Four ceramic ornaments, with intricate pressed patterns, painted red and gold, nestle in a small divided paper box in front of me. Red shredded paper cushions the delicate treasures in an ivory recycled-paper box. The back holds a small tag with the price of $10, the words "Made in Bangladesh," and a SKU number added for inventory purposes.

Over the past year, I have agreed to review more products online to introduce my readers to what the world has to offer. When a representative from Ten Thousand Villages responded to my request for new items, I had to smile.

In 1987, I was about to graduate college and couldn't decide what to do next. Taking a break from worrying about my future, I went to a youth retreat in the mountains of North Carolina where I heard a speaker named Tony Campolo encourage young kids to serve the Lord in a variety of ways. He ended his talk with a plug for the college where he taught. At the time, graduate students from Eastern College (now University) could get a Masters in Economic Development with a focus on either urban or global studies. I was attracted to the idea of using my business training to help other people learn to start their own businesses to promote their skills and crafts.

With $500 to my name, I headed North to St. Davids, PA. During the course of the program, many graduate students in the global economic development program were from the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the missions branch of the Mennonite Church. Many were missionaries overseas and came to America to develop business skills to take back to teach the women and men in third world countries to use their skills and talents to bring in necessary income. Many of the fair trade items (or crafts made without child slavery and other oppressive factors) were being sent to America to the retail outlet of MCC called Self-Help Crafts, which later became its own entity as it grew.

When I finished my graduate degree, I was inspired by the work of my fellow students but rather than going overseas, I saw an opportunity to work in one of the local Self-Help Craft stores. For three years (starting the day I got home from my honeymoon), I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the new items come in, new countries added and new variations of many materials come through the store. I had the opportunity to share the stories of the ceramic and jute art of the Bangladeshi women, the stories of the pressed metal art from Haiti, of the sleek neem wood sculptures from Kenya, of the richly woven rugs from Pakistan and so much more. I would take boxes of the items to various church bazaars and festivals around the Christmas season to spread education and delight in the products that I had come to love.

The year before I quit to raise my children as a stay-at-home-mom, the store changed its name to Ten Thousand Villages to reflect the vast number of places represented and how they all came together in what our stores had to offer. I was there to witness the evolution of the graphic design, choice of name and move towards standardized products so that catalogs, inventory control and websites could be maintained. I am so glad to see the organization doing so well. It does my heart good!

The website shares the following:

"At Ten Thousand Villages, we work with over 120
artisan groups in more than 30 countries in Africa,
Asia and Latin America to bring you fair trade
jewelry, home decor, gifts and more. As one of the
world's oldest and largest fair trade organizations,
we build long-term relationships with artisans that
are based on mutual understanding and respect.
Fair trade enables artisans to earn a fair wage and
provides the opportunity for a better quality of life."

And about the women who made these specific ornaments:

"CORR stands for Christian Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation. Corr–The Jute Works is a women’s nonprofit handicraft marketing trust and exporter of quality handicrafts. Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, The Jute Works represents more than 4,000 rural women artisans in 154 workshops."

Please do go check out the website and order some wonderful, meaningful Christmas gifts OR find a store near you and support the local store efforts as well! I always loved making up the Christmas display with all the nativities scenes representing so many different countries and all the cool Christmas ornaments that are great teachers and friend gifts. Remember to ask for the little cards, if available, that tell the story of the artisan groups. If the store doesn't have them, I just saw an impressive listing of artisan stories on the website. Go check it out!