Fair-trade FTW!: A Bloggers Thoughts on Ayindisa

The following is a blog post written by an individual on LiveJournal who came across Ayindisa, llc a few weeks ago. Ayindisa truly appreciates what they said about us and I believe it's an informative and great post which I want to share to all our readers as well. Enjoy!

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I have to take up a bit of space on everyone's f-lists to mention a truly fab fair-trade organization: Ayindisa.

Ayindisa works out of Africa--specifically Ghana--to support local artisans by selling their products overseas. Many of these artisans are men and women who are stuck in poverty situations but have the potential, through their trades, to become sustainable members of a society that otherwise has no immediate economic interest in giving them loans as individual craftspeople. By shopping with any fair trade organization you are helping to promote standards for international labor, environmentalism and social policy in areas related to the production of these sort of goods. The profits that come from fair-trade sales are going right back to the artisans, who can use the revenue to put food on the table and to send their children to school. Hard to think of that sort of income as "profit," really, when it's going towards such basic, human necessities, isn't it?

This is just one of the ways that we can help stem the tide of the dangerous trickle-down effect and return power to the people rather than assuming that, by putting money into big corporations, those lower down on the social spectrum will inevitably benefit. Sure, the latter results in good revenue for those of us lucky enough to be in the middle and upper-class rungs of society, but they cannot be looked to as long-term solutions to poverty and the results of lives lived therein.

All that to say, with the Christmas season coming up, you might consider doing some of your shopping at http://www.ayindisa.com or other fair trade organization like Ten Thousand Villages (http://www.tenthousandvillages.com). I would encourage you to pop on over to http://www.fairtradefederation.org/, where you can search for sellers of fair-trade products in any category, from food to clothing, home decor, stationary, jewelry and personal products. If you have connections to a certain country, you can search by location, as well!


**Oh, and a note to those of you who take a look at the Ayindisa website: the symbol in the top left-hand corner, their logo? Yeah, that's a Ghanaian adinkra meaning "except God." Except as in "no other gods except God," rather than a command to "accept God." Just thought I'd share!

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Feel free to write a review and display your thoughts about Ayindisa. We would love to post it on our blog and even possibly display your thoughts in our store!

Untill next time,


Kyle W. Gay
Director of Marketing, Ayindisa, llc
Socially Responsible Artisan Handcrafts
42 Lake Ave, Ext. Suite 285.
Danbury CT, 06811
e: KyleG@ayindisa.com
w: http://www.ayindisa.com/

Ayindisa Boutique Opening!

Hello everyone

There is a lot happening with Ayindisa, LLC right now and plenty that has already taken place. First, I would like to share some thoughts in regards to the wonderful Ghana Peace Train fundraiser concert that took place last September 19th, 2008 at the Enchanted Garden Music Conservatory in Ridgefield, Connecticut. We had a full house and I want to thank everyone that came out to see Shasha Marley and dance to the awesome reggae music. Isaac Hirt-Manheimer and I only had two crazy months to quickly organize this International event and we were very happy with how everything turned out. Everyone should be happy to know that they helped raise more than $5,000 in just one night. Also with the help and support from CT Folklife Project, a local non-profit this money is now being used for peace, unity and development in Ghana, specifically to help pay for all the peace and unity concerts that are taking place right now in every single region or province of this diverse country. I want to thank my good friend Shasha Marley and Nannaya for all their hard work and time. My prayers are with them and all the other talented and amazing African musicians and supporters of these peace concerts. It is a great thing to be able to use art and music to spread the message of peace and unity between all the various religious, political and tribal elements or groups within Ghana as Ghanaians prepare to vote for a new President in a very heated and close race. Now onto other exciting news.

I am proud to announce the opening of the very first Ayindisa boutique, which will be located at 18 Prospect Street in Ridgefield, CT. Even as I type this right now we are getting closer to opening our doors. I do not want to give too much away but this will definitely be a unique place to shop, visit or be a part of. The boutique is scheduled to open sometime in the first week of December, hopefully the 10th? Please keep visiting the blog or news and events section of our website and look for the most up to date information. I am so excited about this and the Ayindisa family is working very hard so we will be open before Christmas.

Our unique boutique is going to have quality hand made artisan handcrafts, new home décor items, all natural beauty products, beaded jewelry, musical instruments and much more. So if you like our website products and artisans then you will love what will be available for purchase in our new retail showroom and space. Please come check us out and remember to tell all of your friends they are also invited to join us at Ayindisa, Responsible Artisan Handcrafts as we get ready to bring a little bit of Africa to Connecticut.

Sincerely,

Chris Gay

Ayindisa, LLC - President / Founder
e: chris@ayindisa.com
w: http://www.ayindisa.com/