Abibata Ido from West Africa and Vasumati Mistri from India have never met in person, but the two women’s lives are united by their involvement with fair trade retailer Ten Thousand Villages.

With roots dating back to 1946, this non-profit organization is designed to benefit artisans by helping build a sustainable future through fair trade. The organization provides vital income to artisans in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America by selling their handicrafts and products in stores across North America.

Even though Ido and Mistri are part of separate projects, each one provides a sustainable livelihood for them and fellow disadvantaged women in their communities. 

In 1970, a group of Spanish Dominican nuns established a learning centre for women called St. Mary’s Mahila Shikshan Kendra in India. Vasumati Mistri started embroidering at St. Mary’s three years after it opened because she and her family were barely making ends meet.

Through this program, the nuns provided stable employment, fair wages and home-based employment to women. Today there are around 400 full-time and 100 part-time women employed by St. Mary’s, and more than 40% of them are the major wage earners in their families. 

The women of St. Mary’s specialize in Gujarati-style embroidery, a traditional craft dating back more than 1,000 years. Vegetable dyes are used to create the vibrant colours on the locally produced hand-loomed cotton cloth and thread. Then, geometric and floral motifs are intricately depicted through cut pieces of mirror glass and beading. At the actual workshop, other artisans then transform the completed fabrics into beautiful cushion covers, wall hangings, tablecloths and handbags.

Located in the heart of West Africa, Burkina Faso has been one of the poorest countries in the world. However, Abibata Ido’s producer group in Burkina provides secure jobs for many women residing there.

They have a similar mandate to the St. Mary’s centre and continuously make quality products for Ten Thousand Villages. The income earned through the sales of shea butter makes up a significant portion of a family’s earnings, giving the women greater influence in their households.

Impelled by the desire to ensure her children have a different upbringing, Ido helped to form her local shea producer group in 1997 and its sister organization, the Women Producer’s Union of Shea Butter Products.

Ido, a widowed mother of five, focuses on a resource in the area most familiar to them — the shea tree. This tree is essential to the lives of women in Burkina Faso and it is appropriately called, in the Dioula language, “Karite,” which means tree of life. The women harvest the tree’s nuts, which they pound to produce shea butter that is naturally rich in fatty acids and five kinds of vitamins.

In his new book Fair Trade: A Human Journey, Canadian author and photojournalist Éric St-Pierre documents the stories of fair trade producers around the world. The book is available at Ten Thousand Villages, and includes a chapter on shea producers in Burkina Faso.• 


Photos courtesy of Ten Thousand Villages