A spokesman for the Ten Thousand Villages event in Yarmouth says they were pleased with the support for this year’s event, even though sales were “down a little.”
This was the 17th year for the Yarmouth sale, which again was held at Beacon United Church.
“We had a great turnout despite the weather conditions and we were also competing with Black Friday sales for the first time ever,” said Tony Dorrian, one of the organizers of the Yarmouth event, which took place Nov. 29-30.
“We had a lot of new inventory this year, so it made it interesting for our loyal customers. We also had a big bump in social media traffic. Our followers are very good at promoting and sharing our posts about the fair trade sale.”
The local organizing committee will meet in the new year to discuss whether to have a spring show.
A spring version of Ten Thousand Villages was held in Yarmouth this year for the first time. Previously, Ten Thousand Villages had been held locally just once a year in the fall.
Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. The initiative creates opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn an income by bringing their products and stories to markets in North America.
This income helps pay for food, education, health care and housing.
As for the Yarmouth event, Dorrian said it couldn’t happen without the efforts of dedicated volunteers. This year they also had students helping out from the International Student Program.
The roots of Ten Thousand Villages go back to 1946, when Edna Ruth Byler, a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) worker, was in Puerto Rico, visiting volunteers who were teaching sewing classes in an effort to help improve the lives of women living in poverty. Once she was back home, Byler filled her car with their embroidery and hit the road, selling their work at churches, parties and sewing circles. The concept of fair trade – and Ten Thousand Villages – was born.
MCC Canada continues the tradition in this country, “providing vital, fair income by selling the handicrafts and telling the stories of the people who made them,” the organization says.
