars at these locations:

Many Hands, Many Lands —  Winona, MN  — Friday, November 25

Kansas University – Ecumenical Campus Ministy, Lawrence, KS — November 25 – Dec 3

Zion Lutheran Church — Leola, PA — December 2 & 3

Clarkston United Methodist Church, Clarkston, MI — December 3 & 4

Be sure to stop by and see all of the beautiful handcrafts from Education And More artisans and many other artisans around the world.

Thank you for making a difference this holiday season!

Is Your Church or University Hosting a Fair Trade Sale?

Education And More is always looking for new venues to help us sell our Fair Trade artisan weavings and handcrafts.  Each and every sale helps our artisans to earn a fair wage and to support their families.

Fair Trade Handcrafts

If you know of a Fair Trade bazaar or sale  please send the information to us — moreinfo@educationand more.org  –and we will contact them.  We need the help of volunteers around the country to help us find more ways to sell the beautiful weavings and handcrafts from our hardworking artisan groups!

Fair Trade Artisan Group that needs your help!

 

Check out our information on hosting a bazaar

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Panajachel — It’s Artisans & Tourists

Panajachel is a vibrant community on the shoes of Lake Atitlan with thousands of tourists from around the world visiting every year. It seems there are as many retirement age tourists as the young college age– all wanting to see and experience this Guatemalan city.  It became a popular haven for the hippies in the 1960’s and remnants of that culture is still here in addition to a sizeable populations of expats. 

Because of this year round influx of tourists the handcrafts souvenir business is thriving. Small shops and booths line the main street and beach area along with hundreds of adults and children walking the streets trying to cajole tourists into buying something from them.  Many of them from the smaller villages come into Pana to try to earn money. The sad part is that a lot of the children are kept out of shcool and sent into Pana with a basket of trinkets or weavings to sell to earn money for the family.  I’ve seen children that looked as young as 7 or 8 fending for themselves on the streets and trying to sell handcrafts.  I recently saw a boy of about 12 with a baby strapped to his back–obviously babysitting a sibling and selling at the same time. 

Handcrafts are cheap in Pana because the artisan is paid so little but few tourists realize this fact.  Artisans that make textiles or handcrafts try to sell them in their little villages but when they can’t they bring them to Pana and sell to a big store or to a wholesaler.  Usually the artisan makes very little over their costs when they sell this way.  Many tourists believe the old saying that ‘they expect you to haggle on the price’ —but I don’t believe it.  If I was living in poverty I would not want someone to try to pay me less because I know the money I make today will make a difference in whether my family eats today.

This is where Fair Trade organizations, like Education and More steps in to help the artisan earn a fair wage for their work. We work with the groups in their villages –paying fair wages, giving advance credit, helping with keeping their children in school,  helping them retain their culture, dignity and have pride in the work they do.