To our dear Friends and Supporters,

It has been two years since we last were able to get to India to see our partners on the ground. While we communicate regularly over the phone and email, it's challenging to handle new developments, do things efficiently and really support them in what's needed when we're thousands of miles apart.

Our online shop is getting busier, we've picked up many new Wholesale Accounts at stores and we have learned a lot about fair trade business that we are keen to share and work with our partners on.

With your support, we can finally make this much needed trip possible.

We invite your support in helping to sponsor our upcoming trip to India to foster existing relationships and support new programs that continue to develop viable strong transparent and just supply chains in trade. A big part of the work we do is information exchange and sharing. From social movements to designs of new products, we support our artisan partners in their needs and help them grow their enterprises through marketing, information sharing and sponsoring trainings. We also are then able to learn more about the needs, hopes and progress of our partners, which we then are able to bring back and share those strides and successes with you here.

This year we will compile our past histories and new stories into videos that show the impact of fair trade in the communities we work through a story telling project titled

Why Fair Trade Matters:
Story Collecting and the Impacts of Fair Trade in Rural Communities.

We will join Stree Shakti as they begin to grow beyond 100 women and start a new training stitching program for 50 new women in the mountain villages. We work mostly with small artisan groups and we started working with Stree Shakti from the beginning. After helping to raise money for their new production center, there are now 100 strong women being empowered by this program. Check out their parent non profit, Purkal Youth Development Society, and their programs which have brought quality nutrition and education to over 400 youth in the community.

The end project will be a collection of translated and transcribed videos and stories produced in partnership with local individuals in India. These stories will be a great use in helping more people make the connection between the artisans that create fair trade products and the improved economic justice that comes with the fair trade movement.

The project will focus on four organizations that Awaz has had long standing relationships with for four years and center around these themes:

Individual stories of artisans and how participation in a fair trade enterprise has changed their lives
Growth of the organizations
The growth of the fair trade movement in India
Fair trade as a tool for women’s empowerment
Environmental sustainability in fair trade

DONATE ONLINE TODAY. Join us by contributing to our 2013 Story Gathering Trip to India.

Our work is fundamentally rooted on relationships. In 2005 Sarah Mitts first went to India where she was impacted during her service learning experience in what she saw and felt. She founded Awaz in 2008 to share her experience and be a voice for the artisans and communities she met to bridge the gap and connect stories, cultures and humans. She quickly realized an opportunity for service (seva) to be able to further help these communities and create justice.

The support for our work is growing and so is the interest to be part of a more just business model and fairer way to view everyday interactions that take into account the real cost of every day goods.

2% Giving Back Program

We are launching a 2% Giving Back Program and we aim to strengthen our work by supporting organizations on the ground in India and locally we want to give back to.

2% of our sales is our contribution to local community organizations and global partners to use your support to give back. We were inspired to help share with you great stories, organizations and products that change lives. We want to do more by helping you harness your choices and energy to create more positive change. We believe in the interconnectedness of our planet. What we do here affects our friends and family elsewhere, if not today, our future generations.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

MEASURING THE IMPACT

Measure the impact of fair trade on women and their social upliftment in the communities we work and share stories about cooperatives and Self Help Group Structures
Strengthen our relationships and ways to serve

CAPACITY & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Share tools, ideas, market and product design info, green market trends
Explore product and business development of environmentally friendly products that support local craft and expand our product line
Discuss and share success stories of environmental and social movements in the U.S.

RECORD & SHARE STORIES

Visit programs of non profit organizations around Dehradun working on environmental sustainability, livelihood program and girl child education assess needs, learn and share stories, provide support
Conduct interviews and video record artisan experiences and stories about their work
Develop 6 short Youtube videos about the impact of fair trade in these communities with locals
Research Social Entrepreneurship amongst young Indians
Tell the Apparel Story and the new fair trade Organic Cotton Supply Chain
Visit Labor Unions in New Delhi and research current issues around child Labor

DEVELOP SERVICE & CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Develop on the ground logistics and travel program in partnership with locals for exchange program to Dehradun – work with locals to develop their eco-tourism project and create jobs
Support the development of a Spiritual Voluntourism program around Dehradun with locals

Help support our efforts by shopping today or making a small contribution online.

$10 ~ $20 ~ $45 ~ $75 ~ $100

Financial contributions can be sent to:

Awaz

PO Box 15123

Portland, OR 97293

Your choices are karmic energy.

thank you for the role you play in building stronger communities across the globe.

many blessings,

Sarah & Rafael