Trade As One

 

You may already know this, but Trade as One does a lot of work with churches. We’ve partnered with hundreds of churches all over the country the past few years – churches who see their spending as an issue that is intimately connected to their faith. We’ve done dozens of weekend events, dozens more have showed our video and shared our message, and 20+ churches now carry Trade as One products on a regular basis.

In short, we love partnering with churches. We put together a new section of our website – http://tradeasone.com/churches - that is geared towards providing church leaders with a better understanding of the “how” and “why” we partner with churches. Take a look, and share it with any leaders who you think might enjoy connecting with us. Thanks.

 

Everyone here at Trade as One sends a hearty “Ayekoo!” (congratulations) to Christiana Ohene Agyare who has been elected the first female president of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union, the farming cooperative behind our Divine Chocolate.

Here’s an excerpt from the announcement

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Christiana Ohene Agyare has been elected as President of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers’ Union (KKFU) at the cooperative’s AGM attended by 2,600 delegates in Kumasi, Ghana this month.

Ms. Ohene Agyare, a cocoa farmer with an 11 acre farm, served as Treasurer for the last 4 years and as Recorder in her village society.  Her election is a testament to the cooperative’s long term commitment to gender equality.  Since its inception in 1993 Kuapa has required women’s participation at every level of the organization, from village societies through to the National Executive.

Erin Gorman, CEO of Divine Chocolate in the USA says, “Divine Chocolate is thrilled to share the news of this historic election with consumers and businesses in America.  Cocoa plays an important role in the lives of women cocoa farmers in West Africa and through Kuapa Kokoo and Divine these same women are afforded the opportunity to have a say and an impact in the global industry.  Together with women (and men) who love chocolate in America, we will continue to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farming families.”

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Ayekoo, Christiana, Ayekoo! 

We’ve moved into the land of milk and honey (Santa Cruz)! For the last couple weeks now, we’ve been working, shipping orders, and unpacking (and unpacking and unpacking and unpacking) in our new place in Santa Cruz. The last few weeks have been crazy, and there’s still a long way to go to get this place looking and feeling the way it needs to, but we’re on our way.

We think this move will be great for us for a number of reasons. For the first time, almost all of us (Sorry Leo!) will live in the same place, and actually get to hang out outside of work. During the craziness of the last couple months of the year, that means that long hours at work won’t be followed with a long commute, but with a short bike ride home. Also, our new place is bigger, better (oddly, it smells like Chai tea), there’s room to grow, and we’re located next to some fantastic businesses like Kelly’s Bakery and Bonny Doon Vineyards.

We’re cycling to work (hence the bike pic), meeting our neighbors, and loving our new place. It may be too soon to say this, but it feels like we’ve finally landed in the spot we’ll be in for a long time to come.

Calling all designers! We are really excited to announce a t-shirt contest run by RedisWhite to design a new Trade as One t-shirt. The winning design will receive a cash prize of $500 and $100 store credit at rediswhite.com. Contest details are all here. You may submit as many designs as you’d like – we are looking for a new design for our Fair Trade Organic T-shirts by Hae Now for men and women.

How fun would it be to see your design on a Fair Trade tee? We would like the shirt to represent what we do – what it means to ‘trade as one’ - something that allows people to tell the story lives can be changed with our spending. What are you waiting for? Unleash your creative powers for good! If this isn’t in line with your skills, please spread the word to your artistic friends. Contest ends September 15, 2010. Click here to design our next tee: http://rediswhite.com/contests/trade-as-one/

On Wednesday, June 9th in Nairobi, Kenya, the Vice President delivered a major speech underscoring the importance of the United States-Kenya relations at Kenyatta International Conference Centre. In his speech, the Vice President discussed Kenya’s great promise and the need to work together to meet regional challenges…
    At the same time, his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, was on a journey of her own, a journey that put aside the political agenda and focused on the heart and soul of the people. She traveled to the Beacon of Hope facility in Ongata Rogai, Kenya. 
    Beacon of Hope Founder, Jane Wathorne, spoke about the visit in the most recent Beacon of Hope newsletter saying, “It was beyond our wildest dreams and such a great honor.” Beacon of Hope focuses on women empowerment and walks these women, particularly women who are HIV positive or suffering from severe poverty, through a process of psychological, spiritual, and economic transformation. This foundation is what has brought them success and recognition from such prominent leaders as the US vice-president’s wife. She is on a global mission to raise awareness and implement action steps towards greater women empowerment, and of all the organizations she could have visited, it was Beacon of Hope that she chose.
    Dr. Biden toured the facility with Jane Wathorne and she was able to see first-hand how this organization was making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. Women of all ages were helping one another, taking care of their children, hand-weaving baskets and other products, and truly engaging in a life-changing community. All with the hope of gaining confidence in who they are now rather than being trapped in the cycle of insecurity they had lived in before.  Dr. Biden had this to say about her trip to Beacon of Hope:.....

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