Trade As One

For the next few weeks, Chad and Jodi Mulder will be posting about their experiences visiting Trade as One producers in Africa. Their 6 week trip will take them to over a dozen producers in Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya.

We left Rwanda today with mixed emotions.  We are excited to explore another new country and are particularly looking forward to a few days of family holiday as we spend three days traveling to Kampala, stopping at two national parks along the way.  However, it’s a bit sad to leave Rwanda recognizing that we’ll be entering our final African country. 

As we’ve reflected on our experiences in Rwanda, we feel encouraged and hopeful about Rwanda’s future and the positive impact fair trade is having on in the lives of its’ people.  During our ten days in Rwanda we not only visited fair trade producers, but also to spend time with the Prison Fellowship team, learning about the amazing reconciliation work they’ve done since the 1994 genocide of 1 million Rwandans.  In one of our most memorable mornings we visited a Reconciliation Village, where Hutu and Tusti not only live side by side peacefully, but shared with us that village life together “feels like family”.  Truly remarkable words recognizing that the history of these neighbors includes the violent death of multiple family members.

Cards from Africa was our first Rwandan producer visit. We were thoroughly impressed with the work they are doing and so glad to know that Trade as One partners with them.  Cards from Africa employs adult orphans who are heads of their household.  We had the opportunity to meet with a young woman who lost her father in the genocide and her mother to AIDS in 2004.  Now age 24, she has raised her three younger brothers since she was 18.  We were privileged to visit her childhood home- the same home where her father was killed and she lost her mother. Then with obvious pride, she took us to her new mud-walled home she recently purchased using wages earned at Cards from Africa.  She talked about the peace she has found in her new home and the future she has because of the skills and experience she has gained at Cards from Africa.

We also visited Gahaya Links, Indego and Rwanda Knits to explore possible future partnerships with Trade as One.  With each visit, we see lives being changed as U.S. consumers adopt more fair trade goods into their everyday lives.  Earlier today we sat with a woman whose husband and parents were killed in the genocide, and she was raped and subsequently infected with HIV.  She shared that she was simply “waiting to die”, when a friend told her that Gahaya Links employs women basket weavers.  Since starting work at Gahaya Links, she has been able to pay for her own healthcare and reported that her HIV is being successfully managed. Even more importantly she, like so many other women we’ve met, has a profound sense of dignity that seemed unattainable.  Each of these stories is an inspiration to us.

We continue to be struck by our own sense of entitlement and sometimes are often confused about how to respond to all that we’ve experienced. We find ourselves in an almost constant tension –trying to reconcile our own immense privilege with the sheer unfairness of the world we are seeing.  How do we make sense of the overabundance with which we move through life in light of our increased awareness of the extreme poverty in which much of the world lives?

This tension and the complexity of issues facing Rwandans, and many Africans, can be overwhelming.  We sit in admiration of the NGO’s and fair trade producers who are working tirelessly to create sustainable jobs in east Africa. We are seeing first hand that when we as consumers become informed and use our buying power for good, we can spur development and we are making a difference!