Happy Halloween!

A modern day Adams family?

Fair Trade Gifts for the Holiday Season

Lately I have a very strong interest in fair trade merchandise. Probably due to our trip to Peru. I am also in charge of organizing a fair trade sale at church. Similar to a Pampered Chef or Tupperware catalog party, except for people who really need the income are earning money from the sales. Here's a great spot from the CRS website - an insight to fair trade if you will.

Fair Trade Gifts for the Holiday Season
By Kim Pozniak

"Better pricing for our baskets has helped us send our children to school. Before, we had to weave all night to pay school fees." These are the words of Teni Ayamga, a basket weaver from Ghana whose children are able to go to school thanks to fair trade.

Teni is the beneficiary of a trade model that guarantees fair wages to disadvantaged artisans, farmers and workers around the world while providing socially conscious consumers in the United States a way to shop responsibly. By purchasing fair trade products, consumers promote fair wages for impoverished workers in developing countries, and fair trade helps these small-scale farmers and artisans to survive in a very competitive international market.
"Before Trade Aid [a fair trade organization in Ghana], I had to sell in the market and didn't consider the cost of my skill and the materials. I sold too low. With Trade Aid, I learned to consider the raw materials and workmanship, and I sell my baskets for double," says Anyopoka Apana, who also earns a living as a basket weaver.

Crafts, Coffee and Chocolate
Teni's and Anyopoka's baskets are part of a large selection of gift items available through Catholic Relief Services' fair trade program, which also includes coffee, chocolate, specialty food items and other handcrafts. The items were put together by 90 small producer groups and artisans in more than 36 countries throughout the world, and are now available at http://www.crsfairtrade.org/crafts/ .

CRS has also partnered with 16 coffee companies throughout the United States that are committed to the principles of fair trade. They offer a variety of quality roasts, and with every purchase designated to support CRS, consumers are contributing a percentage to CRS' Fair Trade Fund, which benefits fair trade organizations in the United States and abroad.
In Madagascar, for example, a CRS grant was used to train Malagasy artisans in product design. Sharing their own skills and learning about product trends—such as a growing interest in recycled materials in the American market—prepared them to more effectively export their products. One of their most popular items, a schoolbag made from recycled denim, has recently been added to CRS' handcrafts selection. In the United States CRS promotes the bag as a way for students to learn the importance of reusing materials and to learn about the country of Madagascar.

The weavers get a fair price for their baskets, some of which are sold in the United States through CRS' fair trade partners.

"The bag is an easy way to build understanding about the power of fair trade," says Jacqueline DeCarlo, program manager for CRS Fair Trade. "The message of recycling materials to protect the planet while promoting opportunities for artisans really resonates with young people."

Expanding the Fair Trade Market
For many Catholics, the principles of fair trade closely reflect their values, and the Catholic market for fairly traded goods has seen double-digit growth in recent years. The commitment of Catholics in this country to pay a fair price for the products they enjoy, and to introduce fair trade to their parishes, helps CRS' long-term efforts of promoting economic justice around the world.

"Fair trade is a very tangible way of supporting farmers and artisans by investing our money in communities that promote opportunity," DeCarlo says. Last year, more than 130 Catholic dioceses held fair trade sales, selling crafts, coffee and chocolate in their parishes. With their help, CRS' fair trade sales jumped to $2 million in 2007, a 53 percent increase over the previous year.

Both the fair trade online and printed catalog are filled with an extraordinary selection of fine jewelry, kitchen and tableware, household items, gift baskets, games, accessories, and holiday decorations. By purchasing these fair trade items, everyone wins: consumers get high-quality one-of-a-kind handcrafts and the people who created them get hope for a better future for themselves and their families.

To browse the catalog or place an order, visit http://www.crsfairtrade.org/crafts/.

We have a new addition to the family!

Welcome Inka! Isn't she cute!!!!!

And here's big sister Tiny - looking a little jealous!

If you'd like a new kitten, try FeralCare.org.

Target: Free Reusable Tote Bag

Did you know Seattle is currently trying to pass a bill to charge for bags used at the grocery stores? I think it's great! So start stocking up on your reusable bags now, and save yourself the $ later.

Target has launched an innovative promotion with People magazine to give away reusable tote bags. Just remove the cover of the October 27 issue of People. Fold it inside out and tape the sides to create a postage paid envelope. Fill the envelope with five plastic Target bags. Seal all sides and mail by November 30, 2008. You’ll receive a coupon in the mail for a free reusable tote bag in early January.If you don’t have the October 27 issue of People, simply put five plastic Target bags in an 8 ½” x 11” envelope.

Affix postage and mail to:

TerraCycle121 New York Avenue

Trenton, NJ 08638

Be sure the bags are clean and you include a clear return mailing address.

Rachel's girl scout troop is doing this project, and we are going to have to ask around for bags! That's how seldom it is that we go to Target anymore. Lately, I shop on-line or not at all. And I hope to start more fair trade shopping, but that is another post!

A Lifelong Train Ride

Do you ever stop to think how much influence you have on other people? It can be a little daunting sometimes. Click here to watch Pixie's Train Ride.

This post was inspired by 2 people - my friend Kim and my favorite retreat leader at The Palisades.

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

Rachel and I are having a lot of fun listening to Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery on the IPod - which I can now play in my car on my brand-new, early-birthday-present stereo complete with an auxilary Ipod connection! (How's that for a grammatically correct sentence?!) I have been simultaneously reading The Mother-Daughter Book Club and its sequel Much Ado About Anne as a preview for our own Mom-Daughter book club. You guessed it - in Much Ado About Anne the book club is also reading Anne of Green Gables. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

"There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting."

"It's so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn't it?"

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?"


I cannot believe that I have never read this book before now. It's so good. I'm lucky to be able to share it with Rachel.

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month! Who knew there was such a thing? I told the kids about it tonight and they are pretty excited. They spent the evening brainstorming ideas.