The Conversation Starts Here

2018-10-10 The Conversation Starts Here -

The Conversation Starts Here

Ganesh Himal welcomes you to our Fair Trade table…

… a table set to provide those who have been excluded a voice, a seat and an opportunity to pursue their dreams. A table set to include all of the voices that have been silenced for too long. A table set to allow a safe place for a full and dynamic conversation that encourages the richness of diversity, creativity, respect and justice for everyone. A table of profound and deep love celebrating all that we have together when we allow for equal participation.

This season, we at Ganesh Himal Trading, invite you to bring people together over food and beautiful artwork created by hands that strive to build a system of economic justice. There will be frustrating conversations but enjoy these moments when we have the opportunity to educate people about the work that we do, about how a well thought out purchase can help improve lives and strengthen communities. Together, as a Fair Trade community, we can set our tables in the variety of beautiful colors that we are, celebrate the beauty of us all, and put people before profit while engaging in the richness of life.

By opening up your fair trade stores to others you provide them the door to step through to find their own place at the table. You help others see how they can support and nurture and hold out the chair for others. You help the table become more robust and dynamic. You help us all to see how we can participate in creating a just economy and envision the path ahead toward setting a bountiful table for all.

May your table be full this season and thank you for all that you do to support our work in Nepal.

Namaste, Denise

PS: Don’t forget to vote and please encourage others to vote. Justice, economic opportunity and a large robust table of democracy depends on it. Those who have come before us to fight for this right, those who will come after and our beautiful planet will thank you for your participation.

 

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I would like to thank Denise Attwood, owner of Ganesh Himal Trading (one of our favorite vendors since 2005) for sharing her blog post with us.  Here is a bit about her business and foundation:

Since 1984, we have been supplying shops and retail customers in North America with high quality, handcrafted clothing, jewelry, textiles, and paper. We import directly from small cottage industries in Nepal, including development projects working to improve the lives of Tibetan refugees and women. Our goal has always been to support work that enhances people’s lives and traditions. It is rewarding to work with such skilled artisans who enjoy what they do and to know that they realize a fair return for their work.

We are also co-founders, with Sita Gurung, of the Baseri Health Clinic, in Baseri, Nepal. In 2014 we founded the Conscious Connections Foundation. CCF is a 501c3 dedicated to facilitating the advancement of marginalized individuals in Nepal and around the world, by promoting access to education, health-care, skills development and facilities improvement so that people can create strong, vibrant, economically viable communities. CCF’s main projects have been promoting girls education in Nepal through our Power of 5 program, providing continued staffing for the Baseri Clinic and developing a menstrual pad project. Then on April 25, 2015 after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake destroyed the Baseri clinic and many of the villages of producers in Nepal the focus of CCF quickly changed to disaster relief. This disaster relief will be ongoing as we stand beside our many friends in Nepal and help them to rebuild their lives.


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