Trade As One

Josh Catron is one of our summer interns and a recent Stanford grad.

My name is Josh Catron and I spent the summer working as an intern with Trade as One. After my six weeks with Trade as One I can truly say I enjoyed the experience. From Tuesday BBQ lunches to long days doing inventory, I had a great time working with everyone on the Trade as One team.

But the most rewarding part of my internship was being able to hear the stories of how the livelihoods of people all over the world are improving because of Fair Trade principles. The focus of my internship with a marketing project designed to help customers understand the positive impact they are making in the lives of workers around the world when they purchase our products. This opportunity allowed me to personally talk with representatives from each of our producers. And while each producer had a different story to tell, they all spoke of the same theme: Fair Trade has brought economic empowerment, social dignity, and a better way of life to hard working people across the globe. I feel blessed to have had this experience and been able to be a part of a company who is based on these principles.

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 is 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, a lone Zulu migrant night watchman, perhaps bored with counting the always-plentiful African ant-mugging flies crawling along the walls of the buildings, spied something that immediately fired up his imagination: multicolored plastic telephone wire. Creative inspiration gave way to action as the former basket weaver-turned-watchman ripped out the wiring from the walls, then passed the rest of the night happily weaving unique and colorful decorations for his traditional Zulu knobkerries (traditional night-sticks) and izimbenges (beer pot lids).

Monday Morning Mishap

Needless to say, when employees came to work on Monday, phone service was noticeably absent. As fate would have it, a temporary loss of contact with the outside world––-and, no doubt, the watchman’s job––was a small price to pay for the discovery of a new artistic medium that would soon supplant the more traditional and arduous form of basket weaving for which the Zulu people were known. Before long, other basket makers in the region caught on to the commercial prospects of wire basket weaving, making the practice of “precycling” copper telephone wire the new national pastime for starving artists everywhere.

From Beer to Bowls: Hops Off to Progress.

Today, Zulu night sticks and beer pot lids have been replaced by far more profitable bowls and platters. Each piece is a unique work of art and a vibrant new take on the once labor-intensive practice of grass-weaving baskets. Those baskets were challenging to produce mainly because of the difficulty in coloring native plants, grasses, and other natural fibers.

In contrast, the Zulu artisans of AITA eagerly embrace using plastic-coated copper telephone wire (now legally acquired by the artisans through custom manufacturers), for one, because the vivid colors of these manufactured materials can never be replicated in nature. Called “mbenge” in their native language, the colorful and celebrated stunning works of functional art are as beautiful as they are practical. Besides being tightly woven and very durable, each bowl is crafted in an explosion of color and intricate design; its whirls and circles are considered culturally significant, indicating a new baby, needed rains, a plentiful harvest, or just plain good news.

Good news is just what the mbenges have brought to communities of Zulu families in KwaZulu–Nata, a province rife with unemployment. Many of the AITA weavers there are widows, their husbands often the victims of AIDS, malaria, or intertribal warfare.  Even those who still have husbands often lose them to long commutes to the big cities where most of the work is found.

Smiles all Around, Learning Abounds

Yet despite their enormous challenges, women weavers like Jaheni Mkhize and Zeni Sabeth are a happy, openly demonstrative, and empathetic people. You’d be hard pressed to find one who won’t easily lend you a smile––and their understanding.  No doubt one reason for their buoyant spirit is their resilient character, forged in adversity, that enables them to turn suffering into strength.  But now it’s also because their tight-knit community has one of the few stable sources of employment in the entire province.

Wire basket weaving has evolved into both a marketable trade and a rewarding art form––a critical source of income that allows the Zulu people to preserve the family unit by living and working at home. By eliminating long commutes, parents can raise their children properly, keeping customs and culture intact while giving their children and grandchildren one critical benefit of prosperity their own parents were never able to give them––an education.

Bowling over the Art World

Prosperity has conferred another unexpected Western “benefit” for the Zulu artisans:  celebrity status. As a result of their beautiful creations, a few of the artisans have become internationally renowned in the art world, their baskets being proudly displayed in collections and exhibitions world wide.  Clearly they love what they do, and it shows.

Telephone wire––once a conduit used to connect human voices across thousands of miles in order to extend communities––has become a conveyance for a new form of human expression that now extends across the globe. Through the unique and beautiful art form of mbenge making, discovered during one of the darkest periods of their history, AITA’s Zulu artisans are skillfully weaving important symbols of a proud and colorful past with the geometric expressions of a bold and hopeful future, then joyfully sharing their story with the rest of the world.

Lucinda Kemp-Erisman stumbled across our website and offered to contribute her considerable writing talents to what we do. She both passionate and experienced in the world of fair trade, having launched her own fair trade fabrics business a while back. She offers a unique perspective on chocolate and its potential. Read on to discover her thoughts on how chocolate can affect us, and how it affects those in the developing world. If you’re interested in guest posting on our blog, email us at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

We all know chocolate is a delicious and indulgent treat. But it turns out chocolate can be good for you too. Dark chocolate contains flavanoids, the heart healthy substances found in fruits, vegetables and beverages such as tea, red wine and grapes.  Flavanoids from plant derived foods have powerful antioxidant effects and protect the body from free radicals and oxidative damage. Dark chocolate contains an array of minerals and a large number of antioxidants - nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries! 

Several clinical studies have shown the effectiveness of dark chocolate in lowering blood pressure, reducing oxidation of bad ‘LDL’ cholesterol and favorably effecting blood clotting.

Dark chocolate also releases endorphins , the feel good hormones, lifting mood and increasing a sense of well being. (I can personally attest to this.) One drawback of chocolate is the high calories, but luckily all the health benefits were shown with only 3.5 oz a day - that’s about one regular size bar. Just remember to balance the calories - replace some of your other sweet treats with heart healthy dark chocolate. As the saying goes, everything in moderation.

When you are buying that healthy chocolate snack, think beyond your personal health benefits to the health of the people who worked long hours on the cocoa plantation, picked the cocoa beans and prepared that chocolate bar for you. Did they work in a healthy, beneficial fair trade environment or did they work in an exploitive free trade system using child labor and offering slave wages? Were they treated fairly, like human beings? Or were they treated as commodities, whose sole purpose is to provide cocoa beans at the lowest possible price.

It’s easy to choose fair trade and move beyond the boundary of self when we expand your vision to encompass the true worth of the products we use in your daily life. It’s not just the monetary cost, but the people and environmental cost. Replacing our existing ideas about buying and consuming connects us all.  The act of buying, in turn, can become a spiritual act, an act of faith. No more empty consumerism. That is the power of Fair Trade.

And of course, the delicious Divine fair trade chocolate is available here in just the right 3.5 oz serving size as used in the clinical studies.  Eat chocolate and do good. Sounds delicious.

Steve Conrad is a friend of ours from Minnesota. He is married to the wonderful Emily, and they both attend Upper Room. Steve is a really talented writer, and he made the mistake of offering his considerable skills to Trade as One. He is currently putting the finishing touches on our Trade as One curriculum, which will be available this fall. You’ll also see him profiled in the coming weeks as a Trade as One Stalwart. Long story short: we like him.

In 2006, I traveled to Africa for the first time.  The 2 weeks I spent in Eastern Congo impacted my life deeply.  I describe that trip as one of the most challenging and painful but also one of the most hopeful experiences of my life.  I saw poverty and suffering that I couldn’t comprehend.  But I also saw incredibly talented, smart, and dedicated Congolese people working to improve their lives and their communities.

I returned home, committed to helping my new friends in Congo.  I spent the next 3 years studying international development and aid programs, working with different aid organizations, and helping to build partnerships between my church community and the people of Congo.  I learned many lessons along the way.
One of the most important lessons I learned came from a group of widows that had lost their husbands in the fighting that has consumed Eastern Congo for the past decade.  These widows met regularly to provide emotional support to one another and had formed a co-op, working together to grow crops that they would sell in the market to help support their families.

When I heard about this group of widows, I started to think about how my church community could develop a sponsorship program that would help provide food or housing for these women.  But when I actually had the opportunity to meet and talk with the widows, I found that they had a much better idea.  When I asked them how we could help, they responded that they needed a small gas-powered mill.  That was not what I was expecting to hear.

These women had developed a recipe for a porridge that they called ‘Masoso’, made of Maize, Soy, and Sorghum.  They would sell this porridge to families in the surrounding area.  It was a very popular product – but the women needed a mill in order to be able to produce at a higher volume.  With a mill, Masoso would produce enough income to support all of the widows and their families.
It’s stories like these that make me a believer in Fair Trade. 

The widows I met in Eastern Congo had better ideas than I did about how to improve their lives.  They had identified a need and developed an entrepreneurial and innovative plan.  They didn’t need aid – they just needed some start up capital.  They needed an opportunity that I could help provide.
In the same way, Fair Trade is a way to create opportunities.  People in developing countries have great ideas – they just need access to markets.  A widow in Africa can’t compete with global corporations unless people like me help them.  One of our roles as the church is to help create opportunities for people who desperately want to be self-sufficient.  People in developing countries don’t just want to be the recipients of handouts.  They want to bring something of value to the table.  And with Fair Trade, they can.