By KAREN KRAMER
Have you ever felt that the whole Christmas gift-giving extravaganza has got out of hand, that the main focus of the holiday spirit has gone astray? Many New Yorkers who are conflicted between wanting to provide gifts for loved ones but also wanting to celebrate what the season truly stands for — helping others — may be pleased to learn that there is a way to do both. Organizations around the world are helping those in need by selling crafts, clothing, and other items and then using all or part of the profits to support worthy causes.
Throughout developing countries worldwide people make extraordinary crafts that are unique as well as useful, and these handcrafts provide an important source of income for these countries, especially in rural areas and especially for women. There are so many such handiworks to choose from that you should have no trouble finding gifts for everyone on your list — and since most of these wares can be found on line you never need to confront the madness of Macy’s or other department stores.
Aid to Artisans, a 30-year-old non-profit organization, has changed the lives of thousands of artisans through its Market Link program. With the aim of championing artistic traditions in a way that is culturally sensitive as well as respectful of the environment, the goal of this somewhat different AA is to link regional craftspeople directly to markets, with no middlemen. The profits go to many different causes depending upon the country. For instance in a village outside Dakar, Senegal, the inhabitants create clothing and home décor from ancient weaving and dyeing techniques. Much of the income goes to Senegalese schools, health clinics, and drip-irrigated gardens. From the Aid to Artisans on-line store you can purchase papiér-mache bowls in vibrant reds and blues from South Africa, dolls from Kyrgystan, carved seashells from Mozambique, sequined eyeglasses from Haiti. Their wooden canisters from Mozambique (set of two) sell for $22. To see more, visit www.aidtoartisans.org.
Weaving can be found in another part of the world through Maya Traditions, a fair-trade producer based in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala and San Francisco. Maya has worked with the indigenous weavers of Guatemala for more than 10 years. According to Mayan legend, the goddess Ixchel invented backstrap weaving, a symbol of the life of the Mayan woman. Since pre-Colombian times the women have continued such weaving as a way to hold on to their culture and resist changes imposed by the outside world.
Maya Traditions works with more than 100 women in rural villages who still do backstrap weaving. When Maya Traditions met with them in 1996, the women explained that their primary concerns were health and education, and now a large part of the profits from the sale of the weavings go toward those ends.
Produced in the craft cooperative that the organization helped establish, the weaving depicts animal and nature motifs, echoing the symbolism and traditions of the Nahuala region. Scarves in a multitude of colors and designs run about $20, and elaborate wall hangings start at $56. More art objects can be found on the Maya Traditions Website at www.mayafairtrade.com.
F.A.O. Schwarz, one of the world’s most famous toy stores, becomes a truly global marketplace with handcrafted toys from around the world featured in the store’s Global Village, the profits returning to artisans.
This in-store boutique is where you can find a host of items including Bamboula hand-crafted ornaments, gifts, and musical instruments from Africa; children’s bedding from India; kids’ toys and accessories from Manuella Design,Israel; knit critters crafted in Kenya to designs by Dwelling, and many more. Many of the toys and articles of clothing are made with sustainable and renewable materials. “We are thrilled that F.A.O. Schwarz is carrying these unique items made by African artisans. For many of these artisans, the selling of these crafts is their only source of income,” says Jasperdean Kobes, Bamboula’s CEO.The Global Village is on the second floor of F.A.O. Schwarz, 767 Fifth Avenue at 58th Street.
What New Yorker doesn’t love coffee? Here’s a way to give (and get) that buzz without going the Starbucks route. The non-profit CEED (Christian East African & Equatorial Development) is committed to developing and maintaining sustainable income-generating endeavors in poverty-stricken areas of the world, with a focus on the natural resources of nations situated along the Equator. One of CEED’s primary projects, Ugandan Gold Premium, employs 30 full-time and more than 100 seasonal workers. In addition to providing regular employment in the region it gives revenues from the coffee toward schools for orphans, malaria prevention, health-care initiatives, and works of new economic growth. The coffee growers use natural pest controls, and each bean is picked by hand, rather than by scoops that take in unripe beans as well. Available in several different varieties, such as French roast and hazelnut, Ugandan Gold Premium coffee comes in 1-lb. packages or 4-lb. gift boxes. To order: www.ugandagold.com.
What better way to participate in the holiday spirit than to purchase a gift from a unit that helps people with health problems? In 1992 Christina Merrill started the Bone Marrow Foundation that raises money for children and adults with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.
Two years ago, when Ms. Merrill’s 11-year-old son Christopher was in the 6th grade, he decided he wanted to help out. Realizing that he never liked wearing ties, a requisite at the private school he attended on Long Island, he had an idea. “I thought it would be great to make my own ties and also have a way to raise money for sick children [getting help from] the Bone Marrow Foundation,” he says. Thus was born TownTogs, a company that makes ties for boys, with emphasis on the idea of dressing up for trips to town and other special occasions. The ties are machine-washable polyester, with zippers and clip-ons for the younger kids and sleek silk for their older brothers or father-and-son matching combos. Christopher and his younger brothers chose the colors and designs (such as basketballs, guitars, dogs, and even bugs) and consulted with an FIT student to help put them into production.
The Bone Marrow Foundation supports patients, their families, and their caregivers during bone-marrow or stem- cell transplant. With no government support, BMF relies solely on private donations and sales of TownTog products, some share of which goes to BMF’s Pediatric Patient Aid Program. The ties are sold at specialty stores around the country, but mainly can be found at www.towntogs.com.
Another outfit that helps individuals with disabilities is Clark’s Botanicals, formed when company founder Francesco Clark suffered a spinal injury in a diving accident and lost many of his functions including the ability to sweat. Striving to find a way to treat the ensuing skin problems, he set to work with his physician father to come up with a line of products that would be antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immuno-stimulating. This led to the birth of their company devoted to healthy skin care. All the products are made from natural substances, including nocturnally blooming flowers and offer many different types of cleansers and scrubs and deep moisturizers. A percentage of the profits goes to one of the world’s leading neurological research centers, the Spinal Cord Injury Project at Rutgers University. To order any of these skin care products go to www.clarksbotanicals.com.
If you’re looking for an organization with a political agenda you could check out Chans Alternative (Second Chance), a group started in 1996 by Michelle Karshan to work with deportees sent back to Haiti because of petty crimes committed while living in the U.S. Chans Alternative assists immigration attorneys in fighting against deportation, and if deportation does occur, it helps the deportees to re-integrate into a country that many left in their early childhood and no longer relate to or even speak the language of. To help fund the program, Karshan sells Haitian-made sequined tapestries (called flags or “drapo” in Creole) that represent Vodou (“voodoo”) spirits. One for Erzulie, goddess of love, has a red and gold and green heart fashioned into the center of a square. A flag for Baron Samedi, lord of the cemeteries, is represented by a tombstone bearing a cross and skull and crossbones, surrounded by related objects including two caskets. You can see more of this work at www.haitiartcooperative.org.
These are just a sample of what’s out there. Once you start thinking along the lines of buying from organizations that give back to the world, you’ll begin to feel a lot more in sync with the season. Happy holidays, everyone.
