Global Girlfriends: Fair Trade Helps Women

Of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty on less than $1 a day, 70 percent are women. Women do 66 percent of the world’s work but only earn 10 percent of the income and own only one percent of the world’s property.

Statistics like these are hard to grasp if they don’t affect you personally, and with news available by the second, thanks to technology and sites like Twitter and Facebook, such statistics can lead to empathy fatigue. Can we, individually or collectively, really do anything that will have an impact on these figures?

Stacey Edgar certainly thinks so. The northern Illinois native made it her business to help women all over the world by developing employment opportunities for them through her fair trade business, Global Girlfriend. What began as a small effort grew into a million-dollar business, on the simple premise that by giving women in developing countries an opportunity to sell their products to women in developed countries like the United States, amazing things can happen. Her new book, Global Girlfriends: How One Mom Made It Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide, which was just released in April, follows Edgar’s struggles and triumphs to change the lives of poor women around the world. We asked Edgar to share her thoughts about how each person has the power to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Q: The statistics, as you mention in your new book, can be paralyzing. And, to an extent, I think Americans have become fatigued with world tragedies and events. How did you get past that, even now, when it seems nothing we do is enough?

A: I think statistics are important to look at as a jumping-off point. While there is some fatigue around statistical data about the world’s challenges, they provide a vital frame of reference to the hurdles women in poverty face. That said, it is the personal connection, not statistics, that moves people to action.

I can feel overwhelmed, especially when visiting a country where the need for opportunity is great, but I try to stay focused on each individual woman we partner with and the concrete changes I see happening in her life.

Q: Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes (a shoe company that gives back to the community with each sale), called you a “change-maker” and said you don’t need any fancy degrees to be a change-maker. Do you think he’s right?

A: I think Blake is right in that anyone who cares enough about a cause and is willing to work hard for their convictions can be a change-maker, no matter their background or education.

Q: How do you recommend women go about getting involved and helping to make a difference?

A: Simply start where you are with what you care about. I think we all get too lost in the idea that little things don’t matter, when really they matter most.

Q: What do you want people to take away after reading this book?

A: I hope readers will come away feeling more connected to the women of the world, seeing them as individuals with dreams worth investing in, versus just poverty statistics which are, as you mentioned earlier, too easy to ignore.

I also hope readers will be inspired to action of their own. As my hero, Mother Teresa, once said, “We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” If we all act wholeheartedly in small ways with great love, great changes are sure to come from our collective efforts on behalf of one another.

Global Girlfriends: How One Mom Made It Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide by Stacey Edgar is published by St. Martin’s Press and is available through local and online booksellers. Stacey Edgar operates GlobalGirlfriend.com, an online fair-trade store that benefits women around the world.

Megy Karydes is founder of World Shoppe, a fair-trade, wholesale importing company based in Chicago that works directly with South African artisans. For more information, visit World-Shoppe.com.