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Home › Fair Trade › Ten Thousand Villages News › February 2006

Ten Thousand Villages News

February 2006

More Stories from the Ten Thousand Villages Learning Tour to Bangladesh
 February 22, 2006 - Read the latest updates from the Ten Thousand Villages staff and volunteers who went on a Learning Tour to Bangladesh.

  • Day Four: The women from Baghda Enterprises brought malas (garlands) for each of us and several beautiful pink water lily bouquets. In response to the malas, our tour leader Joanne spoke about her first trip to Baghda in 1982, when she saw the desperate situation of the women who worked there. Now as she returns, her heart is warmed to see how the lives of the women have improved. We didn't need to understand Bengali to be moved as we saw the women's faces as her words were being translated. Read more...


  • Day Five: This area is predominantly Hindu and it just so happened that today was a special Hindu holiday. At one house along the path, we were invited in to see a ceremony where a local priest was blessing the Sharashuti, the Goddess of Education. He burned leaves and sprinkled drops of ghee onto the fire while reading from the Gita. Drummers played during portions of the ceremony. The priest was one of many that will bless this statue. Read more...


  • Day Six: Eastern Screen Printers was started by Action Bag to print designs on their jute bags. They use a traditional technique, which allows them to add 5 or 6 colors. In the early years, the quality of their printing was poor. Then, David Klassen and Jim King from Mennonite Central Committee came and helped them develop their technique. They are now considered among the best screen printers in Bangladesh. Read more...

Check back for more updates from the Ten Thousand Villages Learning Tour to Bangladesh and India soon.

Ten Thousand Villages Learning Tour Reports from Bangladesh

February 7, 2006 - On January 31, 2006, fourteen staff members from Ten Thousand Villages arrived in Dhaka, Bangladesh to begin a three-week Learning Tour. Read excerpts from their travelogue below and learn how fair trade is making a difference in the lives of artisans in Bangladesh.

  • Day One: We have arrived! It is still dark, and all we can see are foggy outlines, but immediately we can feel that the air is different. We are in the tropics and the air feels moist and a little heavy. Suraiya, artist and designer from the Dhaka office for the artisan group Prokritee, is here to greet us, along with two Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) drivers and vehicles. Read more...


  • Day Two: This morning we head off to visit The Jute Works, an artisan group that is best known for the sika, or plant hanger, found in most rural homes. Braided from jute, the sika holds a stack of pots and pans, or blankets. It is like a hanging cupboard in homes that are too small to have a cupboard. The sika was easily adapted to make a plant hanger, for an export market. In the 1970s and 1980s, up to 6000 women were part of producer groups who made a wide variety of jute handicrafts. The demand for jute handicrafts has gone down over the past 20 years and The Jute Works now also has a lot of terra cotta products. In every village we visit the women ask us to "send more orders." Read more...


  • Day Three: We left the guesthouse around 8am this morning for a 250km trip to Agailjara. We have to travel several km north in order to cross the river by ferry and then we will continue the journey south. We drove for about an hour through the city and the outskirts of Dhaka, passing hundreds of rickshaws, fruit markets along the road and the population of the city as they start their day. Read more...

Check back for more updates from the Ten Thousand Villages Learning Tour to Bangladesh and India soon.
NPR's Marketplace Features Fair Trade Chocolate

February 6, 2006 - NPR's Marketplace recently produced a feature story on fair trade cocoa cooperatives in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Chocolate makers are using the success of the fair trade coffee movement to enforce fair trade labor standards in cocoa cooperatives. To learn more about how the fair trade movement is transforming the chocolate industry listen to this story.

Silver Dollar City hosts Ten Thousand Villages
 February 1, 2006 - Silver Dollar City, an 1880s theme park located near Branson, Mo., will host Ten Thousand Villages during World-Fest, April 6 through May 7. In addition to the World-Fest's more than 300 scheduled shows, park visitors will discover a collection of Ten Thousand Villages handcrafted home decor and gift items in a limited-time store operated during the festival. For more information about World-Fest, visit bransonsilverdollarcity.com.

Contact Juanita Fox, media coordinator, for more information.
Email: juanita.fox@tenthousandvillages.com
(717) 859-8120