MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Vendors help women around the world
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Mary Jo Kowalewski’s mission trip to war-torn Bosnia opened her eyes, and burdened her heart, about the plight of women there.
Many were widows, living on the streets, with no income because the unemployment rate is a staggering 40 percent, and most jobs go to men in the country’s maledominated culture.
Upon returning home, Kowalewski began working for the Bosnian Handcraft Project, which buys yarn and knitted items made by Bosnian women. With an income, they can live in homes and apartments and afford essentials such as stove to cook on.
“Things we take for granted here in the United States,” Kowalewski said.
The Handcraft Project is one of 18 vendors, from the Spa City to Boston, which took part in the fourth annual Saratoga Fair Trade Market Expo on Saturday at the City Center. Hundreds of people turned out to buy unique gifts for their Christmas shopping lists, while benefiting a variety of worthy causes.
“I’m very impressed,” said Lyn Vanden-Handel of Saratoga Springs. “I know the hours it takes to do some of this handiwork. There’s so many nice things and the prices are very reasonable.”
Kowalewski organized the Expo with fellow members of New Life Fellowship Church on Old Gick Road in Wilton. It was previously held at Universal Preservation Hall before outgrowing space there and moving to the City Center last year.
Many participating vendors are geared toward helping women in Third World countries. They buy goods up front at a fair living wage, which gives women some degree of financial independence.
Non-profits and for-profit firms, which adhere to Fair Trade principles, then sell foreign-made products to people in the U.S.
For example, The Giving Circle in Saratoga Springs markets items made by the Wairaka Women’s Sewing Guild, located in a small Ugandan village.
The Albany-based nonprofit Mayan Hands sends raw materials to women in Guatemala, and then buys the articles they make such as baskets, handwoven textiles and felted wool animals for children to play with.
“Most women are marginalized in Guatemalan society,” said Anne Kelly, a Mayan Hands worker. “We partner with about 200 women, which allows them to raise themselves out of poverty.”
Kowalewski has made several trips back to Bosnia since her first visit there in 2004. The Handcraft Project is making a visible difference in women’s lives, she said.
“It started out with a small knitting group,” she said. “The project has grown to 60 women in five cities.”