Photo by Glenda Booth
West Bank Phoenician Glass at The World Crafted on King
Browsing The World Crafted at 915 King Street is a visual, tactile world tour, a museum-like adventure into the cultures and traditions of people from 46 countries, from Bangladesh to Peru to Ghana. And eager customers shop with intention, buying products to support many causes, from women’s empowerment to saving elephants.
The managers’ goal is to offer products and encourage customers to buy with a conscience, make purchases that help break cycles of poverty and spur social change. They help talented artisans, many of whom are women, access markets and adhere to fair trade principles.
“This is an alternative to free trade which puts profits first,” said Kate McMahon, managing director of The World Crafted, which changed its name from Ten Thousand Villages, which opened in 1994. One of two organizations certifies every product as fair trade, the World Fair Trade Organization and the Fair Trade Federation.
Photo by Glenda Booth
The World Crafted is located at 915 King St. in Old Town Alexandria.
Store manager Mary Hiebert-White adds, “We try to support areas having a hard time selling their items and help them access American markets.” Many artisans are struggling to make a living and have no way to get their products to overseas markets.
“Our mission is to empower small-scale global artisans and farmers by establishing enduring trading partnerships that foster sustainable employment and resources. This is at the heart of what we do,” says the shop’s website.
Helping People
The Starfish Project in east Asia rescues women and girls from exploitative situations like brothels and women formerly trafficked, helping them gain self-sufficiency and build careers by making jewelry.
The Association of Albanian Girls and Women remakes gently-used costume jewelry into like-new bracelets, necklaces and earrings to help survivors of sex trafficking and domestic violence in Albania overcome trauma and reclaim their lives.
Hand-made organic cotton bags by women in India in The Tote Project also helps empower survivors of human trafficking.
“We want to tell their stories and show an impact with sustainable goods,” said McMahon.
Principled, Fair Trade
The shop is a nonprofit which opened in 1994 as Self-Help Crafts of the World, in 1998 became affiliated with 10,000 Villages, and in late February rebranded as The World Crafted, an independent store but still affiliated with 10,000 Villages which decided to sell only online and through wholesale channels. The World Crafted continues the same mission as before. They moved to the King Street site in 2005.
The shop accepts and sells products following a set of fair trade principles, including these: create opportunity for poor artisans and farmers and help them build businesses; pay promptly and fairly; foster safe, healthy and discrimination-free working conditions; avoid exploitative child labor; use resources responsibly and practice eco-friendly production, including reduce, reuse, reclaim and recycle materials wherever possible; and respect the cultural identity of farmers and artisan communities.
Examples of Products
Here are some examples of products to check out:
Colorful hand-crafted baskets woven from banana leaves and raffia palm by women in Ghana practicing a traditional craft that helps them maintain their farmland, raise their children and live a sustainable life;
Hand-blown Phoenician glass by the Natsheh family from Hebron on the West Bank, following a 700-year-old tradition;
Sindyanna of Galilee extra virgin olive oil, made by a women-led nonprofit in Israel, Arab and Jewish women who share a vision of peaceful coexistence;
Handmade wooden puzzles from Sri Lanka;
Wooden kitchen implements like spoons and spatulas from wood salvaged in Nicaragua;
Bronze singing bowls from the Himalayan foothills;
Greeting cards from Vietnam, using a centuries-old art form, quilling, paper meticulously rolled, looped and curled into decorative shapes;
Tagua nut jewelry from a South American palm tree, the tagua. The ivory-like nuts of the tree are an alternative to ivory, which promoters argue helps encourage sustainable forestry and reduce elephant slaughter.
Many products are made from recycled materials, like beer bottles upcycled into drinking glasses in Guatemala and wallets made in Cambodia from used cement bags.
Colorful, reversible sari wrap skirts from Nepal and alpaca socks from Peru are very popular, says Hiebert-White.
“Some people assume fair trade means expensive, but we sell products in a large price range from $5 to $300,” she offered. The store’s motto: “We put people and planet first.”
