My Favorite Organization Today: Novica

If you’re looking for a gift that is truly unique, has a story, and is socially responsible, look no further than Novica.  For just a small taste, this is Novica’s mission statement:

“We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow.

At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe.

We want you to know about who you’re buying from. We want you to feel that attachment to the product and to the hands that created it.”

If you spend any amount of time browsing the Novica website you’re bound to find amazing works of art, ceramics, clothing, jewelry, and home goods that you can’t live without.  But, you’ll also learn the stories of the people and families who make them.  You’ll hear the history of a family told through their ceramics tradition, or see a man’s cultural pride displayed in breathtaking handwoven rugs.

Here’s a taste:

This pendant necklace is called Mother Earth Sleeps

“Mother Earth rests on a bed of sterling silver jasmines, bathed in an amethyst dewdrop.”  Her face is carved by hand into cow bone, and the entire piece has been handcrafted by Buana.   If you were to purchase this necklace, you would receive with it Buana’s story card.  Buana is an artisan from Bali, he learned to craft jewelry from a friend of his.  “I am thankful to God for giving me such a great gift so I can make a living for my family. Not much, perhaps, but enough for our simple way of life,” Buana says. “Hopefully through Novica I can offer a better future to my wife and two children.”

For artists like Buana, the only customers they would normally have are locals, and occasional tourists, who they sometimes have to travel many miles to get to.  With Novica though, Buana and people like him can offer their wares to all the customers the internet has to offer, thus broadening their market and increasing their profit.  Many people find themselves partial to the work of a single artist, and just like that someone like Buana, in Bali, can have a repeat customer in an American housewife, and they never have to meet.

I could spend hours browsing what seems like endless works of art on the Novica website.  I am amazed at the level of craftsmanship and creativity displayed, and I’m humbled by the honest and touching stories of the artisans who create these things.   When you shop on Novica, you can know exactly how the item you’re interested in was made, and who benefits from your purchase.  So, the next time you’re on the hunt for something absolutely unique – and maybe even one of kind – check out Novica.

Let the Next Round of Giving for Good Begin!

As Valentine’s Day creeps closer, lovers, couples, friends, and spouses begin searching for the perfect gift to convey how much they care for their significant other.  My advice for the gentlemen, or other jewelry-seeker, is to think out of the box, and possibly out of the jewelry store.

Gold has become the most profitable mineral for armed groups operating in the Congo.  The violence in the Congo has taken more lives than World World II – over 50 million – and has officially made the Congo the most unsafe place in the world to be a woman.  Since the SEC has yet to come up with a way to determine what gold is “conflict gold”, the only way to be sure you are not supporting armed militias in the Congo is simply to not buy any gold. And since chocolate is produced by child slaves, anyone looking to spend their dollars justly and not give their loved one a potentially blood-stained gift would appear to be at a loss.

Fortunately, for those seeking to promote love in all aspects of their gift-giving, there are some wonderful options.   My favorite choice is the Given “With All My Heart” gift set.  30% of the proceeds from the purchase go to World Vision programs that benefit women and girls around the world.  The gift set includes a cotton/polyester blend tagless shirt in the comfortable burnout style, with a beautiful heart design on the front.

The set also comes with a Tagua Nut heart necklace.  Tagua Nuts are known as the ‘vegetable Ivory” because of their ivory-like color and texture.  The Tagua Nuts used for making these necklaces were harvested in Ecuador through an economic incentive program designed to promote sustainable harvesting.  The villagers harvest the Nuts from the forest floor and then they are dyed red using vegetable dyes.

The set comes in a red gift box with a gift card that shares the same heart design as the shirt, and contains a quote from World Vision president Rich Stearns, “In my opinion, the single most important thing that can be done to cure extreme poverty is this:  protect, educate, and nurture girls and women, and provide them with equal rights and opportunities – educationally, economically, and socially.”  Each item in the gift set is available separately, and 30% of those purchases also go to World Vision’s programs from women and girls.

Ethical Ocean provides a fun list of eco-friendly and fair trade gifts for your Valentine ranging from chocolates, jewelry, and gifts for couples to enjoy together.

This Valentines Day, show your love not only for your significant other, but also for the people of the world who are less fortunate than ourselves.  Let your gift of love resonate all the way back to the people who made it.

For other gift-giving ideas, see my Christmas gift-giving guide, Give Something More Than Stuff.

Act Now: Protect Children from Traffickers

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act is the piece of legislation that is needed to replace the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, that was allow to expire at the end of September.

Due to pressure from constituents both the House and the Senate have written version of a Reauthorization Act.  The Senate’s bill is the closest to being passed.  If the Senate can pass their bill in the next few days, before both the House and the Senate adjourn for the year, House can then move forward with their bill. That would be bring America one step closer to once again having a policy that combats modern slavery, especially the sexual enslavement of children and women.

Right now, the most important thing Christians can be doing, besides praying, is calling their Senators.  Call everyday between now and December 23, call twice a day if you can, and bombard them emails letting them know where God’s people stand on ending child slavery. Once the Senate passes their version, it will be the Houses’ turn, and we can then shift our focus to them.

World Vision has an easy form that helps you to find all the necessary information about your senators, they even for a video and script to help those who are nervous or don’t know what to say.

Speak up now, it’s time for Christians to use their collective voice and power, for those who are powerless and can’t fight for themselves.

Slavery Didn’t Die, It Evolved

Christians like John Wesley, Thomas Clarkson, and William Wilberforce were instrumental in the abolition of slavery in the UK and America. Just because slavery as it appears in textbooks seems to be defeated doesn’t mean that our job is finished.  All over the world, both in developed nations and undeveloped nations, the enslavement of women and children continues.

Though many forms of slavery still exist, I am speaking specifically about sexual slavery of primarily women and young girls.  Sex trafficking has made it’s way into the national consciousness, but only barely.  In the next 12 months, 1-2 million children will be sold into prostitution.  Often children who go to work to help support their families are tricked into crossing borders to get “good jobs”, once in a different country they lose whatever rights they may have had and become the property of the people they work for.  And of course, the good jobs never existed in the first place.  Sometimes, desperate parents are made an offer they can’t refuse.  Children sold into prostitution will usually spend their whole lives as prostitutes until they die, or are murdered – few ever escape.  More often now, salvation comes in the form of a police raid.

Nicholas D. Kristof joined former child-prostitute-turned-fearless-advocate, Somaly Mam, on one such raid in Cambodia, where they rescued a number of girls and women, one of which was a 12-year-old trafficked from Vietnam three months prior.  He writes about that experience in his Sunday column, and then follows up in his Thursday column, with a devastating interview with a girl who managed to escape her captors, much like Somaly Mam had done herself.

Srey Pov had been sold into prostitution by her family at the age of 6. The brothel owner sold her virginity to a Westerner.  She was stripped and tied spread-eagle to a bed so the foreigner could rape her.  Because of her age she was in high demand, and would have as many as 20 “customers” a night.  Twice her vagina had been stitched closed so the brothel owner could sell her again as a virgin, a common practice in Asian brothels. Srey Pov repeatedly tried to escape, but each failed attempt earned her punishment. She was beaten and shocked, and her brothel, like many, had a “punishment cell” to break the spirits of rebellious girls.  Srey Pov remembers her longest stint in the “cell” – a barrel half-full of sewage, vermin and scorpions that stung her often – a week, a week that she also went without eating.

At 9 Srey Pov finally escaped and found her way to one of Somaly Mam’s shelters for trafficked girls and women.  She is 19 now, and eventually imagines herself getting married, she says, “Before I didn’t like men because they hit me and raped me. But now I think that not all men are bad.  If I find a good man, I can marry him.”

Somaly Mam and Srey Pov

By Kristof’s calculations 10 times as many women and girls are now trafficked into brothels annually than African slaves were transported to the New World at the height of the Atlantic slave trade. 200 years, ago people were outraged at the idea of slavery.

Shamefully, many Christians hid behind cultural norms and distorted scripture to justify the practice of slavery. Eventually, those people were proven wrong.  With nothing left to hide behind, how can Christians remain silent and unaffected by stories like Srey Pov’s?

At the very least, we have an obligation to pray – to pray for the families and individuals devastated by this horrific practice, to pray that our country will be a leader in the fight against modern slavery, and to pray for the people, like Somaly Mam, who put themselves and their loved ones on the line every day to rescue people.

But how can we stop there?  The first abolitionists were bold and outspoken, fearless and unmoved by public opinions.  With nothing to lose and everything to gain, how can those of us with our human rights assured justify stopping at prayer when it’s so easy to be an advocate? As Christians it’s our responsibility to be a voice for those who have none, and a free and easy way to help combat modern slavery is to call your congressman.  America has the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and it was allowed to expire at the end of September. Until it is renewed, all U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking are completely on hold.  World Vision makes it easy to find and call your legislators with their call log system.  They also provide a script for those who aren’t sure of what to say.

For anyone interested in doing more, World Vision offers a fund for women and girls in crisis.  Donations go to protect women, offer vocational training, education, counseling, and even small business loans.  There is also the Somaly Mam Foundation, which works around the world, “to end these atrocities through direct services to victims, advocacy and outreach.”

There is no reason for slavery to continue in any form in any part of the world, and there is no excuse for Christians to sit idly as it happens.

To stay up to date on trafficking news please see and support CNN’s Freedom Project, which gives a national platform to all issues related to human trafficking, and a megaphone to it’s victims.