Rwanda Baskets Archives ⋆ documama

Each year during this frenzied shopping season I aim to find a few social good gift options to share that not only please the recipient, but that are gifts that give back in some way. I know I’m not the only one who appreciates the meaning behind a gift as much as the gift itself. Here are some ideas, and links to others that all have great stories behind them. Let’s spread goodness, hope and cheer this holiday season!

Social Good Gifts

My friend Nicole keeps an incredible list of gifts that give back on her blog ThirdEyeMom.com and this year she added and introduced me to Bloom & Give. I immediately bought one of their beautiful block printed tote bags that helps to send a girl to school in India. Their designs and quality are as beautiful as the mission.

I love the whole concept of the 100 Good Deeds bracelets and the idea of gifting them, especially to my children, as an inspiration to do more for others. It’s a great story and it goes like this:

Mary Fisher—artist, author, advocate—spent a decade partnering with vulnerable
women in Africa, designing jewelry made by the women to earn a dignified livelihood.

She had just released her memoir, Messenger, a story of discovering joy in service, when she met Thomas Morgan, filmmaker and father, who created the 100 Good Deeds game with his family. Read More – from 100GoodDeeds.org

Last year I had Heart of Haiti gifts on my list of Gifts That Give Back 2014 and through learning about that program, run by Macy’s, I also learned about the Path to Peace Rwanda Baskets program. I had the honor of attending the 10 year celebration for the Path to Peace Rwanda baskets this fall at Macy’s Herald Square in New York City. It is the longest running “trade not aid” program of its kind, and that night we heard first hand about the transformations that have taken place over the past decade within the communities of the basket weavers working on this project. Both programs are helping to revive communities that had suffered the trauma of natural disaster and conflict.

The most adorable knitwear for babies by Misha and Puff also happens to help women to support their families in Peru. The knitting center in Peru provides meals and day care for the knitters, and the pieces are all made from hand dyed natural fibers of soft baby alpaca. Adorbs!

Life is full of joy and sadness, and we can all relate to its highs and lows. I hope that lokai will remind you to stay balanced and centered along your journey.
-Steven Izen, Founder of lokai

My daughter and all of her friends are loving the Lokai bracelets, and I’ve noticed them on the wrists of some celebrities as well. Said to contain mud from the Dead Sea in the black bead, and water from Mt. Everest in the white, the symbolism is to remind us to stay balanced. For the month of December when you purchase the red Lokai Bracelet $1.00 will be donated to benefit Save The Children.

Mindful Giving in a book. Simple Giving is a beautiful book is full of inspiring stories of ways to give back every day. It’s lovely to think that by giving this book you are not only helping one person through your purchase, but providing tools to continue the cycle of giving back.

Photo Credit: Heidi Reed

Still looking? Did you know that everything you purchase online by shopping through Amazon Smile is an opportunity to give? Just pull up the AmazonSmile page and choose the charity where you would like your donations to go. Continue to log in with your own account information and a portion of the purchase price of each eligible item will go to the organization of your choice. Through my Amazon Smile account I choose to support Edesia, a non-profit based right here in Rhode Island that produces nutrient rich ready to use therapeutic foods to treat and prevent malnutrition for the most vulnerable children in the world.

You can also check out the fabulous items that give back featured in past lists :

10 Mindful Gifts To Give, Mindful Gift Guide for the Foodie, or Mindful Giving Guide

Wishing Peace and love to all this holiday season!

Willa Shalit, co-founder of Rwanda Path to Peace, Janet Nkubana, co-founder of Gahaya Links, and Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s chairman and CEO at the celebration

Each year as the holiday/gift giving season approaches I start to think about how I will be using my purchasing power. As consumers we drive the economy, we choose where our money goes, and according to an article in Forbes “Women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of their buying power and influence.”

Imagine if women used that economic power to help lift other women up?

Through my travels and writing on social good topics I’ve gained a heightened awareness of how my money is spent, and what it goes to support. Visits to the factories or studios where beautiful hand crafted goods are made has given a face to the artisans behind my purchases and insight into where some of the products that I buy come from. Having observed women using their talents and working hard to give themselves and their children a brighter future I know first hand that choosing one of their items really can make a positive impact in the lives of others. I admire companies that set out with the mission of benefitting the communities from which they source their goods, companies that choose to train and support craftspeople, so that they in turn can support their families in a dignified way. Each year as I put together my “gifts that give back” lists for the holidays I think of the women I watched at work in Ethiopia, Indonesia or South Africa, making their beautiful hand-crafted goods as a means of survival. I love to share their stories, along with their crafts, with friends and family.

The Macy’s Rwanda Path To Peace program is the longest running “trade-not-aid’ partnership of this type, and I was thrilled to be there for the 10 year celebration. It was exciting to hear Willa Shalit tell the story of the origins of the program, and have Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s chairman and CEO, tell the audience how impactful his visits to Rwanda have been to him. But it was Janet Nkubana’s statement that

“Husbands don’t beat their wives anymore”

once they are supporting the family with the income from the baskets that really brought home the impact of what economic empowerment means for these women.

The event, held at the Macy’s Herald Square location in New York City, was a fun celebration filled with food, wine, music and colorful, beautiful hand-woven Rwanda baskets. The speeches reminded us all why we were really there.

My emotional connection to the celebration was twofold as it combined a place in the world that I love with a mission that I love, stretching back to my visit to central Africa in 1991, just a couple of years before the civil war broke out. The country had subsequently suffered one of the worst genocides in recent history, leaving the country in despair. The success of the Macy’s Path to Peace program can be measured in the transformation and rehabilitation of the communities in which the weavers live, and it is inspiring to see that determination towards strength and rebuilding.

Keep an eye out for my upcoming Gifts That Give Back list, and know that the Rwanda baskets that you see on it hold a special place in my heart. If all the women who have buying power used that influence to help economically empower other women around the world, and lift each other up, what beautiful thing that would be.

I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere has provided me with compensation of beautiful Rwanda baskets as gifts for this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

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Tag Archives: Rwanda Baskets

Social Good Gifts

Wishing Peace and love to all this holiday season!

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“Husbands don’t beat their wives anymore”

I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere has provided me with compensation of beautiful Rwanda baskets as gifts for this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

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