Ten Thousand Villages: Fair Trade Christmas Shopping for the Conscious Consumer

If you're shopping for Christmas gifts, or just shopping in general, Ten Thousand Villages has it all, from beautiful decorations, to instruments, jewelry, and children's toys. And they're all homemade. All that at reasonable prices - and using fair trade practices. If you're unfamiliar with fair trade, fair trade is a practice that essentially helps farmers, artisans, and other workers in developing countries get fairly compensated for their work and their products that are exported to the U.S., and ultimately reach financial security. It is a practice based on integrity and caring.

For Ten Thousand Villages, it means that poor, unemployed, or underemployed artisans in developing countries are given the opportunity to support themselves and their families through the products they create, are treated with respect, are paid promptly, and are given the security of consistent, ongoing orders for their creations. These artisans can be found across the world - Peru, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, Chile, Guatemala, Egypt, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Nepal are just a few of the countries from which the artisans hail. And Ten Thousand Villages takes care to ascertain that the products they sell are environmentally friendly and culturally conscious.The purchases you make can help a woman in Tamil Nadu afford health care for her children, or give people in Hazigonj opportunities to enjoy year-round work. Because of Ten Thousand Villages, a disabled man in Pomaire can continue creating his handmade pottery despite the fact that the ever-rising popularity of cheap, plastic, factory-made pottery threatens to put many potters out of business. Ten Thousand Villages works with various non-profit groups to ensure that many people across the world, from rural villages to impoverished towns, can enjoy the gainful employment, basic comforts, and respect that everyone has a right to enjoy.