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.