by Brenda Meier

Juanita Amigo loves her work. She is one of forty artisans working in a workshop in the Philippines run by Social Action Foundation for Filipino Youth (SAFFY). The love she puts into her work is evident in a new Women of the ELCA product introduced at this summer’s Triennial Gathering.

Juanita puts the finishing touches on a candle holder with capiz–shell petals radiating from a brass base to form the water lily symbol of Women of the ELCA. She is responsible for dusting the soldered–wire edges with gold dust.

The water lily candle holder and five more signature items for Women of the ELCA were made in cooperation with Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and A Greater Gift (the handcraft program of SERRV International, a nonprofit alternative trade organization). Lutheran World Relief and SERRV have been partners since the 1999 launch of the LWR Handcraft Project

Like the products featured in the LWR Handcraft Project, the new Women of the ELCA items are created by artisans living in impoverished regions of the world who rely on income from their handcrafts to feed their families, educate their children, and acquire medical care. In the Philippines, rice farmers are losing their livelihoods because of the importation of cheaper rice, which makes income from handcraft production even more important.

"The economic situation facing many people in developing countries is becoming increasingly difficult. Half of the world lives on less than $2 a day," says Serena Sato, marketing coordinator for A Greater Gift. Serena works closely with Lutheran World Relief in promoting fair trade through the LWR Handcraft Project. "It is especially difficult for women to find work that enables them to care for their families. Like mothers everywhere, women in developing countries want to provide homes, food, education, and health care for their children," she says.

Handcrafts can be made in women’s homes while they cook, care for children, tend to livestock, or walk between chores. Others make crafts in small workshops that offer child care, companionship with other artisans, and use of equipment.

In addition to wages, artisans may also receive skills and literacy training, access to basic health care, low–interest loans, or credit. Their cooperatives also invest in community development projects such as sponsoring public forums on topics ranging from women’s rights to nutrition, and building safe water wells to funding elementary schools.

In Guatemala, where about half of its nearly 12 million citizens live in poverty, members of UPAVIM, an artisan cooperative whose name means "united to live better," are contributing significantly to their community with the income from their handcrafts, including prayer cloths produced especially for Women of the ELCA.

"The artisan project at UPAVIM pays 100 percent of the costs for a Montessori elementary school for 60 children and provides funds for school scholarships," says Angela Bailon, president of UPAVIM. "In a really good year, we can give 625 scholarships to children in our barrio (neighborhood) of La Esperanza."

The creation of the handcrafts for Women of the ELCA is part of their continued efforts with Lutheran World Relief to support fair trade artisans and their communities. "Women of the ELCA have long been supportive of LWR’s fair trade work," says Kathryn Wolford, LWR president. "They see fair trade as a way to express their faith through their consumer choices. They also recognize the love that goes into these skillfully made handcrafts and are drawn to the beauty that creates."

The new Women of the ELCA handcrafts are available exclusively from Augsburg Fortress. For order information, see the Women of the ELCA spring catalog. To purchase other fairly traded handcrafts through the LWR Handcraft Project, call 888–294–9660 or visit www.lwr.org/handcraft

Brenda Meier is the communication associate for parish projects and partnerships at Lutheran World Relief in Baltimore, Maryland. She directs the LWR Handcraft Project.

The LWR Handcraft Project: Gifts that Make a World of Difference
Since 1999, Lutherans have provided thousands of artisans around the world with vital income through their participation in the LWR Handcraft Project.

By gift giving or personal shopping through the LWR Handcraft Project, you ensure that the artisans are paid fairly and treated with respect. Your purchase demonstrates your belief that the artisans who craft the items are God’s children whom we are called to love and care for.

Hosting an LWR Fair Trade Fair in your parish or community brings a variety of handcrafts to you and demonstrates your commitment to economic justice. Artisans benefit from the sale of their crafts when you introduce fair trade to a broader audience of people who care about the artisans’ well–being.

Participation in the LWR Handcraft Project gives added benefit as well, because A Greater Gift donates ten percent of all sales through the LWR Handcraft Project — whether personal catalog orders or sales through LWR Fair Trade Fairs — to LWR to support its partners and projects overseas.

To learn more, call 888–294–9660 or visit www.lwr.org/handcraft