These are some of the organizations that supply the items sold by The Fair Trader.
The Bombolulu Workshop for the Handicapped provides training and long-term employment for some of Kenya's most marginalized citizens. The government of Kenya provides no aid or welfare for the disabled, who are left to the care of their families, or to fend for themselves. Among Kenya's poor, handicapped people are looked upon as a liability, a person who contributes nothing to the upkeep of the family but is an extra mouth to feed. They are often passed from family member to family member, eventually ending up on their own.
The Bombolulu Workshop for the Handicapped is located in Mombasa - a hot, humid city on Kenya's coast. It started in 1969 as a rehabilitation project sponsored by the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya. Bombolulu was created to provide job opportunities for handicapped men and women who would otherwise be unable to care for themselves. By providing training and equipment, its mission is to prove that people with physical handicaps and blindness can be given the training and tools to be productive, independent members of their community.
As well as training and tools, the 300 men and women artisans and their families receive free housing and medical care. Priority is given to the most severely disabled and to those from the poorest families.
Profits from the sales of its first project, copper jewelry, were used to purchase Bombolulu Gardens, a 12-acre farm on the outskirts of Mombasa. Currently, sale of craft items provides salaries for the workers. This system allows disabled people to be self-sufficient for the first time in their lives and helps reduce the burden of poverty among the poorest of the poor.
The Dominion Traders, located in the city of Karachi, Pakistan, facilitates the creation and marketing of onyx creations, thus helping to provide long-term employment for underprivileged artisans.
Dominion Traders disperses orders to twenty independently owned and operated onyx workshops, which employ between 100-150 people. Each workshop uses its own equipment and rents or owns its facility. Most workshops are family owned businesses. Workshops are scattered throughout Pakistan and employ artisans who speak different languages and practice different religions.
Marketing the crafts can be just as complicated as producing them. When large onyx boulders arrive from the mines in Naukundi (an area near the Afghanistan border), a representative from each workshop chooses a block of stone. The blocks, adorned with beautiful coloring and grain patterns, are then cut into smaller pieces and transformed into decorative and functional crafts such as: candlesticks, bookends, bowls and animal shapes.
DT’s facilitation of the production and marketing of the crafts allows artisans to earn fair trade wages, helping them provide stable futures for their families.
The Thane bus station in Mumbai, India, has become a center for abandoned children who were forced to by economic circumstance to fend for themselves. Many of them were abandoned or forced to leave home when their families could no longer care for them. These children lack the most basic care, surviving however they can.
Asha Deep's mission is to reach street children living in the area of Thane bus station, by establishing a stable and environment where the children's immediate needs can be met.
Asha Deep's work began with a small team of people who met children at the bus station. The team provided first aid, basic education and prayer for children who needed it. In July 1999, God provided Asha Deep with a day center not far from the station. Almost 40 children per day were attending activities at the center. In May 2001, a night shelter was started in order to give stability to boys under the age of 17 who were living alone at the bus station. Day and night centers provide stable environments and basic care to children who are otherwise living on their own.
There are few prospects for poor artisans to make a living wage and provide for their families in Moradabad, India. They are forced to accept whatever payment a buyer is willing to pay for their products. This situation perpetuates a cycle of hopelessness and poverty.
In 1986, Samuel Masih established Noah's Ark to provide better opportunities for poor artisans in Moradabad. In addition to fair wages and business support, Noah's Ark provides life insurance, medical care and an educational facility for children. A portion of the profits is allocated to build a school—providing a free education to Moradabad’s poorest children.
Noah's Ark was formed to bring opportunities to the poor of this community by selling their products outside of India to organizations that believe in Fair Trade (paying a fair and living wage to workers). There are 28 small producer groups whose lives have been strongly impacted by improved living conditions and opportunities. There is also a wonderful ripple affect in their communities as their improved wages get invested in other community businesses.
As a result of years of difficult work, Noah's Ark now provides work and a living wage to hundreds of families in the community.
Building this project has been long and sacrificial, sustained because of a strong sense of God's leading and compassion for the poor. Bright Hope is partnering with Noah's Ark by successfully selling their products through our store and wholesale programs. We have been able to double our orders to them each year. We also are working with Noah's Ark to provide design and marketing assistance that will increase their sales to all of their partners. Our assistance provides steady work for the producer groups as well as giving jobs to new workers.