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Global Village Gifts receives invitation to India

November 27th, 2015 Posted in Logan News

By Cassandra Solarte
csolarte.wix.com

Global Village Gifts, a non-profit store that supports artisans from developing countries by selling their crafts at a fair cost, has been invited to India with one of its wholesale groups to be introduced to the makers of its products. Representatives from the Logan-based small business will travel with Matr Boomie, a wholesale fair trade collection, to multiple small villages that create the items sold in its store.

Volunteer coordinator Tami Jones said the mission of Global Village is to educate the valley on the values of fair trade.

“Conventional trade does not always abide by the rules and regulations that are set here in the United States and so some of the working conditions in these third world countries are very subpar, being unsafe and unethical,” Jones said.

Global Village is the only fair trade federation in Utah and because it is a nonprofit organization the majority of the money spent in the store directly affects the lives of the artisans in third world countries. Jones said this trip is important because it allows store leaders to bring their experiences back to Cache Valley.

“It is eye-opening to learn more about the fair trade movement and to know how your money is directly affecting the lives of others,” Jones said. “People need to know that as a consumer, every dollar you spend acts as a vote towards the type of trade systems and the type of world we want to see.”

Jenna Williams, the executive director of Global Village Gifts, said this is an important message, especially around the holiday season.

“When bombarded by advertising like ‘Shop here to get the latest gaming system,’ we want customers to stop and think about the person who is behind that product and what conditions they are working in,” Williams said.

The trip is scheduled for the spring of 2016. Global Village will begin fundraising through www.gofundme.com. More information can be found at www.globalvillagegifts.org or at the store, which is located on 69 E. 1000 North.
-mdl