Nepal has seen many changes in 30 years, but remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Our initial foray into what we now call "Fair Trade" began innocently enough with the purchase of 2 wool sweaters from a Tibetan refugee family. We are still proud of our association with the Tibetan Community and would not have been able to continue in Nepal without their honesty and hard work.

Ric, Cameron (son of Ric and Denise), Chunta, & Meera at the Association of Craft Producers

But it became apparent that so many talented artisans and crafts

people could use what

 we could provide, access to the US market.

 Within a few years we had established relationships with a dozen cottage industries and development aid projects, most of which, like the Association 

for Craft Producers (ACP) we still work with today.

     The principles of Fair Trade provided a template for our interactions in Nepal, even before there was a Fair Trade movement. Treat people with respect, make sure they get a fair return for their work, provide continuity over time, safe working conditions, design assistance and financial support.

Denise with Laxmi and weavers in 1988

Over the years we have been fortunate enough to provide other assistance to our extended Nepali family. Education in Nepal can go a long way in helping to alleviate poverty. We have seen people we work with save everything to put their children through school and now see the

 results as the next generation uses their education to help others.

      Our trekking guide and good friend Ram, who has a 1st grade education, has two boys which we are putting through school. Pradeep, the eldest, now helps his Dad with business, leads groups of college kids to remote parts of Nepal and dreams of building the first school in his village.

Denise's dear friend, Laxmi, a village weaver who organized

Cameron, Ric & Denise's son with Pemala

other village weavers, used the money she made to send her daughter, Sudha, to high school, then college, then to graduate school for social work. Sudha came back to take over her mothers work 

of organizing the village weavers and works to create new products and more opportunity.

     Kesang, the middle daughter of our dear Tibetan friends who we have known and worked with for 30 years, also has a family that values education. Her father, Namgyal, escaped Tibet as a child and was sponsored to a good school and college in India. Her mother, Pemala, also fled but never got to go past the 6th grade. Kesang, after finishing college in the US went back to Nepal and following in her mother and fathers footsteps started a knitting group called Padhma Creations on the Nepal/India border. Padhma Creations works with women who are victims of abuse, abandonment, civil war or the threat of trafficking...read more here>> 

Denise with paper producers in Nepal in 2013