Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit organization that offers  handmade items from artisan co-operatives in developing countries, has a great store in Windsor, right at 3225 Sandwich Street.  In addition to handicrafts, the selection also includes Fair Trade coffee, tea, chocolate, dried fruit, and sugar, and have recently added jams and preserves from Swaziland in South Africa.

The concept behind the project developed in 1946 when a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) worker Edna Ruth Byler brought home some beautiful embroidery from Puerto Rica.  The pieces were made in sewing classes by women who helped to learn a trade to bring their families out of poverty. Byler found the pieces so popular among friends and neighbors that she sought items and agricultural products from other developing countries to sell.  For 25 years, this effort was managed from Byler's basement before the MCC took it over and named it Selfhelp Crafts, By 1996, the project had attracted many customers, supporters, and volunteers and became known as 10,000 villages.

The organization strives to help workers around the world become self sufficient through their labor.  Its goods are sold at Fair Trade prices so that the artisans receive the decent wages for their labor. When items are ordered from artisan groups, a price is set and the artisan receives half of the money upfront so that they have money for supplies.  The balance is paid before the items are ready to be shipped. Teen Thousand Villages is a member to the International Fair Trade Association, a worldwide network committed to social justice and the well-being of disadvantaged producers.

Ten Thousand Villages has 49 stores throughout Canada, including there one in Windsor. almost entirely staffed by volunteers The Windsor store is a project of the Global Resource Centre, which is a lending library with educational materials on the developing world, the environment, labor, and such issues as women, poverty, globalization, etc. It also has a computer with a Jaws program, which is available for use by the visually impaired and the blind.

In addition to the stores, 10,000 Villages holds festivals in different areas to promote the products and culture of the 36 countries of origin.

You can find out more about them or order online at www.tenthousandvillages.com.

For information about great places to live in Windsor, call your Prudential Select Real Estate Agent Mark Tesolin at (519) 972-5505 or visit http://marktesolin.com