August 1, 2002
It doesn't take just a village. It takes Ten Thousand Villages. And, it takes the confluence of customers and salable products.
Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit job creation program started by the Mennonite Church to sell handmade merchandise from artists and craftspeople in developing countries throughout the world. One of its stores is located 824 King St.
As one of more than 100 stores in the organization's network, it is estimated that the Old Town Alexandria location has created more than 2,100 jobs since it opened in October 1994, according to Julie Becker, secretary to the local Board of Directors.
"We estimate that it takes about $1,200 in retail sales to create one job for one person living in a developing country," Becker explained. "Last year we did about $440,000 in sales which created approximately 366 jobs."
Headquartered in the Lancaster County town of Akron, Pa, and New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada, "Ten Thousand Villages goes into needy areas and teaches various crafts or they work with a consortium in the country to develop crafts and products," Becker explained. "Artisans are paid the living wage for that country. With that income the craftspeople can become self sufficient."
Ten Thousand Villages is one of the largest Alternative Trade Organizations (ATO). They pay one half the price of an order when it is placed and the balance when items are shipped to North America, according to their literature.
"This procedure provides operating capital for the artisans to purchase raw materials and for craft groups to pay workers," Becker said. "The stores are run by volunteers, except for a paid manager, in order to keep overhead low."
Becker further explained there are two types of stores, network and contract. "Alexandria is a contract store. We buy 90 percent of our products from Ten Thousand Villages and the rest from other ATO's," she said. "Network stores are run by Ten Thousand Villages.
"We are very reliant on volunteers. We have one full time manager and one part-time staff person. We are managed by a 10 member volunteer Board of Directors who also serve as store volunteers. The Board members come from throughout the metropolitan area," she explained.
"Usually we have about 200-plus products in the store at any one time produced by artisans in about 30 countries," said Danwe N'Dikwe, the store manager. "The products arrive priced and we pay Ten Thousand Villages for the products when we take delivery."
Maria Yannopoulos, president of the local Board of Directors, emphasized, "Our mission in the store is to carry out the mission of Ten Thousand Villages. We keep the costs of the products down through our volunteerism.
"Akron tells us what they think we should sell them for based on our overhead and other factors. Some of the stores in the network are for profit. We are not. This store was created to keep the mission at the forefront."
Yannopoulos added, "We were one of the first urban stores. Most of the others are basically in more rural areas. We have to sell much more, and we do, to create more jobs. Right now we are the number one retail sales store in the entire chain."
SHE ALSO POINTED OUT that Ten Thousand Villages "is a separate entity from the Mennonite Church, although it is governed by the Mennonite Central Committee." This is the relief and development agency of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in North America, as explained in their literature.
In addition to providing the means by which citizens of developing countries can make a sustainable income, the project is also involved with environmental issues. "By making products such as handmade paper out of such things as plants it is contributing to environmental protection," Yannopoulos noted.
Ten Thousand Villages' stores are located in 36 states stretching from New York/New Jersey to Arizona/California. As stated in their brochure, the mission is to work "with artisans who would be otherwise unemployed or under employed.. This income helps pay for food, education, health care, and housing."
The Alexandria store is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and until 6 p.m. on Sunday. During the summer and holidays, hours are extended on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to 9 p.m. The Board is constantly looking for volunteers. Anyone interested should contact the store manager at 703-684-1435.