Alas, another year has passed and we are thrilled with the growth and achievements of Women’s Peace Collection.   A look at our website will quickly glean that we have increased our collection multi-fold.   One of our objectives for the past year has been to focus on sourcing fair trade products with a specific cause attached to them. While everything we sell is fair trade and thus helping marginalized women and families across the globe, we have in our hearts a deep need to help certain groups.

The first area we expanded is our Freedom Collection, which consists of jewelry made by survivors of human trafficking and those at risk of being trafficked. We were fortunate to discover new NGO’s working with women in India and China who are teaching them to create stunning, affordable jewelry.   The new groups, Isanctuary and Starfish Project, rescue the women and then offer them safe shelter and counseling, and teach them a trade to reduce the chances of them being trafficked again. These are highly successful programs and happen to be our best selling collection of jewelry!

Another new favorite is our From War to Prosperity Collection, which consists of jewelry made from melted down artillery shells in Ethiopia. The farmers find the bullet casings scattered across the fields from former wars and a large fair trade cooperative consisting of HIV positive women handcraft the jewelry.   The designs are unique and gorgeous and the cause fits perfectly with WPC’s mission to help eliminate poverty and create peace in the world. 

We also expanded our Hear My Voice Collection of jewelry, handmade by deaf women in Kenya. Deaf women have an 85% unemployment rate in Kenya and are shunned in their communities, thus severely limiting opportunities.   Our collection of wrap bracelets and stunning brass jewelry have been great sellers and we look forward to expanding the line in 2017.

I’d like to offer a huge thank you to all of our loyal customers – both online and at festivals – for your ongoing support of our mission and artisan partners. Here’s to an even better fair trade 2017 for all!