The Challenge of Breaking Free from Poverty

For third world artisans, looking to break the cycle of poverty is not as easy as going out and securing a job. The simple fact is there are limited opportunities for employment in most developing countries. Certainly, the majority of opportunities could not be deemed quality by our western standards. There are no on-line job boards where you can go to query and pick out what’s the best one out of more than a hundred jobs. In fact, there are limited opportunties to even connect to the internet. Due to the limited jobs available, many people in these countries are relieved to get a job that pays any wage.

The education systems aren’t the same as we're used to in the United States, so the level of education that anyone can attain is often limited by financial resources, their need to work and their need to contribute to their family situation. That said, those who have been fortunate enough to continue on in education and might have gone on to a college in their country or in the States or anywhere else, have a far greater opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. They probably have received exposure to multiple languages and hence, are fluent in multiple languages. Whether it’s in a relief or development organizations, business or government organization, there are more opportunities for people that can converse in multiple languages, have some business skills, and can transition those.

Yet, even with those skills, someone who might be doing very well is likely only receiving the equivalent of $10-11K in US dollars on a yearly basis. That’s not a whole lot of money, even in those countries, to work with and to improve your standard of living.

So, if someone is working in a factory and is relegated to working one of those shifts where everyone gets up at 1 in the morning and, at the end of the shift, everyone filters out of the factory and are riding their bikes or walking along the edge of the road, you know that they’re making great sacrifces to make a wage that is difficult to consider fair.

At the same time, it is still work and it is still a step up from collecting refuse in the local dump for your family or using a hammer to break rocks to pave roads. Many people in third world countries are still making pennies per week doing just these types of basic labor chores to make a living.

It is important that we do what we can to nurture the skills and talents that lie dormant in these countries. That's the heart of the mission at Global Village Trading. We want to help awaken the skills and talents of the hundreds and thousands of artisans who will benefit by having their talents shown to a wider audience with the resources to purchase the wares of these individuals, beautify their homes, and expand the opportunities for the artisan and their families.