Trade As One

This is the last post from Chad and Jodi Mulder about their experiences visiting Trade as One producers in Africa. Their 6 week trip will has taken them to over a dozen producers in Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya.

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We packed up and headed north out of Rwanda, passing through rolling hills smattered with blazing yellow tea plantations and tall, swaying sugar cane fields. Entering Uganda presented us with two immediate challenges. First, we had to remember to drive on the other (left) side of the road and then a battery of unforgiving speed bumps seemed ever-present, challenging our sensitive Western nerves and stomachs. Weaving through the countryside and munching on mediocre “English” biscuits, we were glad to be taking in the beauty of rural Uganda. Before diving back into producer visits, we spent a few days on safari, enjoying the wilderness of Africa. The hippopotamus in Queen Elizabeth National Park was the family favorite, with their odd blend of enormity, surprisingly adept swimming and endearingly bulging eyes. 

After two days and 700 kilometers we finally came to the tiny village of Abayudaya, our next producer destination. A warm greeting awaited us at the Abayduya Guesthouse.  Situated in a predominately Jewish community, the guesthouse is next to the community’s small, modest synagogue. It was a treat for us to spend five days immersed in village life, eating traditional Ugandan food, beading jewelry with local women, and joining in the daily afternoon soccer game at the schoolyard. We even celebrated our son’s third birthday with a room full of about twenty newly found friends, singing three different versions of “Happy Birthday” and eating cake.

Just a few minutes’ drive from Abayduya is the Peace Kawomera Coffee Cooperative which supplies Thanksgiving Coffee ...

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Just about 10 days from now (May 13th at 9:30 am PDT) Lynne Hybels, Nancy Ortberg, and Nathan will host the webinar described above. Everyone is invited to join us for an hour of discussion about how to get everybody engaged in practical ways to fight poverty.

We’d love for you to join us. Click here to sign up, and make sure to invite your friends as well!

Cath George, the only woman on our team who can rightfully claim the title of Mom (or “Mum,” as those crazy Brits say), wrote today’s blog post. It’s a toast to Mums everywhere. Enjoy.

There’s no doubt that mums are special and that the mother-child relationship is fundamental to us all.  As we think of our mums with all of our joy/security/regret/insecurity, I’d encourage us all to look out for other mums around us who need encouragement or support at whatever stage they are at- and then, wider than that, to put ourselves in the place of mothers in very tough and poverty stricken corners of our world.  My mind goes to our Trade as One producer mums! 

I propose a toast to Mums near and far.  Here’s to:

• all the mums who struggle, and to all the kids and adults who struggle with their mums,
• mums getting up every night for their kids,
• those getting up at night to check on elderly mums,
• mums struggling to make a wage,
• mums wishing they could feed their kids more nourishing food,
• mums who going without themselves in order to feed their kids,
• mums juggling the responsibilities of work and home, and feeling they are doing neither as well as they’d like,
• brave single mums who are hanging in there and showing fortitude and love,
• mum’s who are the sole bread-winners in their households,
• mums who look after numerous children and several generations,
• grandmothers who are acting as mum’s,
• teenage children who are orphaned and have the role of mum thrust upon them,
• young people who never intended to be a mum quite yet but find themselves in that place,
• the women who would have made fantastic mums but it hasn’t happened for them,
• mums who yearn to see their kids,
• and to mums who’d like a break from them.

So, here’s to the mothers who are the fabulous Trade as One producers! 
We wish you a happy Mother’s Day!  We at Trade as One send you our love and respect and we endeavor to support you as you skillfully and bravely work producing the beautiful and useful products that we enjoy. Thank you!

So if you haven’t already thought of a mother’s day gift for your own mum here in the US then think about a gift from Trade as One- you’ll be sending a message of care and thanks in two directions- to your own mother and to the Trade as One producer mums! 

- Cath George, daughter and daughter in law of a 2 top-notch mothers, and mother to 3 high-energy boys.

 

The Trade as One team has been blessed with some wonderful moms. We’re going to be profiling (read: embarrassing) them here on the blog this week. Next up is Stu’s mom: Kay Rentz.

I’m convinced that Kay Rentz (better known to her 3 grandsons as “Special”) is one of the most caring mothers walking the face of this Earth.  She is the definition of a Kindergarten teacher – she greets everyone with a hug, she can sympathize with anyone, and she makes you feel like you are the most important one in the room.
In particular, Special Kay has two gifts that not only make her an amazing mom but also make her an amazing ambassador for Fair Trade.  #1 – She simply loves helping people.  #2 – She loves teaching/convincing others to do the same.
Her selflessness is demonstrated daily whether it’s in the way that she currently takes care of her own mother and mother-in-law or in her attentiveness to the needs of neighbors, church members, co-workers, etc.  For example, while my brother and I were in high school my mom volunteered to bake and serve the pre-game meal for the my entire football team and staff. For five straight years, my mom would prepare her famous pizza-spaghetti recipe every Friday afternoon for fifty large, hungry, teenage boys.  Just as I see my mom as representing the classic definition of a kindergarten teacher, I also see her as defining small-town, Southern generosity (Pickens, SC – population of 3,012), where you show kindness to strangers and there’s no favor from a good friend that’s too big.
Her enthusiasm for helping others is infectious and I know it’s part of the reason that I landed at Trade as One.  The great thing about my mom, though, is that when her general enthusiasm isn’t quite enough to convince you to join her efforts, she has no fear of pushing, pulling, or using her motherly instincts to spur other people to action.
In fact, my mom is just the type of Fair Trade ambassador that we had in mind when we created the Just One program – an program that churches, schools, and groups of any size can use to educate their friends on the potential impact of Fair Trade and convince them to just purchase one fair trade product.  When we launched Just One last Fall, my mom went around to each Sunday School classroom in their church and showed them the Just One video on a laptop computer (apparently my dad joined her on this education quest as her “Video Technician” which I think is just my mom’s fancy way of saying that my dad held the laptop and pressed the play button each time).  The response from Pickens Presbyterian Church was amazing and I’m pretty sure that on a per-capita basis Pickens, SC is now one of the leaders in the Fair Trade movement.
I love my mom.  I have so much respect for how she lives her life.  And I am so appreciative for all the ideals that she instilled in me.

-Stu

The Trade as One team has been blessed with some wonderful moms. We’re going to be profiling (read: embarrassing) them here on the blog this week. Next up is Rachel’s mom: Joanie Karpanty.

Trying to articulate my feelings about my mom is not an easy task. How do I put to words gratitude for the person who selflessly raised me? So mom, know that I won’t be able to capture it all and know part of what made you such an incredible woman was the fact I don’t know all of the things you did along the way for me!
When I think of my mom, the first thing I think of is her big smile matched only by a bigger heart. When she enters a room, she brings with her joy. I remember as a kid stating that I didn’t quite know what my mom “did” but I wanted to be like her when I grew up. From a now adult perspective, I realize that what my mom “did” (and still does!) is love people well. Regardless of who you are, she will look you in the eye, treat you kindly and love you where you are. This would sound cliché if not for the truth of the statement and the fact that I have dozen of witnesses. It always cracks me up that in the town where my parents live, everyone just knows my mom by her first name. Joanie! We like to tease her that she’s right up there in name recognition with Oprah, Cher or Madonna.
I also love that she puts other people first and says hard things to help other people become better. I have watched people’s lives be changed by the words she has spoken to them. While she is courageous and probably seems very brave at the time of speaking truth to people, I know from living with her the price she pays for that. It doesn’t come easily to say things to people that have the power to transform them if they are open to it but the power to ruin a relationship if they don’t. But, she always sees the bigger picture and acts accordingly.
This past weekend, my parents visited from Michigan and one of my favorite things was hearing my mom laugh hysterically. When I was a kid, I remember her laughing so hard and so loudly that people would turn to stare but eventually laughed along with her. There is nothing better than laughing so hard you cry, snort and smack your knee (a family trait passed down from my grandpa!)
Thanks mom for living a life filled with sacrifice, integrity and joy. Your generous heart has blessed not only me but every person whose path crosses yours! I am grateful for your example, for the ways we are alike and different and can now appreciate why people always wanted (and still want!) you to be their mom. Glad you’re mine!

- Rachel