OCTOBER 2012 
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Fair Trade News
October is Fair Trade Month!
 
 

FTRN-CAL $7 
Celebrate by buying the 2013 Calendars. It's also great way to support The Fair Trade Resource Network.
Ordering 
Bundle Up!
Several of our customers ask us to pick an assortment of knits for them.  They know all of our knits are cute, and often don't have time to order individual hats, so they just let us choose for them.  

 

We are now offering this to all of our customers. Let us choose a selection of our bestselling knit stocking hats for you. This is a great way to try new and different styles, and makes it easy to order during this busy season.  You choose the quantity and we will provide a beautiful assortment of styles, sizes and colors.  

 

There are two price ranges for the stocking hats, $6.50-8 and $8-10. 
 
We are also offering an earflap hat bundles! The price range for these is $9-12.50.
 
Each hat in the bundle will be invoiced separately.
 
 
 
 
Visit our knit bundle page here. (please log in first to the shopping cart)
 
 
 Many of these styles are made by Padhma Creations Shelter Project and all, of course, are Fair Trade!
 
 
P.S. We also now have JOURNAL BUNDLES too. See the journals to the right >> 
From Nepal
Weaving Workshop is Finished!
 
I just wanted to share with you the email and photos that I woke up to a few weeks ago (see below) since all of you were an integral part in making this happen! I hope it brings as much joy to your day as it did to mine! I also want to thank you all again (and again and again) for your donations to help make this rebuild happen and for your patience since it has been an almost 2 year process to get it completed! Things just take time in Nepal and your patience and understanding has been a great help to us all.

In our last Ganesh Himal newsletter I wrote a column express
ing my deepest
appreciation for the community of stores we work with and for your faith in partnering with us and with the producers we work with. This comment is not said lightly. What you have done for these women is amazing and it will help them to change their lives and gives them hope. 


Greetings from ACP!

 

We are delighted to share with you the workshop of Bhagwati has been completed. It is very spacious, plenty of light and simply wonderful.  As it has been just completed they are in the process of setting it up properly. Thus it does not look very organized yet. But we wanted to share with you the pictures right away.  Please find attached some pictures of it.

 

We will send you the financial report later.

 

Once again we thank you for your generous support. Without out you this would not have been possible.

 

Warm regards

 

Revita

Thank you ALL for helping to make this happen!
~Denise

Austin Zimmerman
Namaste!  
In this issue we are honoring Bhaktapur Craft Paper (BCP), artisan partners with Ganesh Himal in Nepal for over 25 years. This past year I had the chance to travel to Nepal and meet with the producers at BCP. They shared a story that highlighted the importance of the fair trade principle of "developing transparent and accountable relationships... that are open, fair, consistent and respectful".
 
Ganesh Himal was introduced to BCP by UNICEF Nepal in 1986. Since that time we have been a small but consistent designer and buyer of their products, placing and receiving orders every two months. BCP's major buyer, however, since 1984 was their founding partner, UNICEF and UNICEF had built BCP's capacity by ordering up to 60 million Rs ($725K)/year in greeting cards.  In 2009 UNICEF unexpectedly and without explanation ended their relationship with BCP outsourcing their card buying to a large international corporation.  With such an abrupt decrease in business, BCP was blindsided and has struggled to stay afloat. They need at least 30 million Rs ($370K) in sales a year to keep their employee owned business going and their community development work alive. Currently they are doing 10 million Rs ($122K) a year. 
 
When Ganesh Himal heard their story, we committed ourselves to working diligently to increase our own buying and to help BCP diversify their product line. We are being mindful of promoting sales of their paper products so that we can help them recover from their set back and bring them to a more secure place. This is an amazing group of mostly women workers who have benefitted greatly from this organization and who are determined to continue their work. 
 
During our visit, Denise, Cameron and I were greeted with heartfelt thanks and tears of gratitude; According to Executive Chairman, Bichnu Dass Dangol, "Ganesh Himal Trading has been a constant customer, who has done much to keep our business afloat". At Ganesh Himal Trading we want to pass on these thanks to you, our customers, without whom our consistent orders wouldn't be possible. 
 
Please read our accompanying story about the journey of the paper so that you can realize the incredible impact that this organization has on over 500 families in Nepal and then join with us in celebrating Fair Trade Month by receiving a 10% discount on all journals ordered from Oct 15-Oct 31 (mention this article when you order). This story is a great reminder of the need to partner with producers in a way that will allow them to build sustainable, independent businesses where they have constant orders and customers that help to create a broad base of support so that if one customer leaves the whole community will not be in peril.

-Austin
FEATURED products  
for more visit our website    
 
New Designs!
Gift Wrap PR-B-SPD
$1.50



 Yoga Bags
BG-S-YSP $11.50
Thin Knit Headband
AC-C-MST $.75
Hairband Silk 
HT-C-RSH
$3.50
Journal Bundles Large
$8/Journal
You choose quantity,
we pick for you.

*10% off for October
Journal Bundles Small
$6/Journal
You choose quantity,
we pick for you.
*10% off for October



ARTISAN SPOTLIGHT:

In the heart of the Himalayas, Nepali craftspeople have been producing handmade paper for over a thousand years. Bhaktapur Craft Paper (BCP) a UNICEF project, uses this ancient tradition to help low income rural and urban families earn a fair and equitable income while sustaining an important traditional craft. BCP is committed to community development and invests a substantial percentage of their profits in community projects such as wa

ter supply, sanitation, resource conservation, education, and day care facilities. When purchasing these products you are helping Nepali people help themselves. Ganesh Himal Trading is proud to have been working in partnership with BCP since 1986. Read more about BCP, download a store poster and pictures on our BCP Artisan page here >>>>

                                                    (must be logged in)



BCP's Paper Making Process
Bush to Journal, Rural to Urban: Papermaking Connects Many Lives

  Prized for its durability, soft texture, and natural color,  Lokta paper is an environmentally friendly, tree-free paper made from the bark of the regenerating Daphne bush. Originally used in Tibetan monasteries for sacred texts, the making of Lokta paper is a village tradition dating back thousands of years. Today, this ancient technique is used for official government documents in Nepal, as well as Ganesh Himal's beautiful paper goods. The paper is naturally insect free and will last more than 100 years. 

 

RURAL 

1. Harvest

Daphne grows in the Himalayan forests of north central Nepal between 4,000-8,000 ft.  Lokta cutters sustainably collect the bark of the daphne according to the "Lokta Management Plan" that implements a 6 to 8 year rotation cycle to preserve the fragile forest ecology. Harvesters sell the bark to families to use for making paper during the off-season of farming [November to mid June].  Ganesh Himal works with the Bhaktapur Craft Paper (BCP) project which contracts with villages in the Baglung area to purchase all of their marketable paper. Approximately 500 rural families benefit from this traditional craft in cooperation with BCP. These traditional farmers are badly in need of sustainable income to supplement their subsistence farming which is why BCP has chosen to work directly with them, agreed to buy their production every year, and to return as much as 30% of their profits to social and health services in these underserved areas.

 

2.Creating pulp

Paper makers take the raw bark and chop it into fine pieces which are cleaned and boiled.  Wooden mallets are then used to further break down the bark into a pulp. The pulp is mixed with wood ash and water to make a paste...continue reading here. (must be logged in)