Handcrafting for Social Justice

By Stefanie Gutierrez

“We are not just doing charity work. The quality is first-rate and the prices are competitive” is how one affiliate of HandCrafting Justice describes its operation and products.

HandCrafting Justice, a project of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, is a Fair Trade, economic justice project that partners with women in the developing world. They market women’s handcrafts and raise awareness about the root causes of poverty, gender inequality and social issues.

After 10 years at the Good Shepherd Provincial House, Jamaica, the national office recently relocated to the third floor of St. John’s Prep, Astoria.

HMONG WOMEN of Southeast Asia sell their handcrafts through HandCrafting Justice, a Fair Trade economic justice program of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

Its mission is to educate the public about the reality and the policy issues of gender inequality and structural poverty around the world. The United Nations

Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) reports that 70% of the world’s poor are women, who live on less than $1 a day.

The focus of HandCrafting Justice over the last 10 years has been creating economic opportunities for women. It began in Asia, Africa and South America. Now, the partnering countries include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uruguay.

Women, called partners, are given the opportunity to sell their handmade crafts at a competitive price, while being compensated fairly for their work. They make and sell indigenous artwork, linens, clothing, gifts, music, Christmas cards and decoration, toys, bags, religious items and pottery.

Items, such as handbags, have been produced in the Philippines using recycled phonebooks and other articles, making them both economical and unique.

When Sister Maureen McGowen, RGS, was asked to be the director of the operation 10 years ago, she said, “I’ve been involved right from the beginning… I’ve always seen the economic power that comes from personal empowerment. I could see the direct meaning of supporting markets, and knowing that these women’s lives would be improved. It was an expression of my commitment as a Sister of the Good Shepherd.”

As the national office was receiving more shipments from its partners, Sister Maureen realized that they could not fit anything else inside.

Making the Move

HandCrafting Justice began storing extra materials in a room on the third floor of St. John’s Prep, after there was a need for more space. At the time, the floor was used by another outlet of the Sisters, the Good Shepherd Volunteers. The program, for college women who want to give a year of domestic service, had some of the participants working out of a few rooms on the third floor for the past three years.

The area, which had been vacant for a decade, used to be a convent for the Sisters of Mercy and other religious who used to teach at the school.

William Higgins, principal, said, “One of our clubs here, the St. Vincent de Paul club, started going up to the third floor and helping out the Good Shepherd Sisters and volunteers sort through the material and get it ready for mailing out.”

When Sister Maureen asked about moving the entire operation to the area, Higgins said, “It seemed to be a wonderful combination.”

When three members of the board of trustees were presented with the idea, “they saw the products that the women of the Third World were producing, and they were all very impressed with the quality. It is in line with the mission of our school, and we had the room for them. We are happy that this has worked,” Higgins said.
HandCrafting Justice began renovations to the floor in January with the help from fundraisers, volunteers and a generous benefactor. The move was completed in April.

The extra space has enabled a new project, Fair Trade Uniforms, to grow. Allen Thayer, coordinator, is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He came out of the program “wanting to be involved in the Fair Trade movement,” he said. “It is quite small, but I wanted to be involved in the business aspect.”

He runs Fair Trade Uniforms with the same concept as HandCrafting Justice, “Our overall mission is sustainability for the women who craft our uniforms.”

Each project partners with individuals who are the most excluded and marginalized within their societies; the Sisters work to effect positive changes in their lives on many levels.

Sister Maureen said, “The Sisters focus on a holistic approach in their development on the whole person. We help them with faith development, jobs, daycare, nutrition and education. We address a range of needs and injustices which moves beyond economics.”

“Fair Trade Uniforms offers an opportunity for schools to wear their commitment on their sleeves,” Thayer said. The uniforms connect students, teachers and parents with the global Fair Trade movement, which advances economic development, women’s rights and fair labor practices in the developing world.

Women at sites in Thailand and Mexico make the uniforms. A purchase of the uniforms enables the partners to lead more dignified lives, feed their families and send their children to school. Currently, Fair Trade Uniforms is working with a handful of Catholic schools in New York, as well as charter schools in the Northeast area.

“Once people receive the education behind the product, it is hard not to order. You see the impact on our partners and on our participants,” Thayer said. “We are not just doing charity work. The quality is first-rate and the prices are competitive.”

To many, there is relief knowing that there are opportunities like Fair Trade Uniforms available. “Justice is not an afterthought, it must be integrated,” Thayer said. “By purchasing uniforms that will empower, not disempower through sweatshops, you learn that everything you consume has a story behind it.”

The staff of HandCrafting Justice has been able to travel to some of the sites where their products are made. “I have had the privilege of being with the women in Thailand who make our T-shirts by hand,” Sister Maureen said.

In the storage rooms, there is shelving full of products that she takes out and can tell the story behind each one. While holding a blue bag from northern Thailand, she relays, “They grow the cotton that this is made from, they spin it and then they dye the thread by dipping it into all-natural dye. Then they put it on the loom.”

Many of the products are made using ancient art forms that the women have revived in their communities.

How to Help

As much as over 90% of their income comes from parish sales. The group has been to St. Saviour, Park Slope; St. Patrick, Bay Ridge; and to the Springfield Gardens cluster of Christ the King and St. Mary Magdalene.

The assistant director of HandCrafting Justice, Karen Bulthuis, said that parish sales usually start with a parishioner who has heard of the project and takes it to their pastor. From there, volunteers within the parish help set up the sale and run it.

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