Inspirations

Esperanza en Acción is proud to feature individuals who are changing the world and have been inspired to do so through their connection and interaction with the work of Esperanza en Acción.

 Inspired to Promote Fair Trade: 

Gail Berndt Catron is the managing partner of Kirabo, hand made fair trade store in East Lansing Michigan.  She holds two degrees from Michigan State University; a Management degree from the Broad College of Business Dec. ’06 and a Bachelors of Arts in Music Therapy. 

A classical flute teacher with a background in retail, she was introduced to the fair trade movement through volunteering with Esperanza en Accion; a fair trade organization based in Nicaragua with local Michigan support.  In researching the efforts of other fair trade organizations, Ms. Catron opened in Aug. 2007 KIRABO, a partner store with Ten Thousand Villages.  Kirabo sells exclusively fair trade crafts from 19 organizations representing over 30 countries.  By selling locally, she is dedicated to spreading the mission of fair trade to provide artisan groups in developing countries a fair income, and thereby a means to provide education and health care for their families.

Inspired to change their own lives: 

(The volunteers from Okemos Community Church in Okemos, Michigan have been vital to the continued success of Esperanza en Acción. Below is a reflection written by Jan Easley, one volunteer from OCC about how their interaction with Esperanza en Acción made them change their priorities and their commitments.)

The building next to my church is being torn down this week as we begin much needed upgrades and renovation. I’ve spent more hours than I care to count in that house in the last few years, and I can’t decide if I’ll laugh or cry when the first brick falls. Before my compadres and I boldly opened the door three years ago, the building which had once served as the parsonage had been empty for years. It was just part of the landscape, and not a terribly attractive one at that.

But in 2005, through a story too long to tell here, I and several other folks at my church began working with Esperanza en Acción, a fair trade organization in Nicaragua. We started small, one box of pottery, pine needle baskets, and stone carvings from Nicaragua for us to sell to our friends as a fundraiser for more trips to Nicaragua. The items in that first box were sold almost as fast as we unpacked them to a congregation equally in love with the beauty of the art as to the knowledge we were living and breathing social justice through fair trade.

So we ordered another box. And another. And we told the story of fair trade. And very soon, we took on the task of being the US receiving and distribution center for Esperanza en Acción.

We didn’t know what we were doing, we didn’t know how to do it, and we had no where in which to do it. But we also knew what we were doing was important. We knew first hand the transformation that happens when men and women are paid fairly for their work, and we didn’t let our lack of knowledge or location stop us.

We searched all around town for a nice free location where we could do our good work. None were found. We hoped for a generous donation of space, none came. We looked at that building next to the church and thought….no. Words like “dirty, small, abandoned, bad foundation” swirled around. The words that kept me from even looking was “critters in the basement.”

Eventually, we opened the doors of the abandoned former parsonage, did a quick inspection, made a few calls and promptly “moved in.” I’m happy to say there were no critters, which frankly still amazes me. It was small, dirty and abandoned and had a questionable foundation. In the winter, we worked with mittens, hats and coats and in the summers, we thought of he irony of our organizing “sweat shop free” clothing as we roasted. Oh, and did I mention there was no running water?

Despite all of this, a loyal group of volunteers came, sometimes twice a week, to loving unpack pottery, record inventory, pack pottery back up to take to local sales. We learned the stories of the artisans whose hands made these items and how their lives were changing because of the work we were doing. We knew children were eating and women were gaining status in their communities as they were able to break the cycle of poverty. We were making a better world one pot at a time.

However, what we don’t think about enough is how we ourselves have been transformed. I can only speak for myself, but I see the world in a new way. I don’t think of the men and women of Nicaragua as strangers living a life I can’t relate to. I am now and forever connected by love and solidarity with these artisans. I now understand the connection our actions in the first world have on those in the third world. I understand that a “bargain” in our big box stores in the United States may come at the cost of our bothers or sisters living in poverty.

We are continuing our work in a new location, graciously donated this fall. We now have heat and air conditioning and yes, we have plumbing. It’s more comfortable to do our volunteer work now. But I for one am glad we inhabited that old building. Our conditions were certainly less than cushy, and yet people arrived week after week and we accomplished more than we could have imagined possible.

I’ll be thinking about transformation as the building comes down this week. I’ll think about how a once abandoned and somewhat unattractive building again became home. One where many of us grew in a way I’m sure the original builders never conceived. I’ll bring home a brick from the rubble to remind me of the power of change.