New store brings fair trade trend to heart of E.L.

Wind chimes made of shells and carved pieces of wood, baskets woven from pine needles and coasters made with recycled tea bags adorn fair trade store Kirabo, 215 Ann St.

Each of the store’s items is handmade, and each carries with it stories of third world workers who might have struggled to put a roof over their children’s heads without fair trade, a movement focused on paying wages to workers in third world countries to help them meet basic living needs.

Owner Gail Catron has begun to learn these stories from members of Okemos Community Church who sparked her interest and began personal fair trade crusades after a trip to Nicaragua two years ago.

“With this store, I want to introduce students to the issue of fair trade,” she said. “For those that already have an understanding, I want to stress to them that their purchase means a lot in supporting these third world artisans.”

English education senior Christin Vasilenko’s memory of the church group’s trip includes children begging from tiny, run-down shacks in a neighborhood built on a garbage dump.

“These people made their homes by garbage and made their money by picking things out of the trash they thought they could sell,” Vasilenko said. Since her trip, Vasilenko became president of MSU’s Students for Fair Trade. The group played a role in Sparty’s Convenience Stores beginning to brew fair trade coffee in 2005. Last year, all coffee offered by university residence halls became fair trade certified.

Jane Barclay, a member of the church, witnessed the same impoverished conditions as Vasilenko.

“If I were to have any notion of hell, I would imagine it would be something like that neighborhood,” Barclay said.

The church group met the owner of Esperanza en Accion, a fair trade organization in Nicaragua that provides its local artisans with a market where they would be fairly paid for their work.

Barclay and another member of the church group, Jan Easley, created and now serve as co-directors of the Okemos-based Esperanza en Accion, which means “hope through action.”

The organization’s products stock much of the pottery and home decor items in Kirabo. Easley said that its close relationship with a small group of artisans in Nicaragua might eventually allow Catron to learn more about who’s supplying the merchandise and pass along personal stories to customers.

“People can pick up an item and they can say that it was made by a woman who, without fair trade, owned nothing more than a plastic chair,” Catron said.

Kirabo is a partner store of Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade group with more than 160 stores across the country, including a location in Ann Arbor.

The shop’s silver necklaces and earrings and leather rings, children’s toys and musical instruments come from more than 30 different countries across the globe.

“The key thing about fair trade is that it’s not that somebody comes into a country and buys from an artisan one time and then leaves,” Catron said. “They really work to make this sustainable so that these artisans have the vital income going forward.”

After bashing a handmade gong in front of her store, Catron said she already has an idea for how the item could be put to use.

“My goal is to sell this to a fraternity,” she said.

Kirabo will host a formal grand opening Sept. 28 and 29, when customers can sample fair trade coffees and chocolates and view a slideshow presentation about fair trade.

Catron said buying fair trade goods at her shop and from other stores is buying more than just merchandise.

“When you make a purchase, you feel like you’ve made a difference,” she said.

Craig Trudell can be reached at trudell6@msu.edu.

Published on Tuesday, September 4, 2007