COLUMN: Choose fair trade for holiday gifts
Editor’s note: Caitlin Cheevers is president of the Invisible Children registered student organization.
The holidays are right around the corner, so almost everyone is thinking about the same things: family, food and gifts.
When I buy gifts for my friends and family, I try to be conscious not only of what the person wants, but of who is impacted by my purchase. Because of this, I try to buy fair trade items to give to my loved ones for the holidays.
My favorite aspect of fair trade gift-giving is that many organizations provide information about the person who made the item. After all, people, not machines, almost always make the fair items we buy. Larger companies don’t convey this fact as much as smaller organizations can.
Krochet Kids International, for example, employs women in Northern Uganda and Peru to crochet hats, and then sells them online. The woman who makes the hat signs her name on the tag, allowing customers to look her up on the website. Not only is there a picture of her, but also how Krochet Kids is changing her life, and what she uses the money for. You can even write her a thank-you note, which will actually be sent to Uganda or Peru. The hats are a perfect gift for the hipster in your family.
Invisible Children’s Mend program is very similar, but with handbags. You can choose from several styles and colors of durable purses, messenger bags and totes, which have the name of the woman who made it stitched on the inside. You can then look her up on the Invisible Children website and learn more about her. It makes the purchase much more personal.
Another more local option is Heart Cry International, located on the corner of Franklin and Bellows streets. They have orphanages and street centers set up in third-world countries across the globe, and employ women in Uganda to roll paper into beads to make jewelry. They also make bags out of dried corn stalks. Both of these options are available at the Student Book Exchange, which cuts the price of shipping. They are great options for the women in your family.
While these are a few of my favorites, I am always looking for new fair trade options, so don’t feel as though you need to limit yourself to these three.
Whether or not you do your holiday shopping with any of these three organizations, I encourage you to look beyond CMU sweatshirts and wool socks. Purchases with a lasting impact will warm your heart, which is especially helpful as the weather gets colder.
After all, people in third-world countries deserve to celebrate their holidays just as much as we do.
