Who are we

1990. My boyfriend Michael is half American, half Mexican and an assistant cameraman in Hollywood. We met 10 years before in my village under an umbrella during a heavy summer storm and had been in a kind of transatlantic relationship for 6 years. Beginning 1990 Michael is offered a job on the set of Highlander II (with the one and only Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert).The filming takes place in Buenos Aires. I have been a fan of South American literature for years –and of Sean Connery ;)- and for me that is reason enough to give up my job and leave with Michael for Argentina. We stay in Buenos Aires for 3 months and I get to know the city inside out. Afterwards we travel through Argentina, Peru and Bolivia for another 6 weeks. I fall in love with Latin America, its culture, its people and its scenery. Because we both speak Spanish and travel low budget, we get to meet the local people. The seed has been planted.

More than a quarter century later, Michael is still living in Los Angeles. He is married to Jackie who has Peruvian roots, is a father of two and has become what he had always dreamed of : a lawyer.

I am a proud mother of 3, with 2 stepsons and I am very happy with Paul, my student boyfriend who became a laywer and whom I left for Michael 30 years ago…

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What is Fairtrade

Fairtrade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability.The movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of goods. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, mostly handicrafts and agricultural products.

Fairtrade works with marginalized producers and workers to help them move from a position of vulnerability to economic self-sufficiency. It also empowers individuals to take part in their own organizations and actively contribute in the global arena to achieve equality in international trade.

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Why Women

Feeding families, taking care of the house and the children, nursing the sick and the elderly, producing 50% of the world’s food supply and performing nearly 2/3 of the world’s work hours.

According to the UN, these responsibilities and many more fall on the shoulders of women of the world, who represent over half of our global population. Yet they receive only 1/10 of the world’s income and own only 1% of its property. In many places women suffer astonishing degrees of discrimination and lack of opportunity to work and thus to become self-sufficient and (financially) independent. Furthermore they are subject to disproportionate amounts of violence, discrimination, and impoverishment relative to their male fellows.

Women’s empowerment not only corrects a great injustice in the world, but sets the stage for greater reduction of poverty overall, as resources in women’s hands mean greater household expenditures on health and education (according to the World Bank).

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Our Partners

Large fairtrade organisations We buy some products in this webshop with large fairtrade organisations. These organisations sell handmade fairtrade products from all over the World. The organisation and accountancy is transparent and open to clients and suppliers.

Smaller fairtrade organisations These organisations sell fairtrade handmade products made in a certain country or support one or more projects in the World.

*Pierre in France sells handmade fairtrade products made in Bolivia.

*Shelley in de US used to volunteer in a village in Oaxaca, Mexico. She put the local weavers to work and sells their beautiful handwoven bags.

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