Celebrating Mothers and 360 Fair Trade

Mother's Day and Fair Trade Day are both this weekend so we wanted to take a minute and thank you for supporting 360° fair trade which in turn helps support mothers all over the world.

Fair trade gives mothers the ability to earn fair wages while still being able to watch their children. It helps them to provide their children with care, education, medicine and more. For members of the Fair Trade Federation, 360° fair trade signifies our work year-round to support mothers throughout the entire supply chain from the organic cotton farmers to the artisan families and on to the fair trade stores near you.

In Cochas, where our gourd carvers are, young families start their own workshops at home and partner with their neighbors so that they can work while still watching their children. Every workshop has a place for children to eat and play after school.

Beyond that our gourd carvers have come together to create an after school program. This program helps not only the carvers but also other mothers from Cochas and the neighboring villages by giving food and after school care to hundreds of children.

For nearly 10 years we have visited our knitters in Puno, Peru every spring. Seeing the mothers knitting puppets to help their children in school always impresses us. Over our 18 years of working in Puno, we've watched children grow and use the knitting they learned from their mothers to pay their way through college and be able to support their own families better. How many types of work can be done during class? How much skill is required to knit without looking? Three Cheers for Puno's Knitting Mothers!

 Happy Mothers Day to all, The Lucuma Team.