meet the speakers
Dionisia Ramos and Carrie Hawthorne speak on September 16.
Meet Dan Parris and David Peterka, who speak on October 14.
DIONISIA RAMOS
Fair Trade Peruvian Artisan
Born December 7, 1966 in Ayacucho, Peru, Dionisia Ramos has lived most of her life in poverty. Dionisia moved with her family to Lima, the capital of Peru and home of over 7 million, in search of a better life. As a mother of three sons, she struggled to help her husband, Victor, support their family by washing clothes, selling juice out of her own home, and working in a welfare kitchen. Although her husband searched daily for work, the Ramos family was unable to make ends meet on their erratic income.
Dionisia first became involved in Fair Trade seven years ago when a Peruvian NGO, Bridge of Hope, approached her about finding other females to form an artisan group. She gathered several other interested women together, and formed the textile group, Emady. Thanks to their involvement in Fair Trade, they have learned how to sew, design products, and have acquired the skills needed to manage a business. Emady receives a 50% deposit with each order which they invest in materials. Anything that is left over is divided up evenly between the five members of the group, with 10 percent set aside to invest in equipment and new materials. Dionisia says that the women have learned how to be efficient workers and are now able to make products much faster than when they first began. They work as a team and each woman has a specific role in producing each item.
Life has changed for Dionisia since her participation in Fair Trade. Her eldest son, Victor, has Down ’s syndrome. She is now able to send him to a special school. Before working with Emady, Dionisia was never able to provide her family with enough food, but now she has earned enough money to pay for food, electricity, water, and the construction of a new home.
This is Dionisia’s first trip outside of Peru. She will be in St. Louis for a week before traveling for a month and speaking across the country with the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Peacemaking Program.
CARRIE HAWTHORNE
Executive Director, Partners For Just Trade (see below)
Carrie was hired as the first employee for Partners for Just Trade and has served as its Executive Director since April 2007.
Carrie graduated from Ohio State University in 2001 with a dual major in Spanish and International Studies and a specialty in World Economy and Business. After living in Spain for 6 months, Carrie then spent three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala. She worked for two years in education as an Environmental Management Specialist but once Carrie learned to weave with a traditional Mayan backstrap loom, she began assisting Guatemalan weavers in product design and business development. Carrie extended her service by a year to start up a small business of female weavers, Tejedoras de Salacuim, in a remote village in Alta Verapaz.
After traveling throughout Latin America for 5 months, Carrie returned to the U.S. and worked in Washington DC with the Fair Trade Federation and Fair Trade Resource Network planning the first national Fair Trade conference in 2005. She then worked as Marketing Coordinator at Co-op America before moving to St. Louis to work with Partners for Just Trade. During her time in DC, Carrie was involved in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, helped found the Project for the Aid and Reconstruction of Central America (after Hurricane Stan), and organized screenings of Black Gold and An Inconvenient Truth.
Carrie now runs PJT out of her home office in a small town nestled in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California. She enjoys traveling, scuba diving, hiking, laughing, and being green.
Partners for Just Trade (www.partnersforjusttrade.org)
Partners for Just Trade is a non-profit, Christian organization that builds partnerships between artisans living in extreme poverty and conscientious consumers. We address root causes of poverty through Fair Trade craft sales, education, solidarity, and a commitment to trade justice.
The vision of Partners for Just Trade, embodies equitable trading partnerships based on a shared vision of abundant life with social and economic justice.
These equitable trading partnerships foster:
- creating, expanding and sustaining sales and economic opportunities for fairly-traded goods produced by marginalized people;
- educating consumers on issues of justice and social responsibility
- surrounding global trade;
- educating artisans on issues of quality production, economic development, democratic and cooperative management, small business development and environmental responsibility;
- respecting the traditions and cultural identity of all God's people.