Supporting Women and Bringing Global Connectedness Home

     Here at Planet Home and Garden we look at ways to bring more meaning and depth into our homes.   The way we spend our money is one way we all live out our values.  We see those values in the types of objects we bring home,  what we buy as gifts, and from where we buy these things.   One great online source for fair trade products, ones that are made by women and support women around the world, is Global Sistergoods.  

     Global Sistergoods tells the stories of the women around the world who make the beautiful products they sell, so that we can become connected meaningfully to our product sources, and know how our money is helping to change lives.  Kristi Jo Lewis, co-founder, speaks compellingly about this: 

As I write this reflection, on my laptop, in my warm home, I have my infant daughter strapped to me in her Ergo, fast asleep. My house is messy; there is much work to be done around here and much work to be done for my business. Yet I pause and behold the miracle that is my daughter, and remember that around the world there are millions of women like me, considering their work while adoring (and wearing) their child. I am sure that they, like me, are dreaming of the better life for their daughters (and their sons). I’m a few days past International Women’s Day at this point, but I take a moment to honor these strong, powerful and resilient women the world over. 

On March 6, President Obama nominated the first Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. Melanne Verveer was a key player in the Clinton Administration and helped pushed the agenda of women’s rights as human rights. You can read her bio here (http://www.changemakers.net/user/30784/view). I can’t contain my excitement that now, when it is so easy to become immobilized by fear and depression at the state of the world, it seems a new era is dawning, one that recognizes the importance of women’s voices as we navigate these new waters. 

But still, we have far to go. My husband had friends over last weekend, all nice and intelligent men. However, I found myself in the middle of a conversation whose crux was, essentially, when women’s issues are moved to the fore, a kind of reverse sexism occurs, and men suffer. I find this argument a bit hard to swallow. Let’s look at a few statistics:

*70% of the world’s poor are women (http://www.apowerfulnoise.org/womenandpoverty2.html)

*Women represent over 50 percent of the world’s population and provide 60-80 percent of the world’s agricultural labor, yet some research indicates they own less than 5 percent of the world’s land. (http://www.rdiland.org/OURWORK/OurWork_WomenLand.html)

*Assests and Income in the hands of women results in higher caloric intake and better nutrition for the household than when in the hands of men. (http://www.rdiland.org/OURWORK/OurWork_WomenLand.html)

*Worldwide, gender and poverty are inextricably entwined. Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income, and own 1 percent of the means of production. Globally, women earn on average slightly more than 50% of what men earn. Women living in poverty are often denied access to credit, land and inheritance, and education. Their participation in decision making at home is often minimal, and their labor often goes unrecognized. (http://globalsistergoodsblog.com/why-women)

 

I urge you, as you sit in your cozy home, to ask yourself what you will do for your fellow women?  How can you contribute to this new era?  How far can you go to make the world a better place?

At Global Sistergoods, we not only offer the finest in fair trade jewelry, handbags, accessories and kids’ items, we aim to celebrate the women who make our products by telling their stories and letting people know about women’s issues in the countries where our artisan partners work.  But we are only one voice in a larger chorus, and I urge you to add yours to the new global women’s agenda.   Here are some (just a few) wonderful places to start:

• www.icrw.org
• www.care.org
• www.unfpa.org
• http://www.un.org/works/
• www.worldpulse.com
• http://www.womenforwomen.org/

 

     Support women in poverty and women artisans worldwide, and participate in this new era of global connectedness and the new global women’s agenda by purchasing beautiful hand made items from Global Sistergoods.  Read their blog and check out their website and be inspired and informed.   

Kristi Jo (KJ) Lewis is the co-founder of www.globalsistergoods.com, an online marketplace for fair trade products made by women from around the world.