EVERY PURCHASE YOU MAKE HAS AN IMPACT ON THE WORLD. PURCHASES BASED ON FAIR TRADE CREATE DEMAND FOR A FAIRER WORLD BY SHOWING YOU VALUE NOT JUST THE PRODUCT, BUT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT!
Handmade banana leaf cards... the ones shown are made by JBA, a group of young women in Ethiopia who support their families. Jimma Ethiopia has 130,000 residents, which more than half are under the age of 20, with a very high unemployment rate... making it very difficult to find work.
Jimma Banana Art (JBA) is a project that was started with the hope of helping a group of young Ethiopian women living in rural Ethiopia earn money to support their families. Working with VSO volunteers on design and production techniques, the women are able to earn a sustainable wage from craft production.
The intricate patterns of the fiber of the banana tree are only the beginning of the story of this card. Card stock is purchased in Addis Ababa, transported by bus to the rural village and carefully stored where it is not subject to dampness. Each piece of cardstock is cut in half, making the cards smaller than traditional greeting cards but producing no waste. Women cut banana fiber into shapes and carefully affix the pieces in a pattern that slowly forms a detailed picture of Ethiopian life. When 250 cards are completed, the number of cards that fit in the largest box that can be mailed without Ethiopian Customs approval (as there is no customs officials remotely close to the village), they are mailed to the US. Invariably, the box is delivered with a note from the local US post office apologizing for the twine barely holding the box together and the obviously long and difficult trek the cards made, not realizing that the box started in Ethiopia in the same shape. The boxes arrive unannounced, about one a month.
Individual styles may run out, so on occasion we may have to ask if you'd like replacements for a certain card.
Handmade banana leaf cards... the ones shown are made by JBA, a group of young women in Ethiopia who support their families. Jimma Ethiopia has 130,000 residents, which more than half are under the age of 20, with a very high unemployment rate... making it very difficult to find work.