Art Walk in Laguna Beach TONIGHT

It is once again time for First Thursdays Art Walk, one of our favorite times of the month!

If you plan to be in the Laguna Beach area tonight, be sure to stop by Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art (LGOCA) to not only see some of the brilliant artists exhibiting their work, but also to pay us a visit! The Peace Exchange will be there, selling merchandise and raffle tickets for a chance to win some truly incredible works of art. A $20 raffle ticket could win you a piece of art worth thousands of dollars!

Seconds, Minutes, Hours by Heather Roth

Artist Heather Roth has graciously donated three original works and several signed, limited edition prints to be auctioned. Winners will be announced at the October 1 Art Walk, so stay tuned!

5 Days 'til the Runway!

We are so so so excited for A Fair Trade Fashion Show, this Saturday, Aug. 29 at 6 p.m!

Come to the downtown L.A. Arts District and join us, Bead & Reel, the Arts District Co-Op, and wonderful designers as we show of just how fashionable fair trade can be. There will be snacks courtesy of Bohemia Food Truck, an open bar, a panel discussion featuring fair trade experts (including our own Katie Bond) and a rockin' all vegan fashion show.

Tickets can be purchased here for just $10. We can't wait to see you all there!

Congolese Artists Featured in New Parisian Exhibit

In a refreshing new perspective, Paris' Foundation Cartier has chosen to feature Congolese artists in it's new exhibit—Beauté Congo, 1926-2015—which was unveiled on July 11.

© Luc Boegly

For a country that is often the source of news stories regarding violence and poverty, it's wonderful to see the beauty and artistry that stems from the area receive recognition as well. The works in the exhibit span nearly 100 years, documenting a history of art that many people don't even know exists. Featured artists include contemporary painters Jean Paul Mika and Cheri Samba, as well as veteran creative minds such as the late photographer Jean Depara.

Jean Depara, Untitled, c. 1955-1965Collection Revue Noire, Paris © Jean Depara

The Foundation Cartier website describes the exhibit as follows:

"A place of extraordinary cultural vitality, the creative spirit of the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be honored in the exhibition Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko presented at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain with André Magnin, Chief Curator."

Beauté Congo will be on display at Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain until November 2015.

Tent Sale with Ten Thousand Villages

This past weekend, The Peace Exchange was thrilled to partner with Ten Thousand Villages Pasadena as a part of their anniversary tent sale—their largest sale to date.

As one of the world's largest and oldest fair trade organizations, Ten Thousand Villages has built incredible relationships with the fair trade community over the past 60 years, and their Pasadena retail location carries jewelry, rugs, clothing and more from more than 130 artisan groups from nearly 40 countries!

On Saturday, July 18, The Peace Exchange was one of those groups, offering merchandise at a 20% discount. Co-founder Katie Bond was on hand to discuss all things fair trade and, of course, check out the goodies from the other global artisans. It was the perfect opportunity to network with other organizations who are just as passionate about fair trade and get the word out about our mission and our products.

Thank you Ten Thousand Villages!

What is Fair Trade?

At the Peace Exchange, we believe strongly in the principles behind the fair trade label and strive to embody them in everything we do. However, often the label itself is not explained. Here, we've listed the World Fair Trade Organization's 10 principles of fair trade so you—our supporters—know just where your support is going!

1.    Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers

100% of our seamstresses report an improvement in their quality of life since starting our program.

2.    Transparency and accountability

3.    Fair trading practices

4.    Payment at a fair price

We pay our workers a working wage so they can afford housing, food, and school tuition for their children.

5.    Ensuring no child labor and forced labor

6.    Commitment to non discrimination, gender equity and freedom of association

7.    Ensuring good working conditions

Founder, Katie Bond, and board member, Iris Bourne, join Peace Exchange seamstresses outside our new sewing center.

8.    Providing capacity building

9.    Promoting fair trade

10. Respect for the environment

Happy Hour with The Peace Exchange

Join Us!   June 25th 4 - 6pm  with our new partner Chris Olsen owner of the Wine Gallery Laguna Beach. 

1833 S Coast Hwy #110 Laguna Beach

Join us for a night of fun.  Hear the latest from our Kickstarter Campaign and how we used the funds to open a second sewing center in DR Congo.  As we have recently returned from our trip, we will be giving the latest information about what is happening in Fair Trade and how The Peace Exchange is growing.  New products will be available for purchase.  Special thanks will be given to our donors.  A portion of all sales from the happy hour will go to the non-profit.  Hope to see you there.  

Bring a friend!!!

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Laguna Beach Magazine's

THE ARTS ISSUE

June 2015 

No. 54

with

The Peace Exchange

Jody Tiongco

http://lagunabeachmagazine.com/wonder-women-of-the-peace-exchange/

"Educators-turned-philanthropists Katie Bond and Iris Bourne are leaders of The Peace Exchange, a Laguna Beach nonprofit that partners with organizations in developing countries to create sustainable jobs for women in need. It began a few years ago with a sewing facility in the Congo producing fair trade throws, napkins, yoga bags, totes and more, and now includes a second sewing center in the region. Today, Katie and Iris are planning for a jewelry-making workshop in Nepal; they aimed to visit the country in April, but were forced to postpone the trip due to the earthquake."

But the group’s vision goes beyond providing jobs. By receiving pay per item as well as premium wages—five times the daily rate of other workers in the region—The Peace Exchange artisans in the Congo can afford to send their children to school. “At the foundational root, we believe lasting change will come from the education of these women’s children,” Katie says. “But in order to do that, we need to give the women work.”
 Bria Balliet & Katherine Duncan

We did it! The Peace Exchange opens new sewing center in Bukavu

Thanks to your WONDERFUL support, our fearless leaders Katie and Iris were able to open up our second sewing center on their recent trip to the Congo. With your help, The Peace Exchange raised more than $15,000 via Kickstarter to get the new center up and running, doubling the number of women we are able to employ.

Education is not free in the Congo, and the jobs created by this new sewing center in the city of Bukavu help our seamstresses (most of them single mothers) provide schooling for their children.

We are so thrilled, and we could not have done it without your help! Thank you!!

Visit ThePeaceExchange.com for more information and to see the items being made by these incredible women in the Congo.

World Fair Trade Day

World Fair Trade Days always falls on the second Saturday in May.  

Today, May 9, 2015 we celebrate fair trade workers/artisans across the globe.  

The World Fair Trade Organization facilitates the annual event each year with a new theme and focus. http://wfto.com

This year the title is "Be an Agent of Change" as stated on their website, "Fair Trade is an agent for change. It is a tangible solution to poverty eradication, a good tool for sustainable development, and most of all Fair Trade promotes social justice."  http://wfto.com/events/world-fair-trade-day

In just returning from a trip working with our artisans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we can say first hand how fair trade is an agent for change.  Helping women and children rise out of conditions where they we not able to buy food to now saving money for their children's education and providing food for their families... Yes, fair trade does promote tangible solutions to eradicate poverty.  

To partner with us in fair trade, visit our website www.ThePeaceExchage.com to learn more.  Volunteers are always needed and products purchased keep our women working in fair trade, which is a true 'agent of change'!  

Full Moon Hikes for Nepal

On Saturday May 2 and Sunday May 3, The Peace Exchange partnered with Back Country Yoga and Meditation to host three full moon hikes—two in the evening and one in the morning—proceeds of which went directly to Chhahari Organization Nepal to provide food, water and basic necessities for children and families devastated by the recent earthquake in Nepal.

Founded in 2007 by Laguna Beach native Christine Casey, Chhahari (meaning "shelter" in Nepali) in Kathmandu is home to more than 20 young villagers who are either without parents or whose parents are unable to care for them. And since the earthquake and its aftershocks ravaged Nepal, the group has been working non-stop to collect clothing, food, water and supplies for as many people as they can.

The donation-based hikes and yoga classes began with beginner/intermediate treks to peaceful locations, where the group was led through calming yoga flows by some of Back Country Yoga's experienced instructors.

For information on future full moon hikes or to learn how to donate to the relief efforts in Nepal, please contact The Peace Exchange.

When life hands you lemons... make lemonade!  We were supposed to be in Nepal and missed the earthquake by one day.  Due to the natural disaster, the airport was closed - causing members of The Peace Exchange Board of Directors to find an alternative place to travel.  Things do not always go according to plan... Africa to Nepal became Africa to Austria.  One of our fellow board members lives in Vienna and we were so lucky to be able to transfer flights and land in Europe.  Taking a couple of days to acclimate we are back to work in Vienna.  Discussing marketing/branding and designing our new Peace Exchange t-shirts.  Board members from across the globe unite and work together in fair trade and design to help Congo.  Stay tuned for 3 shirt lines to soon unfold!  www.ThePeaceExchange.com 

Women of The Peace Exchange

It has been an incredible 2 weeks in Democratic Republic of Congo.  What has been the most impactful is seeing the transformation in the lives of our seamstresses within one year.  While our efforts were to open a second sewing center, which we did, we also wanted to spend quality time with our artisans and check in with them.  What I found was inspiring.  Not only are the women doing much better, they have found a sense of true community with one another - a sister-hood so to speak. Women who have very little and who have experienced much hardship are now working in a joyful environment.  I guess that's why I love fair trade so much.  It empowers at the root level.  It gives hope in the midst of despair.  I have seen with my own two eyes transformation in the lives of women and children.  Enjoy the video and may you too feel uplifted by the work being done in Congo.  I love these women!!!!  - Katie Bond, Founder of The Peace Exchange.

Making Connections, Finding Friends, Changing Lives in Congo

Katie and Iris are in The Democratic Republic of Congo this week where amazing things are happening as The Peace Exchange is making progress toward opening a new, second sewing center in the city of Bukavu.

On Thursday, Katie had the chance to meet and talk with Dr. Denis Mukwege, a French-trained Congolese gynecologist and founder of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, which specializes in treating survivors of horrific sexual violence.

Dr. Denis Mukwege

Mukwege, who last year was awarded the European Union's Sakharov Prize is also regarded as a probable candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, has become the world's leading expert on how to repair the internal physical damage caused by gang rape. At Panzi, he has treated thousands of women who were victims of gang wartime rape since the Second Congo War, often performing as many as 10 surgeries a day.


You can read more about Dr. Mukwege's absolutely heroic work HERE.

Dr. Mukwege founded Panzi in 1996 as a response to the devastating war that surrounded his community in the eastern provinces of the DRC. As a direct outcome of the war, maternal mortality was on the rise, and Dr. Mukwege hoped to improve access to cesarean sections and other obstetric interventions.

The Panzi Foundation website tells more of the harrowing story:

"[Dr. Mukwege's] first patient, however, wasn't a mother in labor, but a survivor of rape whose vagina and rectum had been destroyed with a knife. Dr. Mukwege was appalled, and as the epidemic of sexual violence flared up along with the pace of the war, he dedicated significant hospital resources to treating women with fistula, saying,

'The perpetrators of these crimes destroy life at its entry point. The women can no longer have children. Often they get infected with AIDS and will spread the disease. Their men are humiliated. So the perpetrators destroy the entire social fabric of their enemies, their communities, their future generations, without even killing the woman.'"

Mukwege and his staff performed more than 2,400 fistula surgery's last year for free. No joke. Today, the Panzi is at full capacity with more than 450 beds.

Katie and Iris visited the hospital Panzi Thursday and are scheduled to return today to meet with Dr. Mukwege's staff to brainstorm ways The Peace Exchange and the Panzi can collaborate.


One way is a new design we're in the process of creating called PANZI PANTS — a line of men's trousers, women's capris, and pajama pants with a portion of the sale of every pair going to Panzi Hospital! Check out the prototype below!

  We are just so excited about all that's happening in Congo now and what's on the horizon for the future of The Peace Exchange, our friends, and colleagues in this beautiful, challenging land and we knew you all would share our enthusiasm.

Dr. Mukwege and his colleagues also are doing ingenious work integrating clean energy through his solar panel initiative. You can learn more about that project in the video below.

The Peace Exchange + YogaWorks

On the morning of Saturday, March 21, we spent a wonderful day in Santa Monica partnering with two different YogaWorks studios—the Main St. and the Montana St. locations—to spread The Peace Exchange message and show off our fun and funky yoga mat bags.

In fact, we had so much fun that we will be back at the Main St. studio with even more gear next week! If you're in the Santa Monica area on Friday, April 10, please stop by for a class and to take a look at all the hand-sewn, fair trade products we will be selling, including yoga bags, beach blankets, wine, grocery and sling bags—all handmade in the Congo by some truly remarkable women.

Check back here for updates and shop our collection online—Mother's Day is coming up, after all!

The Peace Exchange + YogaWorks

Friday, April 10—Main St. Studio

2215 Main St.

Santa Monica, 90405

310-272-5641

World Water Day: More Than Half of Congo's Population Still Lacks Access to Clean Drinking Water

A UNICEF report on worldwide access to clean drinking water released today said that while sub-Saharan Africa — the region with the lowest drinking water accessibility in 1990, has been gaining access to drinking water at the rate of 50,000 people per day since the year 2000 —  the region which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo (where The Peace Exchange works with women seamstresses) still accounts for more than 2 out of 5 of those without access globally.

That's 325 million people.

Most countries in the region are not on track to meet the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals' target, which expire this year. 

"There are now only three countries; Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea where more than half the population do not have improved drinking water," according to UNICEF.

• Of the 748 million people globally still without access to clean drinking water, 90 percent live in rural areas and are being left behind in their countries' progress.
  
• On average, nearly 1,000 children die every day from diarrhoeal diseases linked to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, or poor hygiene.
  
• For women and girls, collecting water cuts into time they can spend caring for families and studying.
  
• In insecure areas, it also puts them at risk of violence and attack. UNICEF estimates that in Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking to collect water. 

Women in Nepal Are Exiled Once a Month

The Peace Exchange recently began working in Kathmandu, Nepal, with a group of at-risk women, many of whom escaped inhumane conditions working for slave wages inside Nepal's notorious brick kilns and factories. Nepali women face many challenges — systemic, economic, and cultural.

According to the New York Times, 

In far western Nepal, many believe that women who are menstruating are impure and bring bad luck. And so they are exiled each month, leaving them vulnerable to rape and other horrors.

Rooted in Hindu and other traditional Nepali beliefs, the practice of banishing women from their homes during menstruation is known as chaupadi. Even though the Nepalese government outlawed it 2005, the practice still persists.

International Women's Day

A year ago to date ~ this is where we were... on the ground in Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo to be exact.  The Peace Exchange celebrated International Women's Day spending time with the women of Eastern Congo.  Women of all ages walked miles, even hours to gather in support of one another.  The day was filled with stories of hope and empowerment.  Allowing the women to gather in community and be heard, there were moments of laughter and tears.  Speakers were brought in to discuss issues of safety, women's rights, sexual violence, education and fair trade.  The meeting was one that will always remain as a powerful image in the mind's-eye.  As the founder of The Peace Exchange, I am honored to travel off the grid and go into parts where women struggle for basic rights ~ things that we take for granted.  DRC is one of the hardest places on the planet to be a woman.  With so many single mothers working for less than $1 a day, it breaks my heart.  This is why fair trade is so important... it is a gateway, an open door to empower women. #Makeithappen www.internationalwomensday.com #PeaceExchange www.ThePeaceExchange.com

www.ThePeaceExchange.com

At The Peace Exchange we believe in helping empower women and children in the most oppressed places.  As we are gearing up for another trip in Spring 2015 to Nepal and then Congo... it's important for us to stay committed to our values of Education, Empowerment, and creating sustainable Fair Trade Jobs.