A conversation with David Crump

We’ve appreciated the coverage that our local media has given Global Fayre and Fair Trade ever since we started at the C-Street Farmers market two years ago.

The Springfield Business Journal published an interview with David this week….

http://sbj.net/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=85012&SectionID=48&SubSectionID=108&S=1

James Radke photographs now available in Global Fayre online store

Our decision to open Global Fayre in the downtown district of Springfield was partially driven by our desire to be a part of the downtown ’scene’ perhaps best embodied by the ever-growing First Friday Art Walk. Fair Trade carries with it a strong sense of community, and for us that means the local community just as much as the communities around the world that are home to the many artisans and producers that make the beautiful items you can see in our store.

Our support of artisans in the Springfield community has until now contained itself to profiling a local artist whenever we get the chance, plus inviting local musicians to play for First Friday. Now we’ve extended that support to our online store, where we’ve just added some great work from a local photographer, James Radke. You can check out his blog here.

Here’s James bio:

Photographer James Radke has put down roots in many areas across the United States. He has lived on both sides of the Rockies in Colorado to the shores of the Carolina coast. He lived in the Ozarks during the seventies and moved towards the northern California coast in the mid eighties and finally returned the Ozarks in 2003.

James’s photographs have been exhibited from Tokyo to Mannheim and San Francisco to Daytona Beach.

James’s work should categorized as Fine-Art Reportage or photo journalism. When looking at these photographs you are looking at Springfield and the Ozarks through his eyes. The images are simply the visual memories and the personal discoveries seen through Jim’s eyes.

And here are some of his images:

Global Fayre presents: An acoustic set from the archimedian pOiNt

We already blogged about this coming First Friday Art Walk, so you will know that we are featuring an acoustic set from the archimedian pOiNt, so we thought we’d tell you a little more about the band and their debut album “genre specific”.

Here’s how Jeremy and Daren describe themselves:

“gIvE mE a PoInT oN wHiCh tO sTaNd, AnD i WiLL mOvE tHe EaRtH”

These immortal words written by Archimedes are known today as the Archimedian Point. Hoping to personify this brilliant idea through music, the point hopes to instill positivity back into the community while staying socially aware and promoting global activism.

The members of the archimedian point (Jeremy Shelton on vocals/ guitar and Daren Hudson on drums/ vocals) aim to restore amiable experience back into existence via musical journeys with the public as the prime passenger. With the blending of styles and lyrical content that does more than s-p-e-l-l itself, the point might be able to awaken the sunshine slumbering in your soul……It all depends on YOU………

The point released their debut album, ‘genre specific’ on June 6, 2009

It was reviewed by Rice B on radioindy.com:

“genre specific” is a most curious title for the debut 6-song CD by, the archimedian pOiNt, because within its rocking but accessible grooves are the kind of stylistic shifts that render such labels as metal, progressive rock, thrash, or post grunge simply inadequate. Yes, “genre specific” can boast tasteful and well-executed excursions into these more or less identifiable genres, but such exclamations are carried only in service of the song, and never as superfluous window dressing. Promoting an agenda of social consciousness and global awareness, songs like “Overdrive” & “Relic” rock with fierce – and classic hard rock (think Rush, Fugazzi, System of a Down) intensity, while the mix of acoustic guitar with sampled George W. Bush speechifyin’ in “Hubris” recalls nothing less than G’n’R-like grandeur. But in the languid lead vocal of “Nemesis Domesticus” an echo of Kurt Cobain gives way to the sonic charge of thundering guitar riffs that Led Zeppelin began perfecting four decades ago. All in all, the CD “genre specific” by, the archimedian pOiNt, is a very promising blast of rock bravado from an undersized behemoth (it’s a 2-man group) with hard rocking roots

What: An acoustic set from the archimedian pOiNt

When: July 3, 2009, around 7pm onwards

Where: Global Fayre, 324 S Campbell, Springfield, MO 65806

More info:

Global Fayre (417-873-9792) info@globalfayre.com

Jeremy Shelton (417-830-9841) jrockstyley@hotmail.com

First Friday Art Walk at Global Fayre, July 3rd 2009

Just one week to go before the First Friday Art Walk and we’re getting EXCITED!

Why?

We’ve blogged a couple of times already about Ben Makhanya; you can read the lastest one here. His baskets arrived earlier in the week, and it has been so TOUGH resisting the temptation to put them straight out display. We’ll probably weaken by the early part of next week.

We’re also delighted to have live music again. Our guests this time around are Jeremy Shelton and Daren Hudson who together form the archimedian pOiNt. They recently released their debut album “genre specific”, and will be playing an accoustic set for us on the 3rd. You can read more at their website or on MySpace. We;ll post more about the point later.

On top of that, we’re just happy to be back! We were on a family vacation last month, and missed First Friday for the first time since opening Global Fayre in December 2007. As it happened, we were in Flagstaff and got to experience First Friday Art Walk – Arizona style!

See you on the 3rd!

Hand-made Fair Trade cards from Bhaktapur in Nepal

We just got a beautiful new range of cards from our friends at Ganesh Himal Trading. Ganesh is a fellow member of the Fair Trade Federation and a founder member of the Fair Trade Resource Network.

Hand made cards from Bhaktapur

Hand-made Bhaktapur cards are made of Daphne Bark from managed forests in the hills of Nepal. Proceeds from the sales are used for community development activities under a program initiated by UNICEF/Nepal. The card are blank inside and measure 4.5 x 6 inches.

We plan to stock the cards in our downtown Springfield store and also in our online store.

The cards are made by a group called Bhaktapur Crafts, and proceeds from the cards are used to fund community development projects under a program developed by UNICEF/Nepal. We tried to find out more from the UNICEF website; a search on Bhaktapur brought up three (large) pdf’s – so if you’d like to read them just click here.

In terms of Nepal generally, here’s some more information from the UNICEF website:

Nepal is going through a sensitive and fluid political situation. The decade-long Maoist insurgency has taken a toll of about 13,000 lives. The conflict has hampered the delivery of basic services, restricted development assistance and caused a breakdown of family and community networks. Its heaviest impacts fall on women and children.

Issues facing children in Nepal

• More than 50,000 children die in Nepal each year, with malnutrition as the underlying cause for more than 60 per cent of these deaths.
• Half of the children in Nepal are underweight and three-fourths of the pregnant women are anaemic.
• The detection of a few cases of wild polio virus in 2005, following five years without any case, indicates the challenge for cross-border transmission along the border with India.
• Fifteen per cent of Nepal’s wells are contaminated by arsenic. Despite Nepal’s high overall coverage of accessibility to drinking water, access to improved water for deprived, disadvantaged communities and conflict-affected rural and fringe urban areas remains low.
• Two-thirds of Nepalis are still without access to toilets.
• Maternal mortality rates are high due to weak health systems with limited access to emergency obstetric care, skilled attendance and the overall poor status of women. Neonatal mortality rates are also unacceptably high due in part to lack of community awareness on appropriate care of the newborn.
• The conflict has had a significant impact on education. Forced closures of schools due to strikes have cut the school year in half in some areas. Teachers have been threatened, assaulted and even killed. Thousands of students have been taken from school for political indoctrination, and some have been recruited into the Maoist forces or militia.

Activities and results for children

• The Decentralized Action for Children and Women (DACAW) programme has proven effective through its strategy of strengthening community action. To guide the expansion of DACAW efforts, UNICEF has helped to conduct a mapping of disadvantaged groups covering 300,000 households in 237 villages and 8 municipalities.
• Nearly 60,000 boys and girls, 20 per cent from disadvantaged groups, are active in some 3,000 child clubs supported by UNICEF.
• A national measles campaign has immunized nearly 10 million children.
• In 2005, the World Health Organization validated the elimination of neo-natal tetanus from Nepal.
• A programme to de-worm children and provide vitamin A supplements is significantly reducing anaemia and malnutrition rates. The vitamin A effort is saving over 12,000 children’s lives and preventing another 2,000 from going blind every year.
• The ‘Welcome to School’ campaign initiated by UNICEF has greatly increased enrolment and literacy rates for girls and disadvantaged children, and has raised overall birth registration rates.
• UNICEF has helped to establish over 300 community-based paralegal committees to respond to issues like domestic violence.
• More than 1000 school-based child clubs are promoting sanitation and hygiene programmes in their communities.
• In 2005, UNICEF initiated with its partners a mechanism to monitor and report child rights violations in the context of armed conflict.

Fair Trade the White House

We’re really pleased to lend our support to a new campaign aimed at bringing Fair Trade to the White House.

Here’s what it is all about:

“Fair Trade the White House,” a grass-roots, nonpartisan coalition of fair trade organizations, vendors, retailers, schools, and individuals, are cordially inviting the First Lady to join the fair trade movement and declare the White House a “Fair Trade Home.” By declaring the White House a “Fair Trade Home,” Mrs. Obama can encourage households throughout America to continue refining their buying habits toward ethical consumption so that poverty, both in America and around the world, is reduced.

Think it’s a good idea? (of course you do!) – then check it out, sign up and start making a difference!

As an added bonus, you will find offers from Global Fayre and other supporters of the campaign. How cool is that?!

More pictures of Ben Makhanya

We ‘ve already blogged a couplf of times about Ben (can you tell we’re excited about showing his work next month?)

So Cael, from Baskets of Africa, who has enabled us to plan this exhibit, has just found some more pictures of Ben.

We thought we would share them with you.

Global Fayre to feature the work of Ben Makhanya, master weaver of Zulu wire baskets

We’re thrilled to be hosting an exhibition of Ben’s work from July 3 to 31st, 2009 at Global Fayre in downtown Springfield, MO. THe exhibition has been made possible with the help of our friend Cael, at Baskets of Africa. ( a fellow member of the Fair Trade Federation)

Ben Makhanya, master weaver of Zulu wire baskets

Ben started weaving at the age of 28, in 2002. His previous job was as a bricklayer and he often had to leave his family for long periods of time to go to work on construction projects. He started weaving to earn an income and found that he thoroughly enjoyed it, experimenting with new designs, stitches and color combinations; he creates fascinating works of art.

His designs and colors are inspired from patterns he sees in things around him … it could be something as simple as a newspaper ad or a piece of clothing that gives him an idea.

Ben works very differently to the other weavers; rather than working to a prescribed pattern and shape, he is encouraged to create designs of his choosing, with his preferred size of bowl being 16 inches in diameter.

The exhibition will open during the First Friday Art Walk on July 3rd, from 6pm to 10pm.

Here are some of Ben’s beautiful creations:

Fair Trade Fayre at Christ Episcopal Church

We blogged about this event a few months ago; it was intended to be held on the Sunday of Art Fest.

However, the weather was LOUSY, so the Fair Trade Fayre was post phoned.

So, we’re going to try again tomorrow morning, Sunday June 14th, from 8am onwards (till around 12 noon).

We host the Fayre jointly with Karen from Anna Sophia’s, and this is the third one that we have held, so we’re excited to be back.

10% of all sales go to the Church Outreach Fund, admission is free, and there will be some delicious Fair Trade coffee to be sampled!

Fair Trade Ostrich Egg jewelry from the San Bushmen Women of the Kalahari

We just got our first shipment of Ostrich Egg jewelry, made by the San Bushmen Women of the Kalahari.

Ostrich eggshell beads are considered the first beads humans ever made, dating back over 50,000 years, with the San Bushmen women being the last people to make these beads as part of their tradition.

How the ostrich eggshell beads are made:

Photo courtesy of Women's Work and Kuru Family of Organizations

1.) The first step is to break the ostrich eggshells into chips.

2.) Then each chip is made round by a springbok horn or nail clippers-whichever is readily available.

3.) Next, a hole is started in each chip with a hand-drill then punched through with a small awl.
4.) Next the drilled chips are strung and laid across a wooden board. 5.) Using a whetstone, the chips are hand polished. The strings are wet, rubbed, then, wet some more. Through this tedious and strenuous task the rough chips are transformed into lovely luminous beads.

We sourced this beautiful jewelry from Celicia at Women’s Work, a fellow member of the Fair Trade Federation. Like many other products that we have managed to find over the past two years, this jewelry is great example of finding a market for a local tradition, using local (and sustainable) materials and giving a real sense of empowerment to the people of the region.

The purchase of these beads helps to preserve the San culture, bringing much-needed income to women deep in the heart of the Kalahari in Botswana.

We’ll be retailing these ‘pearls of the Kalahari’ at Global Fayre in downtown Springfield, and they will also be available shortly through our online store.