Ten Thousand Villages

Ten Thousand Villages or Dix Mille Villages ( German to Ten Thousand Villages ) is a North American non-profit organization that operates the shops of Fair Trade. Ten Thousand Villages was launched in Christchurch after 1946 of the North American Mennonite and Brethren the. Even today, the project is under the umbrella of the Mennonite Central Committee. The organization is based in Akron, Pennsylvania.

Mission of Ten Thousand Villages is to pay through transparent trading routes and in dialogue with the producers in the third world countries a fair price and so to support the producers and their families in the poorer countries. A major role is played durable and reliable trade relations. Ecological aspects are taken into account. The work in the individual stores is usually done by volunteers from the environment Mennonite communities. The name of Ten Thousand Villages goes back to a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, who called attention to the living conditions in the villages of India. The work of Ten Thousand Villages is thus composed primarily at the local level, where each own characteristic cultural structures exist. In their diversity, they stand for the One World ( ≈ 10,000 villages), as pursued the project.

Ten Thousand Villages has now a wide range of goods from 38 countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America. One focus since the founding of Ten Thousand Villages is the sale of handicrafts and textiles. In addition, however foods such as coffee, tea, rice or chocolate are sold. At present there are over 100 retail stores ( world shops ) in the United States and Canada. International Ten Thousand Villages works with other organizations such as the co-founder of his World Fair Trade Organization ( WFTO ).

History

The Story of Ten Thousand Villages began in 1946, when the businesswoman Edna Ruth Byler visited as a Mennonite aid worker Puerto Rico and sold after their return to North America Puerto Rican sewing. In 1952 there was already a sales booth at the Mennonite World Conference in Basel. The project was at that time still under the name Needlepoint and Crafts Project ( ≈ embroidery crafts and crafts project). Later it was renamed in Self Help Crafts. Was the project in the early years a grassroots project, it was as early as 1962 an official program of the Mennonite Central Committee. Ten years later, was finally opened in Ohio in the U.S., the first retail store. 1989 was established with the support of Self Help Crafts the World Fair Trade Organization. In 1996, the project eventually took the name still used today Ten Thousand Villages. In Quebec, the project under the French name Dix Mille Villages operates. The project is one of the first fair trade organizations worldwide.