Each year, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) – our parent organization – sends school kits to students and teachers in developing countries.

Not only do refugees and displaced people appreciate these practical gifts, but those who have experienced natural disasters also receive them with joy.

Sharing what we have is a way of showing that we are aware of the suffering of others and want to respond. In 2007, MCC distributed 131,192 school kits to places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, North Korea and Serbia.


School Kit Contents (new items only, please)
• 4 spiral or perforated notebooks (about 21.5cm x 27cm / 8.5” x 10.5” and 70-80 sheets/140-160 pages - more info)
• 4 unsharpened pencils
• 1 ruler (flat, flexible plastic; indicating both 30cm and 12”)
• 12 coloured pencils (in packaging)
• 1 large pencil eraser

School kits are distributed in a useful double drawstring cloth bag, which you may sew yourself or pick up at your local Ten Thousand Villages store. You may also simply donate the contents and have us fill a bag for you.Completed school kits can be dropped off at any Ten Thousand Villages location or at one of MCC’s drop-off locations.For more information, please visit MCC’s website.

Canadian Network for International Surgery

The CNIS is a nationwide non-profit organization that promotes surgical care through surgical and obstetrical skills training.

They are committed to the control of the injury pandemic that is responsible for the death of more than 5 million people every year.

Partnering with CNIS to support our neighbours in Africa, Ten Thousand Villages' West Broadway store will be at the African Market on:

Saturday August 29 Noon - 6 pm 1985 West Broadway (off Maple)

Try African Face-Painting or
Zambian Wall Murals
Learn to say hello in Swahili or string beads
Enjoy African fashion and art
Play drums, watch, shop, dance or sit and enjoy

Free Admission
Canadian Network for International Surgery
Info: 604-739-4708
www.cnis.ca

There are 70 million primary-school-aged children who are too poor to afford an education. What would it be like to experience life from this vantage point? Ever wonder what it must feel like to be so disadvantaged?

In partnership with the Amarok Society (Canadian Compassion in Action Abroad) Ten Thousand Villages' West Broadway location presents a unique opportunity to meet author G.E.M. Munro on Friday September 4th.

Book signing will be from 6:30 to 7:30 and the reading / discussion will be from 7:30 to around 8:00.

Take a rare journey into the real slums of South East Asia in a book of short stories written in the words of the the the active poor.

The Backbone of Production

In many cultures around the world women continue to be thought of as unproductive members of society. Their contributions are undervalued because it is assumed the tasks they perform require no effort beyond their biological aptitudes. The roles women adopt are largely subordinated and gender ascribed in accordance with oppressive patriarchal conventions.

In most underdeveloped countries women are treated as second-class citizens. Whereas on the one hand men are considered to be the breadwinners and representatives of the family, on the other hand, women are merely considered to be dependents. It is presumed that men need to work to support families while women’s salaries function as supplements to the household’s income. The long hours and tedious tasks comprising the bulk of women’s work are all chores that women learn from one another within the domestic sphere. Since the general public is not aware of the level of training required in learning gendered duties, it is assumed that these acquired abilities are innate characteristics of femininity.

As the fundamental goal within the capitalistic system is to attain the advantage over competition, the determining factor invariably lies within the cost of production. By manipulating economies on a global scale, investors are able to exploit resources over several markets within interconnected webs of networks. Epoch technological changes in transportation and communications have combined to effectively shrink distances and conceptions of time. The constructed subordination of women has effectively created an ‘ace card’ for transnationals. As cheap, nimble and disposable, the work that women do allows global corporations to benefit in terms of price, quality and control.

Third world countries form a sort of fantasyland for investors, as the prevailing invisibility of women’s work has contributed to the justifications of comparatively low-cost systems of production. Manufacturers continue to pay women workers less than the cost of living knowing that female labourers are regarded as unskilled an there is no obligation to pay workers full wages.

Female labourers are stereotyped as nimble-fingered which suggests that their knack for working with fine equipment is an inherent part of their biological make-up. Socialization within traditional cultures undervalues the work that women do by constructing it to be effortless. The task that women perform in domestic spheres require dexterity, discipline, and patience. Although such proficiencies remain unrecognized by employers and society,

these attributes are easily transferred to industrial settings where the majority of women’s work on assembly lines is comparably demanding. The capacity for making spatial assessments and the capability to endure ceaseless and monotonous work inevitably combine to create a subservient workforce for industrial forces.

Women form a ‘reserve army’ of labour for capitalists who are able to hire and fire at their discretion Confirmation of women’s dispensability is based upon the idea that they need to leave work for childbirth, which has been used as a pretext for assigning temporary employee status. Similarly, the instability of a female workforce leaves employers with flexibility, which affords them the ability to layoff staff when demands are slow, while still guaranteeing that there will be a workforce available when new orders are received.

To rejuvenate an aging workforce women are encourage to quit when they get beyond their prime. At other times, false claims are made requiring the dismissal of employees who are not able to maintain production quotas because of deteriorating performance. Inability to keep up with assembly production is quite often a consequence of employment conditions.

There are several documented cases where managers have been caught gradually adjusting the speed of conveyor lines so that the incremental changes would not be detected. Women work ten to twelve hours days with few breaks to go to the washroom. Consequently there is a tendency for women to develop bladder problems form not being able to use the washroom often enough. Moreover women suffer from headaches and eye complaints from being trapped breathing toxic chemicals from plastics and dusty air.

From the 1950’s, women in developing countries have experienced a major social revolution. Many have gained their new sense of autonomy at an extremely high price. Although they have been able to gain employment, it has most often been under appalling conditions. Despite the argument that women’s roles have been transformed form representing a burden on families to representing an asset, earnings they receive do not award them greater status within their communities.

Increasingly women workers in developing countries have become conscious of the glaring gap between their real experiences and notions promised by ideas like the ‘trickle-down’ effect. Especially disturbing for these women are claims of economic progress during periods such as East Asia’s ‘golden age of growth’, largely unattainable within their daily experiences.

The major dilemma facing the international community is how to help women in the context of export-oriented industries. The difficulty lies in the side-effects of action. For if people boycott materials produced in emerging nations in the hopes of having a positive affect on women’s lives, it is likely workers would be relegated to even worse working conditions the informal sector. The only viable solution is for people to continue to instruct themselves about the truth behind mechanisms of global pricing systems. By being vigilantly aware of the truth of ridiculously cheap mass products, consumers become able to demand responsibly made commodities. Citizens demanding fairly traded products reinforce an equitable global economy by reclaiming conscious control of their spending power.

You're Invited to a Community Picnic!!!

Green Drinks' Picnic

Tuesday, July 28th 6 PM - 9 PM

Jericho Park

Eastern pond picnic area

ABOUT GREEN DRINKS INTERNATIONAL

Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.

At such events, invariably there is a lively mixture of people from non-government organizations (NGOs), academia, government and businesses. Come along and you'll be made welcome. Just say "Are you green?" and they will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It's a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there's always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network.

These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals, and had moments of serendipity. It's a force for the good and it would be great to help it spread to other cities. Contact your local node to get the latest info about coming along.

Green Drinks website

ABOUT THE PICNIC

This is a BYOE (Bring Your Own Everything) event. There will be no cooking or washing facilities at the site, so please plan for a basic cold food picnic. The theme of this mission, should you choose to accept it, is local and sustainable food, so bring something appropriate if you can; enough to share if you're willing... and, hey, there might be a contest. Details forthcoming.

Basics to bring:

• Yourself and any interested friends or family.

• Your own food, drink, and necessary dining implements: plates, cutlery, etc.

• Willingness to pick up all of your refuse when you leave.Other items they'd love someone to bring:• Games or sports equipment (volleyball & net, badminton, bocce, etc).

• A BBQ that you are willing to share – please get in touch with Green Drinks if you can bring this for sure.• Non-amplified musical instruments and your singing voice.What not to bring:• Glass drink containers.

• Alcohol – parks officers don't want to see that.

• Amplified music or public address systems.• Advertising.

• Electricity.

• Structures, fences, poles, tents, stages, etc.

These are Vancouver Parks restrictions so please see their website for further details.How to get to the Green Drinks picnic site:They'll be in the same place as previous years, which is not far from where the back of the main stage at the Folk Festival will have been the week before. See the Vancouver Parks website for details & map of "Jericho Pond".Here are the transit options:

• Bus 4 – get off 1 or 2 stops west of Alma along 4th Ave.

• Buses 7, 44, or 84 – get off at Alma & 4th and walk a few minutes westward.

• Buses 9, 17 or 99 B-line – get off at Alma & Broadway and walk north to 4th and then west to Jericho.

Potluck Dinner at Kits Community House

July 8th, 2009 6:00-8:00pm - ALL AGES - EVERYONE WELCOME

Bring a vegetarian dish to share, enjoy a casual atmosphere & get to know your neighbours!

July Potluck Topic:

What is FAIR TRADE?

Learn more about people from around the world & the difference you make as a responsible consumer.

Presentation & discussion with staff and volunteers from Fair Trade Gift Store "Ten Thousand Villages".

BIG BANG!

BIG BANG!!
CIRCLING THE EARTH WITH DRUMMING ON WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY 09 MAY 09

Fair Trade Day this year was a great success!
http://www.worldfairtradeday09.org/