Crossing Cultures: My GPC Experience
Allison Kittinger
Before I walked into Ten Thousand Villages for my first volunteer training shift, I had a vague notion that fair trade was good, and that it had something to do with working conditions. Even though my ideas about fair trade were correct by virtue of being vague, Ten Thousand Villages painted details into them that I had never previously considered, and drew lines connecting people from developing countries around the world directly to me that I had never noticed.
My eyes were truly opened when I watched my first product video. Whenever the store got new products in, we were given a video introducing the product to watch. I learned the stories of nearly every product in Ten Thousand Villages. I watched a child go to school for the first time on the wage Ten Thousand Villages had given her family. I watched a village in Africa sustaining itself almost entirely on stone carving. I watched a group of women paint beautiful ornaments by hand to empower the female community in a village. I watched the intricate process of Indian carpet dyeing in a small rural area. After watching these videos, whenever I picked up a product in the store I could hear the voices of the villagers, feel the hands that made it. Here, in North Carolina, I was helping people from Haiti to Kenya to Bangladesh support themselves. It was a dizzying thought.
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It Takes Ten Thousand Villages
When I watched my first training video, I realized that fair trade was also about fair wages and environmental sustainability in addition to fair working conditions. I was also surprised by the scope of Ten Thousand Villages - they have longstanding partnerships with thousands of artisan groups in 30 developing countries. I had not been aware of the scope of this organization, or the extent of its influence.
More than merely making me a better volunteer associate, my newfound knowledge made me a better advocate for fair trade and a more conscious consumer. I came to find that everyday people, even when they live half a world away from these developing countries, are connected directly to them by the routes of global trade. I now better understand my role in this issue, and am more aware of where the products I buy are coming from. I try wherever I can to support fair trade businesses, and continue to educate friends and family about how though this issue seems far away, it rests directly in our wallets and where we choose to use them.