WEAVE Opens Fair Trade Shop in Mae Sot
WEAVE received a steady stream of visitors who joined to celebrate the Grand Opening of its new Fair Trade Shop in Mae Sot (Tak Province), on the evening of 19th February 2009. Guests were lucky enough to share the occasion with some of the women who work with WEAVE as part of its Income Generation Project, who were presented with Certificates of Appreciation for their involvement over many years. Proceedings also included presentations by WEAVE and TTC staff, a ceremonial ribbon cutting, a chance to explore the new shop and a feast of Thai and Burmese food.
WEAVE Opens Fair Trade Shop in Mae Sot
WEAVE received a steady stream of visitors who joined to celebrate the Grand Opening of its new Fair Trade Shop in Mae Sot (Tak Province), on the evening of 19th February 2009. Guests were lucky enough to share the occasion with some of the women who work with WEAVE as part of its Income Generation Project, who were presented with Certificates of Appreciation for their involvement over many years. Proceedings also included presentations by WEAVE and TTC staff, a ceremonial ribbon cutting, a chance to explore the new shop and a feast of Thai and Burmese food.
Photos of the opening can be seen here.
A team of WEAVE staff worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get the new shop ready for the opening, following a move from the old WEAVE shop in Mae Sot at the end of 2008.
Guest and ZOA staff member Penny had this to say about the occasion:
“I was really impressed with the stock and pricing at the shop last night…What I have always been keen to see though is the ‘good’ pricing policy which mirrors your Fair Trade status. I am afraid I try and buy as much as I can from source, as I hate the fact that the producer generally gets such a small percentage of the final price. And, as I know the prices of the ZOA baskets in the camp, I can be confident that WEAVE are in fact sticking to their policy – this is great! So well done, for a lovely evening and event.”
The launch of the new shop marks the start of a new chapter in a partnership between WEAVE and Thai Tribal Crafts (TTC). The WEAVE / TTC partnership, which was envisioned more than two years ago, works towards the common vision of providing development opportunities for women in Thailand and along the Thai-Burma borders.
The new shop is Fair Trade, which means a commitment to:
Fair wages in the local context
Environmental sustainability
Respecting cultural identity
Building direct and long-term relationships
Providing financial and technical assistance
Educating consumers about Fair Trade
Public accountability and transparency
A big thank you to everyone who came along and helped WEAVE celebrate this important and exciting occasion.
Camp 1 Family Day
A WEAVE funded Family Day Celebration was held in Camp 1, 19th December 2008, with WEAVE representatives, members from the Karenni Women’s Organization (KnWO) and Karenni Education Department (KnED), the parent/school committee, nursery school staff, parents and students all in attendance.
The purpose of the day was to celebrate Christmas and the coming end of the year, but more importantly it was a chance to bring the school community together. Maintaining a strong sense of community is something WEAVE and KnWO value greatly, and celebrations such as the Family Day are excellent opportunities to do this.
The event began in the morning, with a welcoming speech from the KnWO coordinator Mu May Htoo. WEAVE representative Maw Say Meh, KnED’s Deputy Director Khu Law Reh, KnWO central representative Maw Beh Meh and Khun Che Reh of the parents/school committee all made presentations to attendees. In between the speeches nursery school students from each school gave a performance, surely making their family members proud. After the formalities lunch was served and everyone had a chance to mingle.
A big thank-you must go to KnWO nursery school staff who did a fantastic job of organising such a fun and successful event.
WEAVE Attends Run for Relief
WEAVE was lucky enough to be invited to hold a stall at the 2009 Run for Relief, held in Chiang Mai, 7th March. The event, organised by Christians Concerned for Burma, was a great success with young and old taking part in the 5km run. Special mention must go to those who managed to complete the run wearing only flip flops.
The annual event is designed to raise awareness of the plight of people in Burma and raise funds for the purchase of medicine, food, equipment, and educational materials supplied to relief teams who provide assistance to those who have been forced to flee their homes.
WEAVE had a great time at the event, meeting and talking with many people involved with like minded organisations, and best of all, selling some of our great products!
Volunteer Spotlight: Murray and Sylvia Kronick
The WEAVE team has recently been lucky enough to have the assistance of husband and wife team from the USA Murray and Sylvia Kronick, who donated their time and energy to work on marketing and retail projects for 2 months with WEAVE’s Income Generation team in Mae Sot.
From Westport Connecticut, Sylvia and Murray are both retired, but are by no means short of energy. Parents of three and both successful business people in their own rights, they have long shared an interest in travel and have been engaged in ‘giving back’ through volunteerism for 10 years. Their volunteer service has seen them work in Indonesia, Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and now Thailand. Their educational and life experience skills provide them with a spectrum of transferable skills, which enable them to serve in numerous ways.
Murray and Sylvia have been working alongside WEAVE staff in Mae Sot to provide support and training in customer service, retail management, marketing and project management. They also conducted English language lessons for staff to enhance the efficacy of communications, and assisted WEAVE administrative staff with annual plans and correspondence.
Murray and Sylvia stated that, like most volunteers, they approached their assignment with some trepidation, but leave with strong feelings of having contributed to a team effort, for a cause they admire. They heartily endorse volunteers taking a WEAVE assignment, and offer their opinion that the volunteer will likely “leave with more than they put in”. Murray and Sylvia can be contacted at [email protected].
Volunteer with WEAVE
Fancy a change? WEAVE is always on the lookout for people who are interested and able to provide their time and skills as part of the WEAVE team. Some of the volunteer positions WEAVE is currently offering include:
Designer, Income Generation Project
Mae Sot, Tak Province
Are you a designer or keen sewer, with pattern making and/or textile product design skills? Working directly with the production staff for WEAVE’s income generation project, this role is responsible for helping to design a new range of WEAVE handicrafts, and training local women in product design, colour matching and construction.
Duration: 2 months
Shop Management Support Officer
Income Generation Project, Mae Sot, Tak Province
Do you have retail and/or shop management experience? This role will work directly with WEAVE sales staff to build capacity in all areas of shop management including sales, inventory control and merchandising.
Duration: 2 months
English Language Teacher / Editor
Income Generation Project, Mae Sot, Tak Province
Are you an English language teacher, or do you have a flair for the English language? This role will work to provide WEAVE staff with basic conversational English language training for some and editing of project documents and communications for others.
Duration: 2 – 6 months.
For a full list of positions available, please visit our website.