An Ongoing Story of Survival

In a recent blog post we asked a question about how much information concerning the lives of our artisans is interesting and motivating to you, our customers. The response was almost unanimous in saying that you DO want to know the stories of struggle and survival concerning specific women who make the products offered by Buy The Change.

This week we are starting a series focusing on our artisans and the countries where they live.
Our first artisan story is about Ms. Srey Oun from Cambodia.

Cambodia is a country still working to overcome years of war and genocide under the Khmer Rouge regime during the 1970’s.  All of the women we work with in Cambodia are disabled in some way. They each own their own, small, home based business and rely on the organization Craftworks Cambodia in Phnom Penh to help them find wholesale customers. Buy The Change buys products, through Craftworks Cambodia, at a wholesale price set by each woman artisan. This is our “trade over aid” way of being part of the solution.

Ms. Srey Oun is 33 years old with one 4 year old daughter. She survived one of the most brutal times in Cambodian history and then encountered a personal disaster.

She was the victim of an acid attack in Jan 1999. Her husband left her when she was 4 months pregnant, due to pressure from his family. Being unemployed and with no income to support her daughter, living in a country with no system of caring for the poor, even those with disabilities, she used her skill of crochet to make craft items, bags, wallets, coasters, cushion covers, friendship bracelets, hair bows and more, hoping to be able to sell them in the local markets; it was not easy to sell her products.

Thanks to her association with Craftworks Cambodia, she now sells to international companies, including Buy The Change. Prior to this she had few customers. It was impossible for her to find customers outside of Cambodia because of the language barrier and her blindness.

Ms. Srey Oun always encourages herself to remain optimistic as she struggles to provide her daughter with food and an education as well as supporting her elderly mother. Discrimination is an ongoing issue as many neighbors are unaccepting of disabilities, including blindness.

Srey Oun states that she really enjoys knitting bags, wallets and other products. “This work makes my life full of pleasure, dignity and helps my daughter gain life changing education in the future.”

We hope to meet Ms. Srey Oun during our visit to Cambodia in January 2014. We will carry with us messages of respect and encouragement from the women of the United States.

You can purchase handbags made by Ms. Srey Oun on the Buy The Change webstore.  Each is slightly different due to being handmade.

Each and every bag sold gives us the opportunity to purchase additional bags from Srey Oun. By shopping at Buy The Change you are directly contributing to the lively hood and wellbeing of women around the world, including the 3 generations of women in Ms. Srey Oun’s family.

In Gratitude,

Kari and Shanan


P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!
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Focus on Possibilities or Dark Realities?

  

As most of you know, we were inspired by the books Half The Sky and Global Girlfriend when we made the crazy, but perfect, decision to start Buy The Change.  What really spoke to us in both of these books was a focus on each of us doing what we can, no matter how large or small, to become part of the solution.
The question that keeps surfacing as we go about the daily tasks of trying to grow this company into a world changing superpower is this “How much should we focus on the challenges faced by our artisans, which are sometimes horrific?” There is a dilemma here because we are firm believers in the power of creating a vision of the outcomes we want, rather than the problems we are trying to fix. We are torn between focusing on the possibilities trade and education can bring, how each blanket, bag or piece of jewelry offers opportunity for a woman, and the risk of not inspiring people to get on board by telling them the full scope of the issues faced by women and girls around the world.
Over the past two years we have become immersed in the issues women and girls face, things like, human trafficking, violence and extreme poverty, among many others.  Are the gruesome details of these stories the best way to motivate people or is the truth about the power of sustainable income for women enough? The more people we meet that are committed to being change makers, the more styles and methods we see.  What do you think is the right balance?  Please share your thoughts.
In Gratitude,
Kari and Shanan

P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!
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"Live, Travel, Adventure, Bless...."

 

 

The single most frequently asked question by our customers is “have you ever traveled to visit the artisans who make your products?” Our answer up to this point has been a simple “no, but we will”. Well folks, that day has finally come. After two wonderful years in business, we just booked our first trip to visit some of our favorite producer groups! Years of developing virtual relationships with our contacts Jaya, Sushmita, and Thavry have progressed to the point of finally a face-to-face meeting. This has been an anticipated step in our process since day one. We’re so excited. While it’s still a couple months away we couldn’t wait to share the news with you.
Visiting Connexions Vocational Training Center, Astral Exports, Craftworks Cambodia, and W.E.A.V.E. is an important next step for Buy The Change. Along with cementing the relationships we have established with these groups, this trip will also bring greater awareness and open our souls like only world travel can do.
Thinking about meeting this woman…

And these women…

 

And maybe even this woman…Somaly Mam…

And our souls are already stirring.
“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry”.

 

 

We Are All In This Together

We recently attended a panel discussion on women and gender studies at Wayne State University in Detroit. An interesting point was made by one of the panelists about international aid; specifically, why should we help people in other countries when there are so many people here in need? First of all, there are lots of opinions on the matter, but we believe that there is absolutely a time and a place for pure and true aid. People in the lowest of lows need help to stand on their own two feet before you can “teach them how to fish”. Once they are on their feet, there is also a place for business building and creating sustainable, longer-term opportunities so people do not become dependent on handouts and can learn to support themselves. That’s why we have both our retail business “Buy The Change” and our non-profit “Buy The Change Foundation”.


Clearly, our response to the “why help people in other countries when people here need help?” question is “let’s help them all”. The answer of helping “our own” before we help “them” is a mindset we hope will soon get the paradigm shift it so deserves. The “us” and “them” piece is very divisive, and the truth is that we are all in this together. There is balance in saying “nourish those who need it” with no stipulations. Not one’s needs above another.

 

“Let’s help them all” – too big of a job? Nah. Because…we are all in this together, and there are roughly 7 billion of us. Now, just imagine each person doing just one thing for the greater good...7 billion acts of random (or not-so-random) kindness. Wow.

 

We'll end with this wonderful African Proverb: "If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

 

Thanks for being "in this" together with us!

 

Shanan and Kari

 

P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!

 

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A Rising Success!

The Buy The Change/Sapphire Soul screening event for the movie Girl Rising was Thursday night at the Canton Cinema. One of the attendees was our beautiful product model Anna King. Anna stepped up for us again and made sure everyone received a raffle ticket when they came through the door. Our other swag assistant for the evening was Waverlee Baron-Galbavi who did a fantastic job of handing out brochures and gift certificates to all the guests.

It was a humbling experience to watch the faces of friends and loyal customers come through the door. Tickets were purchased through the Girl Rising website so we didn’t have a list of who was attending. We had heard from many friends and were expecting them, but there were wonderful surprises as well. There is something beyond words about asking for support for something we care deeply about and seeing it happen.

A total of 178 tickets were purchased which means $1780 went directly to the Girl Rising organization. We are glad to have participated in raising this amount of money in one evening but even more important is the hope that every person who saw the movie left the theater inspired to be part of the solution, whatever that already is, or turns out to be.

Girl Rising tells the stories of nine girls in developing countries who are committed to education and the opportunities it can bring. There is Wadley in Haiti, who at age 8 refuses to stop going to school, even though her mother does not have the money to pay the school fees after the earthquake there. There is Amina in Afghanistan, who was married at age 11 to an older cousin and gave birth to her first child at age 12, yet refuses to give up the idea that her life can be different and better. There is Suma in Nepal, who was sold by her family at age 6 into a system called Kamlari which turns girls into domestic slaves. Suma was rescued and is now receiving an education.

Every one of the nine stories remind us to be grateful for the ease in our daily lives.

We had a display table at the event to let people see a sample of Buy The Change products, and, of course, buy things if they cared to. We would be bad business people to pass up such a great pool of possible customers. We spoke with many people and sold many items but there were a few that stood out. There was a girl of about 9 or 10 who told me she had been born in Guatemala. She very much wanted to buy something made by a woman in Guatemala. There was a teenage girl who fell in love with our coffee bag messenger bag and came back to look at it many times before finally buying it and wearing it home.  Many women expressed interested in hosting trunk shows.

All in all it was a stellar evening for us, for Buy The Change and for Girl Rising.  We only had a moment to speak with Allison after the event but I hope it was as good for her and Sapphire Soul.

Here is a pic of Kari, at the Buy The Change table. Thanks to Val Kiley for always being the one to get photo documentation of anything and everything happening in her presence. Thanks too, to Kim Lazarz for all the work she does for the Buy The Change Foundation and Sharon Rondeau, Megan Shipley and Denise Crissman for helping us set up and man the table so we could mingle a bit with our guests.

Most of all, Thank you to you!

Kari and Shanan

P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!
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100 Wonderful People Said Yes!

This month Buy The Change is two years old. We can’t really decide if we want to call it our birthday or our anniversary but either way it has been two amazing years. We have made wonderful new friends, been overwhelmingly supported by our old friends, donated to local non-profit organizations, started our own non-profit organization, become a registered BCorp and most importantly, empowered women around the world by bringing their handmade goods to the American market.

Shanan and I had been talking for a few weeks about how to best celebrate our successful two years. We hadn’t hit on the thing that felt just right until I saw a post from a company called Sapphire Soul based in Ypsilanti, Michigan (check them out because they are very cool). Allison, the owner of Sapphire Soul, posted that she was sponsoring a screening of the movie Girl Rising on October 17^th in celebration of the International Day of the Girl on October 11^th. I immediately emailed to ask if we could co-sponsor and she said YES!  Our birthday celebration had been found!

The thing about sponsoring a screening of this film is that they give you 10 days to sell 100 tickets at $10 each or it’s a no go. That is a big order for one small company so a Buy The Change/Sapphire Soul collaboration seemed like the perfect solution.  We asked and 100 Wonderful People Said Yes!  It was more than 100 actually, in only 7 days. Since proceeds from ticket sales go directly to the Girl Rising organization, this is a big deal.

There are still tickets available for anyone in southeast Michigan who likes to spend time with very cool people, support change making companies and organizations, get free stuff (we are going to give you a gift for our birthday) and learn about the power of education for girls around the world.  Sounds like a great way to spend a Thursday evening to me.  Hope to see you there.

In Gratitude,
Kari

P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!
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Tales From The Front Lines

As all of you that are customers and fans of Buy The Change are aware, we are very inspired by the work of Sheryl WuDunn and Nicolas Kristof.  They are the authors of the book Half The Sky which was a major inspiration in starting our company.  We are always on the lookout for like minded individuals and recently discovered a blog called Spillerina.  The blog is not only about international issues concerning women and girls (it's about a lot of other fun things too) but the auther is very much a like minded person who has traveled and experienced these issues first hand.  Below is a post from the Spillerena blog detailing the authors experiences volunteering in an orphanage in Cambodia in 2007:



I have been a huge fan of Nicolas Kristof for years. He has lead the charge on many human rights and social justice issues such as human trafficking, and has single handedly spread awareness on huge humanitarian issues that have been ignored by the mainstream media for decades. Many of the issues presented in Half the Sky are near and dear to my heart, as I have witnessed firsthand just how horrific and unfair the conditions are for women in some parts of the world. I’ll be writing a lot about human rights issues in the coming weeks, but today I thought I’d start with my personal experience.
In the summer of 2007 I volunteered an orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I’d been traveling around Southeast Asia for a couple months, having the time of my life, and I thought it would be nice to do something to “give back.” I emailed a few NGOs that worked with orphanages in Cambodia, and the response I received was overwhelming: they needed help and would take as much of at is they could get. After a few back and forth emails, I became a volunteer for Children of Cambodia’s Orphanage Development Project.

I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.

The orphanage I ended up volunteering at was one of the poorest in the city. Almost all of the children at the orphanage were either mentally and/or physically disabled, and the older kids that appeared to be healthy were all HIV positive. On my first day, I didn’t know if I could last six days let alone six weeks. The conditions were horrible, it was stifling hot, and the place smelled disgusting.

It is amazing how quickly I got used to this........

The NGO that I volunteered through also had a shelter for girls that were victims of the sex slave trade. I was told that the day the shelter opened, over 50 girls showed up. I can’t even imagine how much these girls had to risk just to get there, but at that time the shelter could only accommodate 25. So, they took the youngest. All of the girls in the shelter were between the ages of 7 and 13.
Cambodia is a beautiful but very corrupt country, and the sex slave trade is rampant. Many families can’t afford to have any extra mouths to feed, so instead of giving up their unwanted babies to an orphanage like the one I worked at, they sell them to a brothel.

If the kid appeared disabled or sick in some way, they would usually drop them off at an orphanage. It wasn’t uncommon for babies to be left in front of the orphanage gates.

The time I spent in Cambodia changed me in ways I can’t even begin to describe, and these experiences are deeply engrained in the soul of my existence. I’ll carry them with me until the day I die.


Thanks so much to Serena at Sillerena for letting us share a piece of her experience.  Please read the entire post at:      http://www.spillerena.com/2012/08/01/half-the-sky/

Click here to see the Half The Sky Movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JbWA-6GDn4&feature=player_embedded

Click here to join the Half The Sky Movement:   http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

Click here to purchase the Half The Sky book.  It really is a must read:
http://www.amazon.com/Half-Sky-Oppression-Opportunity-Worldwide/dp/0307387097/ref=la_B001H6MMHA_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343857553&sr=1-1

As always you can find Buy The Change products at our website:  www.buythechangeusa.org

Keep up on the latest happenings on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/buythechange