Trade As One

Laura Piper is one of our summer interns, helping Trade as One out with project management, graphic design and marketing.

When people typically think of organizations doing “good,” what most often comes to mind are charities, churches, non-profits, and philanthropists. In conversations with friends and family recently, I’ve been amazed by how hard it is for us to break out of this idea that if you want to do good and make a difference in the world, you need to work for a non-profit. And if you want to be successful and make money, you should work for a for-profit business. It’s almost as if we’ve made some a simple formula out of it:

Non-profits = Do good and impart change.
For-profits = Simply make a profit.

But in my mind, these things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. While I have no doubt that non-profits and churches are doing immense amounts of good in the world, and I am so thankful for all that they do, I am continually inspired by companies that are breaking this separation and seeking to not only make a profit, but to do “good” at the very same time.

This idea is exactly what drew me to the mission behind Trade as One: “To use sustainable business to break cycles of poverty and dependency in the developing world.” And it is also what got me excited about interning with them this summer (…along with the hope of keeping busy and making a difference with my time, while I search for a full-time job).

I’m about six weeks into my internship and there is no doubt that the experience has been a great one! Not only am I learning about the direct impact of our purchases on those living in the developing world, but I’m excited to be part of some of the numerous projects in the works at Trade as One, each with the goal of helping to tell the stories of lives being changed and hope being restored through your simple and ongoing decisions to purchase fair trade.

One of our friends Jenni Keast wrote this story for us about the artisans of AITA. She lent us her writing talent, so we wanted to share it with you! Read on to learn more about AITA and the creativity that continues to thrive in the developing world. AITA is a fair trade business committed to building long-term relationships with many artist communities who live and work in the beautiful land of the Zulu. They help keep long-standing families and communities together through the preservation of traditional art forms.  The name AITA is township slang from the new South Africa; it’s a cheerful greeting between friends and strangers alike.

As the world is going wireless at a dizzying speed, one Zulu province in South Africa is going backward––using once-discarded telephone wire to bring some much-needed modern prosperity to its beleaguered people, while still weaving in the communal traditions of the past.

If you look at what discarded plastic-coated telephone wire looks like on the ground, it’s an unsightly mess––good for only one thing: disposal.  Yet for the men and women living in the Zulu province of KwaZulu–Natal, a proud community of people who once felt “disposed of” themselves during the bitter and racially divisive years of apartheid, discarded telephone wire has evolved into “ a thing of beauty and a joy forever” ––in a way that would surprise even the poet who penned those words. 

As the story goes, on a warm and muggy mid-1960s’ night…

Read more

We’re all back from San Antonio and thoroughly enjoying sub-100 degree temperatures back in California. Nathan George spent some time with Doug Robins, one of the teaching pastors at BRCC, and was interviewed about Trade as One and fair trade in each of their five services. The teaching for the weekend was from the book of James, and focused on the need to treat workers fairly.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend, where we got to connect with yet another amazing church in Texas, enjoyed San Antonio despite the heat, and created some desperately needed employment for our producers in the developing world. Today we’ve got an amazing team of volunteers here in the warehouse from Compassion Network helping us pack up all of the orders from the event. Now the real work begins!

A quick recap of things we learned at BRCC:

1. Texas LOVES fair trade (we already knew this, given our connections with BGCT, Woodlands, Ecclesia, Riverbend, FBC Austin, Wilshire, ChaseOaks, etc.)
2. Kelly Schuetz and her volunteer team are absolute stars
3. Shelton Green is one of our favorite people in the world
4. Olive Oil+ 105 degree heat= Corks unexpectedly shooting dozens of feet into the air. Awesome and kinda terrifying.
5. San Antonio is a really cool city
6. Bandera Road Community Church is an amazing community

Next event on the horizon is “Slavery No More” a justice night at Shepherd of the Hills in Porter Ranch, CA. We can’t wait.

We’re about 30 hours away from our event with Bandera Road Community Church this weekend, and the whole team is excited. Nathan is flying into San Antonio today, where he’ll be met by Shelton Green, who’ll be lending his considerable talents to Trade as One this weekend.

We’ve had top-notch help from Kelly Schuetz, who has been running the show on Bandera’s end. She’s interning for the summer, and was tasked with the job of bringing fair trade to their 4,000 member congregation! And to think some interns spend their summers making copies. Luckily, she’s been up to the task and it should be a great event.

The teaching pastor for the weekend is Doug Robins, and he’ll be teaching about the Biblical mandate to treat workers fairly. He’ll then interview Nathan about fair trade, trade as one, and how all of us can use our spending power to make the world a bit more fair. We can’t wait for the event to start.

Two more things. First, as I mentioned yesterday, the weather looks like it will venture into triple-digit territory. Yikes. Second, if you’re anywhere near San Antonio this weekend, come out and see us!

This might not exactly qualify as breaking news, but I thought this picture of our COO Stuart Rentz was too good not to post. This is what happens when you decide to reorganize the warehouse shelving with the music on after a 12 hour day at the office. I guess we’re not the smartest guys in the world.

We’ve all been working hard to get everything in order before the craziness of the fall event season is upon us. We’re taking deliveries of products from all around the world and getting them ready for you to purchase at events and here on the site.

All of this was accelerated recently by the event we planned the last few weeks with Bandera Road Community Church in San Antonio (more information about that event coming tomorrow). They pulled together something really quickly and are using this weekend’s services to educate and equip their congregation to incorporate fair trade into their lives. Should be a great event at a great church. The one downside is that we California folks are a bit worried about the forecast. Triple digits!