New Links For Your Information!

Greetings from rainy Uganda!

An important component of Fair Trade is information dissemination. As part of our mission to promote the movement, we have added a link section to our blog (this will also be available on our website) to articles about fair trade, links to websites dealing with fair trade (certification organizations, info shops, online fair trade stores, etc.) and links to various articles and sites about Uganda itself! We will also periodically be writing feature articles about various fair trade coops, organizations and businesses to help promote those groups and the movement as a whole! So please feel free to click the links on the right hand size of the blog and learn and shop to your heart's content!

Join the Awava Campus Reps Program!!

Hey guys!!! Among the many exciting things Awava is doing, one is setting up a Campus Reps Program and looking for a Media Consultant! I know not all of you are undergrads, but you may know some who would be interested!! So.....please join Awava by informing any college students you may know who would be interested in getting involved with Awava about the opportunity described below!!!!

Thanks!!

Kate von Achen
Awava Founding Director

Awava and The Awava Foundation is a fair trade craft business accompanied by a holistic development foundation currently working in several areas of Uganda. Our website is currently under construction (www.awavamarket.com) and is expected of launch at the first of November. Here people will be able to buy our products (10 percent of Awava’s annual profits will go into the foundation) and make donations to The Awava Foundation. Our blog is available at http://awava.blogspot.com.

Awava works with Women artisans throughout Uganda in conflict and post-conflict areas, providing income generating activities (IGAs), access to a Western market, a higher wage for their products, design assistance to help ensure that products will be widely marketable in the Western market and is committed to setting up a “raise” system where every six months, if seventy-five percent of an artisan’s or artisan group’s products have sold, they will receive a one percent increase to their labor prices.

The Awava Foundation’s goal is to provide small grants (not micro-loans) to Ugandan nationals with innovative entrepreneurial ideas. We will not only be giving money. In addition to providing full grant support and monitoring, those awarded grants will also be given training in basic business skills, be exposed to various business models and in areas where appropriate, will be trained in basic computer skills (MS Word and Excel) and web skills such as email and internet research. This will allow grantees to see what is marketable in the West and allow them to connect with the Western market, hopefully finding a place for their products. Uganda is also rapidly becoming more IT savvy within the capitol city of Kampala, though those with little or no education in the villages are being left behind more and more each day. These skills will not only help producers market their items abroad, but at home as well. The establishment of a legitimate business will also provide the track record for local entrepreneurs to access larger grants from groups such as USADF.

Awava, in partnership with The Awava Foundation, are looking for undergraduate volunteers (Campus Representatives) to:

• Help identify vending opportunities on and around campus and host these events;

• Possible speaking events (brown bag series, etc.) on and around campus;

• Assist with information dissemination;

• Etc.

Awava and The Awava Foundation are also looking for two skilled undergraduate volunteers who are interested in African studies and/or Fair Trade and Media to:

• Track articles about fair trade and/or Uganda from national and international news sources for our website, reporting these to the Director on a weekly basis;

• Assist in the writing of press releases; website material and informational hand outs.

If you are interested in being a Campus Representative or Media Consultant, please answer and submit the questions below, submit your CV and have one professional letter of recommendation sent to: Kate von Achen at katevonachen@gmail.com no later than December 1, 2008.

Application Essay Questions
Awava & The Awava Foundation Campus Representative & Media Consultant Program
2008

Directions:

Please answer the questions below so that we can get a sense of who you are and how you feel about the mission of Awava and The Awava Foundation. Each response must not exceed 500 words.

Question 1: How do you think fair trade and economic development relate to peace building?

Question 2: If you could spend an afternoon with three individuals who would they be and why?

Question 3: How does this volunteer opportunity align with your academic and career goals?

Good luck and we hope to hear from you soon!