Feb
13
By Jack Krayenhoff
Global Village, on Market Square and connecting with Pandora Avenue, is a great place to shop for someone who has it all. It's difficult to go wrong, for every item is either interesting or beautiful, and usually both. If you compare it with the souvenirs on sale in the tourist shops on Government Street, where so many of the offerings are tawdry and cheap-looking, and often mass-produced in China, you see right away that in Global Village things are made individually, with skill and artistry. There's no junk.
And another thing: when you shop there, you involve yourself with fair trade. 'Fair Trade' - what exactly does that mean? We went to see the manager, Suzann Albion, to find out. "I love fair trade," she says. "Look at these things here. They talk about the people who make them: their customs, their country. Fair trade gives them back their pride and their hope, which has been stolen away from them by the modern trend to mass production for overseas firms. The people now work for outfits like Nike, for long hours and often under unhealthy conditions. It takes them away from who they are. But Fair Trade enables them to work in their communities and at home, and enables them to make a decent living for their families."
Another thing she likes about fair trade, as it is laid down by the International Federation of Alternative Trade or IFAT, is that it is initiated by the people in their own country. "No paternalism here, we respect their pride. It's not us from the wealthy countries coming in with our money and our ideas, but a true partnership. The price we pay them is decided through negotiation with their local organizations, who then distribute the money to the workers."
What if the store makes profits?
"That does not happen very often, but when it does, we are then able to help with extra projects; for instance two motor cycles for an organization in South America that enabled them to get in touch with remote villages and so include the products of women working at home there."
And how do you make sure the local organizations are reputable and accountable?
"They have to be approved by IFAT, which checks them out and keeps an eye on their books and practices."
Now about the Global Village store itself. To clarify first: it stands by itself. It is not connected with the 10,000 Villages stores, of which there are several in Victoria, and in fact, all over the world. These are connected with the Mennonites. Global Village is not religiously based.
Most of the work is done by over 40 volunteers, who are coordinated by a paid part-time worker - Suzann Albion. One of the volunteers, Mavis De Girolamo, who also is a Board member, says, "We pay her part-time, but in fact she works a lot of the time as a volunteer with all her responsibilities, bringing in the goods, keeping the books and other administrative work."
The products come from many countries in South-East Asia, Latin America from Mexico to Argentina, and Africa. Albion enjoys telling customers about the background of what they buy, introducing them as it were to the people who made it. It's part of her mission. "I believe we are all citizens of the same world and that we are all responsible for people everywhere," she says. "Buying through Fair Trade is one way of acting on that."
A final word? "There is a myth that fair trade means that things cost more, but that is not necessarily true, because here we are practically entirely volunteer-run, with a low overhead. It's fair trade at a fair price."