Sale or no sale, the Fair Trade artisan gets their pre-agreed price


The producer sets his price, and gets half his payment, before production begins, Ten Thousand Villages tells us, and the other half before shipment.


deal of the century! So... how does a sale price fit with


W


a purchase made at your favourite fair trade store? Does it mean the maker or the farmer was paid less money? If the store is making less money on an item, is it passing less money along to the pro- ducer.


Well, it doesn’t work out that way. When Ten Thousand Villages makes an order with an artisan group it pays 50 per cent of the agreed upon wage, a wage determined basi- cally by the maker before production commences so


e in Winnipeg LOVE our bargains! Nothing better than stumbling across the


Gwen Repeta Fair Trade


that the fair trade artisan partners can purchase raw materials. Once produc- tion is completed and before products are shipped to them, Ten Thousand Villages pays off the remaining balance plus shipping cost. This way of doing business ensures that the artisan partners have a reliable cash flow to manage the production process and all artisans are fairly and promptly paid for their incredible work. As you can see, people before product is one of the more important aspects of doing business with fair trade practices


From time to time, promotional sales on selected fair trade items are offered, at Ten Thousand Villages and many other fair trade businesses . – for the same reason a sale is arranged at any other store. If our busi- ness has 200 bowls and we have sold one in a year . . . Well, it could take a very long time to sell all those bowls! Better we put them on sale at a de- creased price and hopeful- ly get them moving. That way the money can be re- invested in our artisans. One of the items we will have on sale in our August summer sale is a gorgeous Shesham wood-turned vase. Wood-turning re- quires the artisan to spin a piece of wood while a


stationary tool cuts and shapes it. Rich and supple, shesham wood is the per- fect carving material.


Shesham wood, of the rose wood family, is found in the northern foothills of India. It is a hard, dark wood, noted for its red tones. A fast-growing tree, it can grow as high as 30 metres and 2.5 metres around. The wood is insect resistant and among the finest of cabi- net and furniture timbers. All the wood used by these artisans has a government certificate authorizing its harvest. Often, it is taken from land that is be-


The Shesham wood-turned vase from the northern foothills of India.


ing cleared to create roads. None of the shesham comes from threatened forest stands. The logs are cured or seasoned for a minimum of two months before being sawed into specified lumber sizes. These products come from Saharanpur, the “ shesham wood village”, and near- by villages.


Design interpretations are often spe-


cific to a family and are passed down from one generation or master carver to the next. Apprentices learn the spe-


cialized skills of carving and inlay from master carvers and take several years to perfect their art.


Ten Thousand Villages will have their annual summer sale Aug. 1 to Aug. 31. with beautiful handmade fair trade cre- ations up to 65 per cent off. From jew- ellery to cushions, this sale is for you and for you to feel good about! Gwen Repeta is Canada rug program co-ordinator and program manager at Ten Thousand Villages in Winnipeg.


Medical internship has a global reach T


oday, more than 100 volunteers from North America are abroad for the summer with interna- tional volunteer organization Projects Abroad to contribute to medicine and health care projects in the developing world. These interns account for more than a third of the total number of Projects Abroad volunteers in foreign lands today. The majority are focusing on medicine, while the rest are intern- ing in public health, nursing, nutrition, physical therapy, and other specialized healthcare fields. Over the next few days and weeks, these interns will de- vote hundreds of collective hours to activities that will give them direct ex- perience and knowledge of medicine in practice, all under the guidance and supervision of local medical profes- sionals.


Projects Abroad has organized in- ternships in medical facilities abroad since 1998. To date, thousands of in- terns have benefited from spending time in hospitals, clinics, and on out- reaches around the world. It's a price- less experience for students aspiring to become medical professionals, com- ments Kaisa Partanen, a program advi- sor for Projects Abroad Canada. "Every year, returning interns share


with us what they valued most about their placements: observing the major differences between hospitals in North America and abroad first-hand, prov- ing their flexibility by adapting to a different culture, learning about hos- pital structures and the role it plays in patients' lives, to name just a few. For a large percentage, the internship has made them more aware of the health issues facing underprivileged commu- nities and they are more determined than ever to become physicians." For Arman, a university graduate considering medical school, the oppor- tunity to travel abroad was one which would lead him to discover if medicine was the right field for him. It was a meaningful experience, he says, and he benefited tremendously from spending time in pediatric, surgical, and accident and emergency wards. "I saw diseases which I had never seen at home, like Hirsprung's disease, impetigo, and tu- berculosis. I was taught how to inter- pret x-rays and how the doctors treated various diseases. I learned a great deal about medicine and was able to con- firm that this is in fact the correct ca- reer choice for myself."


Projects Abroad has medicine and health care internships for students of


North American students get to test their flexibility in adjusting to a foreign culture. every skill level, including students on a pre-med track. Programs run from one to four weeks or more through- out the year and interns can choose exactly when they want to start and end their internships. Once a student has applied, the organization organizes


all the details of the placement, from the medical facilities where they will be interning, to their accommodation, meals, and insurance.


For more information, please visit www.


projects-abroad.ca/projects/medicine-and- healthcare.


Taste nature this summer in Carman, Manitoba.


Fill your pails, pies and pantries with a visit to Carman, just 40 minutes west of Winnipeg. Berry picking, parks and retro drive-ins make this the perfect day trip for foodies with a taste for the great outdoors.


Plan your visit at carmanmanitoba.ca/explore


Visit the Carman


Country Fair July 7-9


August 2016


www.lifestyles55.net 9


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