See It: The Community being helped
Fairloom is developing a women’s fair-trade handicraft group in the community of Terra Prometida, Brazil and selling their goods internationally. We are enabling artisans to restructure their own communities to be sustainable, helping them develop and support community education programs, promote reinvestment in their children’s education, while in the process preserving endangered cultural arts. Fairloom also provides children across the globe with access to various world and generational cultures through a program of communication. We are forming a community of artisans that support each other in day-to-day difficulties and celebrate the day-to-day joys. We focus on every individual involved in our programs—and keep the organization small enough so that every board member, director, artisan, and child can feel connected to each other. An essential piece of our mission is to help the spirit of Terra Prometida penetrate the borders of their neighborhood so that it may reach the international community. Annie Doran, Founder and Director of Fairloom lived with the community of Terra Prometida as an exchange student in 2002. She returned to the community a year after graduating from college and in cooperation with a small group of women, founded Fairloom.
Believe it: Describe your project/org
Build it: Steps taken to create the project/org and the kind of impact made
Vital Stats
| Started On: | November, 2004 | Ended On: | on going |
| People Involved: | app. 60 (volunteers included) | People Impacted: | 40 |
| Money Raised: | 63,309. | | |
Do Something! Get Involved
Related Cause: The Arts
Project Updates:
The artisans created several cell phone case designs and 2 different bikinis! The cell phones are ready to be produced and sold, and the bikinis need slight work for functionality. The bikinis will most likely be ready for production in the spring. They are beautiful and unique! We will see the financial returns from the cell phone designs after the holiday shopping season. The artisans worked together with 2 interns from Brown University and New York University on product development with the U.S. market and cost variable in mind. This was a great learning experience for all involved. The women are now ready to embark on other ideas and to work with young design interns from the United States to learn together. Two women are also preparing to take a 4 week intensive fashion design course in Brazil in January and will arrive with skills and knowledge they have been learning while designing on their own. Thank you for the means to make this happen!
be a fan on Facebook
friend us on MySpace
watch us
