Ten Thousand Villages News

Ten Thousand Villages has been in close contact with artisan partners in Pakistan, where monsoon rains in have been the heaviest in 80 years and have caused flooding and landslides in multiple regions of the country.

Artisans working with Bunyaad, a Ten Thousand Villages a...rtisan partner, have been affected by the flooding. Bunyaad has a number of rug weavers and jewelry makers in areas that have reported flooding.

Nasir Gul, a village supervisor in the Dera Ghazi Khan region, where many villages were flooded, reported that a number of artisans were directly affected by the flooding. After a conversation focusing on how to get food, shelter and emergency supplies to the artisans he shared that he hopes to get the artisans back to work as quickly as possible.

Nasir said, “If there is work, a family has something to focus on, something that makes them feel like they are building a step in their future. Just sitting around, looking at the water and wondering what is coming next doesn’t make it easy for these families."

To view a full report and photos from Pakistan: http://rugs.tenthousandvillages.com/flooding

View Ten Thousand Villages Items by Bunyaad: http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/cata ... e=homepage

View Oriental Rugs by Bunyaad: http://rugs.tenthousandvillages.com/

View Ten Thousand Villages Items by Dominion Traders: http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/cata ... e=homepage

A Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) worker in Afghanistan, Glen D. Lapp of Lancaster, Pa., was killed this week in a shooting incident in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province.

Lapp was traveling with a medical team of four Afghans, six Americans, one Briton and one German. All, including Lapp, worked with MCC partner organization International Assistance Mission, a charity providing eye care and medical help in Afghanistan. Local police found 10 bodies on Friday next to abandoned vehicles. One Afghan team member traveled home via another route and is safe. Another Afghan survived the attack and is being questioned by the police.

On Sunday morning, Lapp’s family received confirmation of his death from the U.S. Embassy. After delays due to poor weather in the area of the attack, the bodies had been taken to the capital city of Kabul for official identification.

In media reports, IAM said this “eye camp” medical team had been testing and treating people with eye diseases in Nuristan province for about two weeks at the invitation of communities there. IAM lost touch with the team Thursday evening when members did not call in as agreed. Three vehicles fitting the description of the team’s vehicles were discovered a day later in Kuran Wa Munjan district of Badakhshan province, which borders Nuristan province.

Local police said robbery might have been the motive. The Taliban has said it is behind the attack.

IAM, which has worked in the country since 1966, regularly dispatched “eye camp” medical teams in Afghanistan and Lapp, 40, had also been part of previous teams. While Lapp was trained as a nurse, his work in Afghanistan was not as a medic. In his two years there, Lapp was executive assistant at IAM and manager of IAM’s provincial ophthalmic care program.

Afghanistan has suffered war, turmoil, poverty and instability for decades. It is one of the least-developed countries in the world, and the lives of ordinary Afghans continue to be threatened by an array of issues.

MCC’s work in Afghanistan includes education, peacebuilding and advocacy, food security and disaster relief.

Lapp was the son of Marvin and Mary Lapp, and a member of Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, a Mennonite Church USA congregation. In previous service with MCC he helped with response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He also worked as a nurse in Lancaster, New York City and Supai, Ariz. He was a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Eastern Mennonite University.

No information is available at this time regarding a memorial service.

Lapp was to complete his MCC term in October, and recently wrote about it in a report, “Where I was [Afghanistan], the main thing that expats can do is to be a presence in the country. Treating people with respect and with love and trying to be a little bit of Christ in this part of the world.”

Ron Flaming, MCC director of international programs, said that the people of MCC mourn with the Lapp family, the families of all who died in the incident, and the people of IAM. “IAM is a long-time and trusted partner of MCC work in Afghanistan,” Flaming said.

IAM executive director Dirk Frans spoke of the organization’s focus on security in media reports Saturday. “External experts say IAM’s security systems are among the best in the country… Secular consultants have been critical about our stated dependency on God for our security, wrongly assuming we left it all to prayer. When they checked our systems and way of working they have had next to no additional suggestions.”

In his report to MCC, Lapp concluded, “MCC is very much involved in Peacebuilding in Afghanistan and my hope is that MCC can continue along that vein and continue to help this country work towards peace on many different social, ethnic, and economic levels.”

Ten Thousand Villages Store is celebrating the GRAND OPENING of its newest store in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee! The world’s largest and oldest fair trade retailer of artisan-crafted home decor and gifts opened a new gift store in Belz Outlets at 2654 Teaster Lane. Live nearby or visiting East Tennessee soon, click here for savings coupon: http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/upda ... forge_2010

Customers that stop in during our Grand Opening celebration will receive a FREE handmade paper mini-journal while supplies last! Those that join our mailing or email list, will be entered in a drawing to win a $50 Gift Card from Ten Thousand Villages!

“This is a great opportunity to expand the mission of Ten Thousand Villages,” said Craig Schloneger, Ten Thousand Villages U.S. Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to working with Belz Outlets to spread the mission of fair trade throughout East Tennessee.”

“On behalf of the entire Ten Thousand Villages Pigeon Forge team, we are eager and excited to invite our neighbors to experience the handcrafted products made by our fair trade artisan partners,” expressed Michelle Jestice, store manager.

This new opening brings the total number of Ten Thousand Villages branded stores across the country to 72 and completes a network of more than 390 retail locations selling Ten Thousand Villages products. A variety of opportunities to volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages in Pigeon Forge are open to the public. Ten Thousand Villages in Pigeon Forge will be open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, also visit our website at: www.pigeonforge.tenthousandvillages.com.

Artisans in Indonesia Use Traditional Methods to Create Functional Ikat Textiles. http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/ikat-elegance-screen We recently introduced several home decor pieces featuring traditional ikat textiles from Indonesia. A traditional weaving style in many parts of the world, ikat includes a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either warp or weft before artisans weave the threads to create a pattern.

Ikat means “to tie” or “to bind” in the Indonesian language. Artisans in Indonesia tie-dye bundles of yarn before weaving them into beautiful textiles. In Central and South America, ikat is also still common. India, Japan, Laos and several Southeast Asian countries have cultures with long histories of ikat production. Ikat designs and methods widely from country to country and region to region.

Three new products incorporate ikat textiles in functional designs: Ikat Shoulder Bag - A cream and navy ikat pattern decorates this unstructured Laotian shoulder bag. The cotton bag has a black lining as well as a zippered pocket and button closure. A Ten Thousand Villages exclusive design by artisans in Laos, the bag measures 17 inches wide by 12 inches high. With the shoulder strap the bag measures 20 inches high overall. http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/ikat-shoulder-bag

Ocean Blues Ikat Silk Scarf - Laotian ikat design in blue, white and peach forms this light and delightful silk scarf from Phontong Handicrafts Cooperative. The fringed scarf measures 63 inches long by 12.5 inches wide and is made with 100% silk, machine-spun. http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/ocea ... silk-scarf

Ikat Screen - Featuring a cotton ikat design, this striking screen adds beauty and added privacy to any room. The stained bamboo frame adds a touch of elegance while the ikat design adds a touch of culture. The screen measures 60 inches wide by 67 inches tall. http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/ikat-elegance-screen

The Ten Thousand Villages Annual Report [1.04 MB] for the period April 1, 2009 to March 31.

Download the pdf here:
Ten Thousand Villages 2010 Annual Report

For centuries, artisans throughout the world have pounded, molded, etched and embossed brass. During the 2009 holiday season, Ten Thousand Villages stores sparkled with the introduction of stunning etched brass pieces from Fair Trade Egypt, a new trading partner. A large star anchors the elaborate design of the Engraved Stars Brass Tray, accented with smaller stars and finely engraved foliage patterns. Horsemen and animals, foliage and vines adorn the Arabesque Brass Mirror, which echoes the form of arched and pillared window architecture.

Fair Trade Egypt, based in Cairo, Egypt, serves 40 producer organizations that incorporate some 2,700 artisans. The goals of Fair Trade Egypt include providing income to marginalized Egyptian artisans through marketing and sales of their products, and helping to preserve Egypt’s infinite cultural richness and craft heritage. Fair Trade Egypt creates employment in marginalized communities, works for greater equity in employment conditions between men and women, encourages children’s education by eliminating the need for them to work and provides greater access to services in health and education.

Fair Trade Egypt also seeks to have only a positive impact on the environment, and to preserve traditional craft techniques in Egypt. The organization gives high priority to safe and healthy working conditions, as a principal tenet of fair trade. Fair Trade Egypt conducted an in-depth working conditions assessment in 2005, and continues to monitor working conditions for its artisans.

Fair Trade Egypt was established in 1998 address the need for greater market access for artisans in Egypt. On an ongoing basis, the organization provides capacity building training, technical assistance and guidance in marketing, operations and human resources management to artisan groups. In recent years, Fair Trade Egypt has also given more focused attention to product development assistance.

Ten Thousand Villages purchases etched brass items from Fair Trade Egypt. Ten Thousand Villages began purchasing from the group in 2009.




Hala Ahmad Hashim is an artisan with Fair Trade Egypt, a new Ten Thousand Villages trading partner. Hashim is part of a group of 160 women embroiderers in Upper Egypt who are seeking to preserve embroidery skills that are gradually being lost within their community.

Israfil, master craftsman with Zordozi Original, a workshop of handicraft marketing organization CRC Exports in Kolkata, India, embroiders the Heirloom Tree of Life Wall Hanging sold in Ten Thousand Villages stores and online.

Israfil has been doing skilled embroidery for the past 15 years, having learned from a master craftsman himself. The art of embroidery is practiced throughout Israfil’s village, and is a way of life for the artisans. He hopes that his young son, now only 4 years old, will grow up to carry on this craft tradition, having been surrounded by it. Many of the complex designs originated in the Mughal period, when artisans used embroidery to decorate the ornate costumes of the elite class.

Zordozi Original has been working with CRC Exports for the past five years. Artisans of this group create both simple decorative embroidery and the more complex textured embroidery found in pieces such as our Heirloom Tree of Life hanging. Both men and women work on the embroidery, although it is the men who create the most complex pieces—works of art that require enormous amounts of time to complete.