Handbags of Hope from the Philippines
July 10, 2009
At one point the Philippines had the dubious honor of having the world’s largest garbage dump, known as Manila’s Smokey Mountain. People with no other choice in life found themselves scavenging for recyclable bottles from the dump to make ends meet. As Smokey Mountain became an infamous symbol of Asian poverty, the President of the Philippines provided seed funding for microfinance loans to over 2,000 women in two years. The local Catholic parish overseeing the loans created a cooperative to produce beautiful hand-crafted goods. What they produce are more than just handbags. They are unique, earth-loving pieces of artwork. And they represent hope for women building better lives for their families.
We just ordered a new shipment of these beautiful bags; they are available now in our downtown store and online as well.
Entry Filed under: New products, Online Store. Tags: artwork, asian, catholic, downtown Springfield, fair trade, manila, microfinance, MO, philippines, president, sgf, smokey mountain, Springfield.
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Cebu Philippines Expat | July 11, 2009 at 4:57 am
There really are simple solutions to to our human problems that we have created. All life is a cycle, in the Philippines recycle, and reuse needs to be re-enforced over and over again. The cycle of poverty can be broken.