Oyanca Artesanias

• is based in Managua, Nicaragua, works with artisans in both rural and urban areas of Nicaragua, with 50 percent of the artisans being women
• conducts training programs for artisans, focused on marketing assistance, technical skills, infrastructure and production efficiency
• produce ceramics, turned wood items, cotton hammocks, pine needle baskets, recycled paper items and soapstone carved figures

*Every month on the blog we try to feature one of our artisan partners. However, you can also check out more detailed artisan partner stories by clicking on the Artisan Spotlight to the right under "Our Favorite Links".

Thank You to April Volunteers!

Tingki or thank you as they may say in Nicaragua to our April volunteers!!!
Collectively you volunteered a total of 184.3 hours!

• Amanda Snead
• Andrew Kirk
• Anh Pham
• Ben Eichler
• Boyd Chambliss
• Callie Angle
• Camille Davidson
• Dana Baldwin
• Dixie Woodard
• Dylan Kolhoff
• Efrain Serrano
• Eve Capehart
• Gary Flake
• Hazel Bowman
• Jay Rohrer
• Jean Donaldson
• Jennifer Jones
• Katie Keane
• Katrina Spinner-Wilson
• Kelsea Pieters
• Marcello Balboa
• Margaret Hendrick
• Marissa Marklevvitz
• Mary Deignan
• Morgan Tierney
• Natasha Lewis
• Oliva Stout
• Omar Belkacemi
• Robert Brown
• Rupa Singh
• Sandra Menendez
• Sarah Palazzolo
• Staci Belle
• Stella Sargent
• Susan Hoelschen
• Wayne Beachy
• Wayne Melnick

New Volunteers!

Please welcome our newest volunteers:

• Callie Angle
• Dana Baldwin
• Katelyn Hebel
• Robert Johnson
• Andrew Kirk
• Sandra Menendez
• Anh Pham
• Dixie Woodard

A New Year, A New Budget

The store has been doing well despite the economic downturn (knock on wood; for those of you who are superstitious). However, we have had to make a few changes. We will no longer be able to provide the free snacks and sodas in the Volunteer Breakroom. However, we still have our Diamond Springs water supply and you are still free to partake of our coffee and tea samples.

Community Shopping Nights

We have decided to host a Community Shopping Night (CSN) every month this year at the store. Community Shopping Nights are one of the ways that our store empowers our community. Each Community Shopping Night supports a different non-profit that we believe in. During a CSN, the store remains open from 6-8pm and 20% of sales between these hours benefit the non-profit highlighted that evening.

In March, the CSN supported WOVEN, a non-profit geared to the empowerment of women of all nations. This partnership supported our national One Reason Why campaign's theme for March which was "Women Thriving Though Independence." The theme for April was " Good for the People, Good for the Earth" therefore the proceeds from April's CSN went to Maymont Park.

With May's theme being, "Growing businesses, empowering entrepreneurs," we hope to partner with Positive Vibe Cafe. Positive Vibe Cafe is a non-profit organization training and employing people with disabilities in food services. Check back for information on upcoming CSNs.

Kumbeshwar Technical School, Nepal

• was established to assist socially and economically disadvantaged children in the Kathmandu Valley
  
• seeks to provide trainees with marketable skills that can ultimately lead to successful self-employment
  
• works to generate local employment for artisans and create sustainable community development

Thank You to March Volunteers!

Su-bhaay or thank you as they may say in Nepal to our March volunteers!!!
Collectively you gave a total of 215 hours!

• Agneta Liubinaite
• Amanda Snead
• Anh Pham
• Ben Eichler
• Boyd Chambliss
• Callie Angle
• Camille Davidson
• Dana Baldwin
• Dixie Woodard
• Efrain Serrano
• Eve Capehart
• Freddy Boon
• Gary Flake
• Hazel Bowman
• Ian Baxter
• Jay Rohrer
• Jean Donaldson
• Jennifer Jones
• John-Walker Knight
• Katelyn Hebel
• Katie Keane
• Latoya Williamson
• Mallory Noe-Payne
• Margaret Hendrick
• Mary Deignan
• Mindy Loiselle
• Nadine Kadlubowski
• Omar Belkacemi
• Paul Bucher
• Prissie Nguyen
• Quang Pham
• Regine Beulig-Kidd
• Robert Brown
• Robert Johnson
• Rupa Singh
• Sandra Menendez
• Staci Belle
• Stella Sargent
• Susan Hoelschen
• Wayne Beachy
• Wayne Melnick

"A World of Thanks" Dinner!

Host: Ten Thousand Villages Location: TBD When: Thursday, April 16th @ 6pm

We would like to THANK YOU by hosting a dinner in your honor! We appreciate all of your hard work and dedication to Ten Thousand Villages, our artisan partners and our mission of Fair Trade. The DINNER is potluck fashion! We encourage everyone to come with an internationally inspired dish; feel free to browse the cookbooks we have in the store. Just for FUN: bring your favorite picture from your TRAVELS (either national or international); wear your Villages products or GLOBAL attire; and adopt a persona of one of our artisan partners (we will provide the info for you upon your arrival)! We look forward to this FUN celebration in your honor. Hope to see you all there! Please RSVP by April 9th.

Painting Project

On Monday, March 23, Ten Thousand Villages Richmond partnered with United Methodist Family Services to repaint and touch up our display fixtures. We painted our register counters and jewelry cases a "coppertone" color, as well as painted approx. 55 other display fixtures a "sand dune" color.

A special thanks to the youth of United Methodist Family Services who did a fabulous job painting!

Additional thanks to Volunteers Boyd Chambliss, Efrain Serrano, Jay Rohrer, Jean Donaldson, and John Walker Knight for helping Bethany and Julie prepare for this event. Preparation included clearing the floor of all merchandise, laying down tarps, marking trim with masking tape, and moving fixtures to the center of the salesfloor.

We also thank Volunteers Dixie Woodard and Katie Keane for helping Amber and Bobbie welcome the UMFS group and for diving right in and getting their hands (and possibly some clothes) dirty with paint!

Overall, the project was a success; the fixtures look beautiful! Great job to all!

A New Website!!!

We will no longer be using our current website (www.richmondvillages.com).

Instead, we will be using a website connected to national's website. The address is: http://www.richmond.tenthousandvillages.com/; check it out!

To sign up for shifts on the VOLUNTEER CALENDAR simply go to the new website and go to the "Volunteers" page. You will find the phrase: "Already a volunteer? Sign up for shifts here." There will be a hyperlink added to the word here. When you click on that, it will take you to our Volunteer Calendar.

If you have any questions about our new website, please let us know!

NEW Volunteer Opportunities!

We are looking for volunteers interested in:

• creating a 10 minute slideshow on Fair Trade for kids!
• representing our student population on the Volunteer Task Group
• creating a system to help us keep our picture frames stocked with fun pics
• repairing lamps with electrical wiring problems
• painting store displays with youth from United Methodist Family Services on Monday, March 23 from 9-2 (flexible)
• preparing the store for the painting project on Sunday, March 22 from 4:30-8
• featuring a new artisan group on one of the bulletin boards in the break room every month

And of course, we always need help with store coverage & recycling!

If you are interested in any of the above opportunities above, shoot us an email: staff@richmondvillages.com.
To help with store coverage, please visit: The Volunteer Calendar !!!

Store Update

• We will be closed Monday, March 22 to repaint our store displays
• In celebration of International Women's Month, we will be having a COMMUNITY SHOPPING NIGHT to benefit Women of Vision and Empowerment in All Nations (WOVEN)on March 26,2009!

New Products Introduced in March!

Ten Thousand Villages Akron creates videos to introduce new products. The videos highlight interesting facts about the products and share stories about the artisans that made them. This is a GREAT way to connect with our artisans partners and for you to learn more about our products.

Check it out:
Video
Password 032009

Volunteer Stats - January & February!

January
# of active volunteers: 30
Volunteers gave a total of 162.75 hours

February
# of active volunteers: 26
Volunteers gave a total of 131 hours

A New Way of Keeping You Informed!

Dear Volunteers,

As the salutation states, you are very dear to our organization. That means that we want to keep you as up to date as possible about what is going on in the store. We feel that a blog is a very effective way to do this.

Why?

• We can update it as things happen
• You can check it whenever you want!
• It is a great way for you to join the discussion.
• It is a great way for you to communicate with staff and other volunteers

This blog is meant to be private, in the sense that only Richmond Villages Board, Staff, and Volunteers can view it.

In place of our monthly Volunteer Updates, we will be emailing you the link to our blog.

We hope you enjoy this new way of communicating. If you have any questions or comments regarding the blog, please let us know. We appreciate your feedback!