Trade Wind Statues™ was founded based on the premise
of making a positive impact in people’s lives. When you
purchase one of our statues, 3% of your purchase will go towards supporting
grass roots projects that are striving to create and maintain Fair
Trade relationships, all the while promoting a world that will be more
sustainable in the future. Though there are many well established
non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) accepting donations and
working hard to effect positive changes throughout the world, we at Trade
Wind Statues™ are directly involved with the recipient development
and aid projects that we donate to, focusing on creating lifelong relationships
and a sense of involvement that is unavailable with many of the larger
aid organizations. We feel that it is important to build, support,
and actively encourage business relationships that are sustainable
and fair on multiple levels.
Two of the leading fair trade organizations, the Fair Trade Federation
(FTF) and the International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT)
have defined the principles of Fair Trade as:
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This
is a strategy focusing on alleviating poverty and the creation
of sustainable development. This is in an effort to create
opportunities for those producers who have been marginalized or
economically disadvantaged in the conventional trading systems.
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Increasing
opportunity for women to earn a fair pay, the right to organize
and become empowered.
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Focus
on creating a global trade system which can be monitored, critiqued
and accountable.
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Working
towards creating sustained relationships between producers and
their trading partners, focusing on continuity, development of
management skills, increasing the access to markets, and assisting
in financial and technical matters.
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A
fair price is one that should adequately cover the cost of production
of the product, but it should also ensure that the production is
socially and environmentally sound. This would include fair
pay for workers and creating equality in the work place.
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Promoting safe and healthy
conditions in working environments.
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Fair
traders work directly in helping to promote the protection of the
environment, seeking out and implementing ways that trade can become
environmentally sustainable.
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Educating
the public about the principles of fair trade and the possibilities
of their implementation.
We
at Trade Wind Statues™ are working directly with many
of the artisans who create our statues, as well as the individuals
involved with the packing and shipping of our statues, to ensure that
our business relationships promote the Fair Trade principals mentioned
above. In an effort to encourage long term economic, social,
and environmental sustainability, Trade Wind Statues™ has
also recently begun working with the Yayasan IDEP Foundation in
Indonesia.
The Yayasan IDEP Foundation (IDEP) is an Indonesian
non-profit foundation that was formally established in 1999, at the
height of Indonesia’s
economic crisis. IDEP’s objective was to respond to urgent needs
for sustainable food production and resource management, while conveying
the importance of environmental education for sustainable living.
Between 1999-2000 IDEP successfully conducted several Permaculture
Training of Trainer Courses, with the assistance of the some of the
world’s most acclaimed Permaculture Trainers. IDEP facilitated
the certification of over 200 people from throughout Indonesia. As
the result of these courses, various Permaculture related projects
have been initiated nation-wide.
After 2000, IDEP applied the knowledge gained from feedback of original
pilots to develop its own community based sustainable development pilot
programs. It began testing innovative approaches to raising environmental
awareness through public awareness media campaigns and curriculum development,
while disseminating practical solutions to environmental, social and
economic problems within local communities.
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Introducing sustainable living solutions for
households, businesses, schools & communities
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Introducing innovative approaches to environmental education into
local schools
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Working directly with local communities at the grass roots level
to pilot test projects
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Developing models for micro credit cooperative programs
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Constructing working demonstrations of small-scale organic food
production
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Constructing working demonstrations of appropriate technology for
waste management and wastewater treatment
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Developing eco-literacy through community based
development media & curriculums
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Sharing knowledge gained and media through local NGO networks
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Conducting media training & supporting local
NGO partners with their programs
In 2001 IDEP launched a Community Based Crisis Response Program that
will help local Indonesian communities to be more prepared for, and
to better manage disasters such as the recent tsunami which has claimed
so many lives.
Projects that we are currently involved with:
Due to its transparency and proven ability to place practical aid
directly in the hands of survivors and manage practical programs
on the ground, IDEP attracted over US$ 500,000 in donations which
was immediately disbursed in Aceh through trusted partners on the
ground. Over 200 IDEP volunteers and staff have worked in Aceh
since December 2004, some of them having served several missions. Although
news of the tsunami has largely disappeared from the international
press, the situation in Aceh's disaster zone has not substantially
improved. About half a million people are still living in shacks,
overcrowded refugee barracks and moldy tents, waiting to re-establish
their lives. IDEP has now entered the long-term recovery phase
of its work in Aceh and we at Trade Wind Statues™ thought
that this was the perfect time to contribute to a more sustainable
Aceh in the future. Now that the crisis phase has passed, IDEP
is focusing on three programs in Aceh which target critical needs
- community recovery, a sustainable development training school,
and a community-based crisis response center. This year Trade
Wind Statues™ has decided
to focus it’s donations on IDEP’s community recovery program
as well as the sustainable development training school. Our contributions
are focused specifically towards getting potable drinking water to
communities and to teaching sustainable: agriculture, community design,
and building techniques.
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Lhoong Community
Recovery & Sustainable Development Training School:
At IDEP's heart is permaculture - permanent agriculture techniques
that assist people to generate food security while practicing sound
environmental principals and acquiring livelihood skills. IDEP has
established a training centre at Lamsujin, Lhoong, about 50 km from
Bandah Aceh. The Greenhand Field School will be a living classroom
for trainees within the tsunami-zone; a place where survivors and
trainers can obtain practical training in a live-in model village.
IDEP’s Eco
Trainers Program:
IDEP’s Eco Trainers Program is a self sustainable non-profit
program that offers Eco-Friendly Solutions for waste management & recycling,
organic gardening, and environmentally friendly pest management and
household cleaning. The Eco Trainers Program was originally developed
by IDEP in 2000 in to help support better environmental awareness in
businesses and homes in Bali. To date, Eco Trainers have successfully
trained hundreds of Indonesians and Westerners who pay a fee for the
training service. These fees are used to continue to develop the program’s
scope, and also to support other IDEP community development activities.
A wide range of public awareness tools and practical fact sheets have
been developed by Eco Trainers, which help people to remember the key
points introduced at the trainings they have undertaken. Most of Eco
Trainer’s clients and staff are now separating their wastes and
coordinating directly with local recycling pick-up programs, many are
also growing organic vegetables & herbs in home kitchen gardens.
All have gained a better understanding of key environmental issues,
and how they can make a difference in terms of environmental sustainability
every day. The Eco Trainers program has developed a project which
focuses on the distribution of native organic herb and vegitable seedlings. Due
to a global increase in Genetically Modified (GMO’s) food crops
and all of the negative factors that can accompany them, Trade
Wind Statues™ has taken a particular interest in this project.
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Organic herb and vegetable seedlings : Trade
Wind Statues™ has begun making contributions in 2006
to ensure that local farmers and residents receive free organic,
non-hybrid seeds as well as educational material concerning planting,
harvesting, crop rotation, and composting.
Bali Cares’ SOS Children’s
Village Orphanage:
The
SOS Children’s Orphanage is a non-profit, non-governmental
organization active in caring for orphan and neglected children.
They have no political affiliations, are not based on religious beliefs,
and no one individual or group is profiting from this organization.
The children at the orphanage come from many different backgrounds;
and no differentiation is made due to personal beliefs, religion
or race. At the SOS Orphanage the children are provided with a place
to live, education, and a surrogate family to care for them. The
SOS Children’s Orphanage is located on 6.9 hectares of land
in the village of Bantas, East Selemadeg, Tabanan, Bali. They have
12 housing buildings with complete facilities, which are adequate
for housing both the children as well as their surrogate family.
From when the orphanage was founded until the present, the SOS Children’s
Orphanage has cared for 247 children; all of who have grown to feel
confident in themselves, and who have found many opportunities that
would not have been afforded to them under their previous circumstances.
We at Trade Wind Statues™ were very drawn to the SOS
Children’s Orphanage organization, and therefore we began supporting
SOS in 2006 by providing funds for food and educational materials for
the children.
High in the mountains of central Bali in the village of Pupuan, the
product development team at Bali Asli has established a series of small
scale, ethical industry projects which use appropriate technology to
process local natural resources into a wide range of resalable products.
Today, these small industries are one of the area’s largest employers. Seeing
the need for this type of small scale industry to help develop local
economies in Indonesia, in 1999 the owners of Bali Asli joined forces
with other local enterprise and education experts and formed a non-profit
foundation called Yayasan MACK. Today Yayasan MACK works closely
with Bali Asli and other local businesses to support local NGOs and
community programs by clearly demonstrating the viability of establishing
self-sustainability through ethical, environmentally sound small scale
production industries. Because we actively promote the principles
of Fair Trade as was described above, Trade Wind Statue™ was
very excited to learn about this project and we began supporting Bali
Asli in 2006 by purchasing large quantities of their soap products
which we sell in our shop. All of the profits that we make from
the sales of the soap products will then be donated directly back to
product producers.
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Natural Beeswax, glycerine and liquid soaps: Bali
Asli soaps are hand made and hand packaged by local women from
the village of Batungsel, Pupuan. They are also great for the end
users as they are made from completely natural ingredients and
contain glycerin and natural moisturizers, which are gentle and
beneficial for skin and hair.
When you purchase a statue from Trade Wind Statues™,
if you are interested, we will provide feedback via email or snail
mail as to the progress of the various aid and development projects
that we are involved with; therefore giving you the opportunity to
see the positive difference that your purchase is making!
