The sign for the Teenage Mothers Association of Kenya (TEMAK) indicates that it is "the last house towards the Obunga slums," the most destitute area of Kisumu. Many of the unwed mothers and young girls who come to TEMAK to learn job skills live in these slums. TEMAK is an organization that offers job training in tailoring, hairdressing, secretarial skills, craft making, and recently computers to unwed mothers, girls, and others in the Obunga slum community. As a community center, the organization also provides the community with an educational forum for HIV/AIDS awareness and other health issues.
Many of the young women at TEMAK participate in making crafts, earning income to support themselves and their families. In the past few years, TEMAK has also become a craft center for the artisans and craftspeople in the town of Kisumu by providing local and international sales outlets that make available a sustainable income for many in the community.
Fair Trade items/Producers
Scroll down to see "What is Fair Trade?"
Fair trade is a system of exchange that seeks to create greater equity and partnership in the international trading system by
•Providing fair wages in the local context,
•Supporting safe, healthy, and participatory workplaces,
•Supplying financial and technical support to build capacity,
•Promoting environmental sustainability,
•Respecting cultural identity,
•Offering public accountability and transparency,
•Building direct and long-term relationships, and
•Educating consumers.
•Supporting safe, healthy, and participatory workplaces,
•Supplying financial and technical support to build capacity,
•Promoting environmental sustainability,
•Respecting cultural identity,
•Offering public accountability and transparency,
•Building direct and long-term relationships, and
•Educating consumers.
FTF members foster partnerships with producers, because they know these connections are a highly effective way to help producers help themselves.
Fair trade is not about charity. It is a holistic approach to trade and development that aims to alter the ways in which commerce is conducted, so that trade can empower the poorest of the poor. Fair Trade Organizations seek to create sustainable and positive change in developing and developed countries.
History
Fair trade traces its roots to 1946 when Edna Ruth Byler, a volunteer for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), visited an MCC sewing class in Puerto Rico where she discovered the talent the women had for creating beautiful lace and the extraordinary poverty in which they lived despite their hard work. She began carrying these pieces back to the United States to sell and returning the money back to these groups directly. Her work grew into Ten Thousand Villages, which opened its first fair trade shop in 1958 and is now the largest fair trade retailer in North America. In 1949, Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation and Vocation (SERRV International) began helping refugees in Europe recover from World War II. Today, they support artisans in more than 35 countries.
In the late 1970s, US- and Canadian-based entrepreneurs who defined their businesses with the producers at heart began to meet regularly, exchange ideas, and network. This informal group would evolve into the Fair Trade Federation and formally incorporate in 1994. In 1989, the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) was founded as a global network of committed fair trade organizations, aiming to improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged people through trade and to provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas.
In 1988, as world coffee prices began to sharply decline, a Dutch NGO, Solidaridad, created the first fair trade certification initiative. Named after a best-selling 19th century book, the Max Havelaar label initially applied only to coffee in the Netherlands, but similar labeling initiatives grew up independently across Europe within a few years. In 1997, these organizations created Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), an umbrella organization which sets the fair trade certification standards and supports, inspects, and certifies disadvantaged farmers. In 1999, FLO affiliates TransFair USA and TransFair Canada opened in North America.
Since 2000, fair trade sales and consumer awareness have increased tremendously, as the range of fair trade products has also expanded. From the early days of lace and home decor, handmade items now include clothing, sports equipment, toys, and other items. From its initial focus on coffee, fair trade product certification has expanded to tea, chocolate, sugar, vanilla, fruit, wine, and much more. In 2002, the first World Fair Trade Day was celebrated to heighten consumer awareness and to strengthen connections among fair traders and interested citizens around the globe. In 2006, IFAT reported that total fair trade sales topped $2.6 billion.
From its early days in Pennsylvania, fair trade continues to move forward across the globe, because of the efforts of consumers, entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, and other communities.
Uganda Crafts 2000, Ltd.
A Ugandan-owned Fair Trade Craft wholesaler that provides employment and training for the disadvantaged, particularly women, youth, the disabled and those living with HIV/AIDS.
As a member of IFAT, the International Fair Trade Association, Uganda 2000 Ltd ensures that the craftspeople are paid a sustainable wage for the work they do.
Jedando Carver (Photo (c) Global Crafts)
Tin Painters and Finishers
Local Artisans working through TEMAK Kisumu, Kenya. Products include: Bookmarks, Tin Boxes, Mobiles
Jacaranda Group, Nairobi, Kenya
Jacaranda Workshop is associated with the Jacaranda School For the Mentally Disabled in Nairobi, Kenya. The group primarily makes jewelry, a skill that they learned at the workshop. The jewelry is entirely handcrafted from brass and hand-made beads, most of which are ceramic and are glazed and fired at the workshop. The workshop provides employment for thirty mentally challenged adults.
Phone: 1-406-250-8544 
email: contact@firstchoicedecor.com
email: contact@firstchoicedecor.com
Working with more than 100 individual carvers in Machakos, Kenya,Jedando Modern Handicrafts markets products primarily made of wood and bone worldwide. An integral part of the organization’s function is to educate the craftspeople on the need for reforestation to enable the products to be available for years to come and offer a sustainable income for generations.While wood carving provides the major income for many in the Machakos area, other craftspeople earn a living by further enhancing the products.
WHAT IS FAIR TRADE?
(Thank you to Gifts With Humanity for this explanation)
