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Donate
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Gifts of financial support are what make it possible for us to provide behind-the-scenes training, product development, and small grants to our partners, extending their earning potential into the future. In a world where almost 3 billion people survive on $2 or less a day, our goal is to reduce poverty and generate income for artisans and small farmers in a number of ways.
Donate to assist flooded artisans in Haiti and India
A string of recent hurricanes has devastated the already impoverished country of Haiti. Four fierce storms in less than a month, including hurricane Gustav, have left damages throughout the island country, knocking out bridges and roads, destroying homes, and leaving over 300 victims to be mourned. Already the poorest country in the western hemisphere, the flooding has wiped out what little people had and will intensify the hunger and poverty that already existed.
Our partner in Haiti, Comite Artesanal Haitien, reported in recent updates on the impacts of the flood. All banana trees, and others are down and the little that the farmers had has gone. The next weeks are going to be very difficult. The new government will not be able to provide real assistance in this situation. We fear new riots because of hunger. The home and workshop of artisan Jean Marie Colin, who SERRV staff visited in a recent trip to Haiti, were destroyed by water and mudslides. Donations to the flood relief fund will help rebuild lost homes and workshops and assist in other emergency needs.
Learn more about flooding in Haiti.
In India, millions of people have been affected by the devastating flooding in the northern state of Bihar, one of poorest and most populated regions of India. Thousands of villages were destroyed after the Kosi River overflowed its banks and brought the worst flooding in five decades to the region. Thousands of lives have been lost and millions have lost their homes. Many remain stranded, without drinkable water or food, while overcrowded camps are trying to house those who have been displaced.
Tara Projects, one of our partners in India, is responding to this emergency by collecting resources to organize relief and rehabilitation work to support the flood victims. Together with local people and volunteers, the Tara team will implement this relief project and have asked for support to carry out humanitarian relief efforts. SERRV is responding by sending immediate funds and collecting donations to aid in the on-going relief effort.
Learn more about flooding in India.
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1Training |
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To earn a sustainable living from their products, our partners need to know more than simply how to create them. They also need to know how to market, package, export, and ship their products to customers in the U.S. That's why training is such an important element of our partnerships with artisans and farmers. One example of this is a three-day training workshop that SERRV held in Spring 2006 for eight of our partner groups in Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar. The workshop met with high praise from the 18 African attendees, who are passing along what they learned to others in their organizations. |
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2 Design |
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If you were an artisan living in a developing region who has never been outside of your home country, you would find it difficult to know what kinds of products will sell best to American customers. Product development assistance from SERRV, such as a recent trip by one of our designers to collaborate with Bolivian women on new textile designs, provides this critical information. When we help artisans adapt traditional techniques to products that align with current U.S. trends, we introduce our partners to opportunities for attracting new customers and increasing their sales. |
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3 Grants |
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Sometimes what is needed most by an artisan or farmer group is a little seed money. It might be for new looms, or the construction of a needed workshop, or sometimes the need to rebuild and replace after a major disaster. In May 2006, many of our artisans in Indonesia lost their homes, their workshops, and finished products during a major earthquake. SERRV immediately sent a grant that helped our partners first secure food and emergency shelter and later clear rubble and rebuild workshops, with the aim of helping the artisans get back to earning an income as quickly as possible. |
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Your charitable gift helps us reach more artisans and farmers with this important assistance. Please consider a contribution today!
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Donate by clicking the button to the left. Or consider including a tax-deductible contribution with your order by calling 1-800-422-5915. |
Alternatively, you can mail a donation to:
SERRV International
ATTN: Kellie Jones
PO Box 365
500 Main Street
New Windsor, MD 21776-0365
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| We truly believe that successful marketing of fairly traded goods ultimately helps producers get away from acute poverty in less developed countries such as Nepal. - Sunil Chitrakar - Mahaguthi: Crafts with a Conscience, Nepal |
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