I was at a craft show not too long ago, and spotted a container for depositing cereal boxes to help women in Haiti.  What a wild concept!  I walked over to the stand  and encountered Trades of Hope for the very first time.  Trades of Hope has a similar mission to other causes such as  Made by Survivors, Global Girlfriend and the purpose of the shops of Ten Thousand Villages.  These are all wonderful opportunities for our brothers and sisters in impoverished countries to better themselves and their situation by supporting themselves with their homemade artifacts.  Trades of Hope, Made by Survivors and Global Girlfriend tend to support women artisans, in order to give women a stable life and to eradicate sex trafficking.  Ten Thousand Villages supports both men and women artisans and their villages so that these people can support themselves and live with dignity.  I have been saving my empty cereal boxes to give to my local Trades of Hope Compassionate Entrepreneur for shipment to Haiti for the women artisans to make into beads.  I must say, these beads are beautiful!  They are painstakingly made and reflect the skill and craft of their makers.

I look at it this way.  If I am going to spend my money, why not spend it where it can do some good?  I can either support a large corporation, or I can reach out to my neighbor.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cindy

“All beings are my relatives”

The Lakota native Americans