From 10,000 Villages to You! Bring Home Some Beauty.By Suzy Nastaskin
From 10,000 Villages to You! Bring Home Some Beauty.
By Suzy Nastaskin
A mounting debt crisis. Turbulent politics. Water scarcity. Poverty. And continued violence, discrimination and persecution against women, religious minorities and others. The people of Pakistan deal with ever-increasing levels of instability every day, with seemingly little respite in sight. Yet, our local Ten Thousand Villages stores have found a way to give some help and hope to more than 850 families living in roughly 100 villages throughout Pakistan.
Ten Thousand Villages will host a fair-trade rug event featuring hand-crafted Tribal, Bokhara, Persian and other rugs March 18–20 in their San Pedro location and March 24-27 in their Redondo Beach store. The rugs come from Bunyaad, a fair-trade company that works with artisans in villages throughout Pakistan as they produce high-quality, hand-knotted rugs in their homes. Hundreds of rugs will be on display and available for purchase at these unique events.
From intricate florals to hand-spun natural dye wool tribals, every Bunyaad rug has been designed and hand-knotted by skilled and fairly paid adults. The rugs come in sizes from 2’x3’ to 10’x14’.
"We know that with every rug we sell, we are empowering women, fueling artisan's creativity and preserving their cultural heritage," said Yousaf Chaman, Bunyaad Director. "But most importantly, we know that all of these rugs are crafted by fairly paid adults. With parents earning a living wage, kids are having a childhood, playing and going to school, not working."
And by paying artisans a living wage, quality rugs are produced.
"It's quite simple. When artisans know they are paid for every knot they tie, they can take their time, pay attention to the fine details of these intricate rugs and use high-quality materials, all leading to producing a rug that will last for generations," said Chaman.
Rug knotter Rafia Nasir works from her home in Fateh Toor More, a small village near the Pakistani border with Kashmir. Rafia knows that with her steady income, she will have no problem caring for her young daughter and sending her to school, even if the factory where her husband works closes.
In the Pakistani village of Jallo, Nusrat Saeeda knots rugs with her daughter Samreen, niece Nabeela and husband Abdul Aziz. “We love this job,” said Nusrat. “We are at home, working together and getting good wages, all of us. We can greatly increase our family’s income because we can work together.”
Bunyaad rugs are available in a variety of styles. Persian rugs are the quintessential Oriental rug, famed for their intricacy, knot-density and symbolism. Persian rugs are known for their detailed floral designs, sometimes with a pronounced center medallion and sometimes with a repeating all over pattern. Persians are also known for their diverse color pallet. The number of colors in each rug ranges from 15 to 25, giving customers huge flexibility in terms of style and decor.
Bokhara rugs have fine traditional geometric patterns on a solid background of colors, generally in jewel tones. They tend to have velvety, plush piles and are very pliant in texture.
Many of Bunyaad’s Tribal rugs are made with hand-spun wool dyed with all hand-gathered natural dyes such as indigo, cochineal, walnut shells and marigold flowers.
“Rug Event is my favorite time of year.” said Michelle Ryan, Ten Thousand Villages Executive Director. “There is something about being surrounded by these gorgeous rugs all day long. Each is unique and I enjoy hearing about the artisans that make them. It’s just amazing how a family can create this knowing it will being going to another family for their home. It’s part of what customers love as well.”
Ten Thousand Villages’ maker-to-market fair trade stores seek to break the cycle of global poverty and ignite social change. The non-profit stores sell items hand-crafted by artisans in developing countries who would otherwise struggle to earn a living. Ten Thousand Villages San Pedro is located inside Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles: 112 E 22nd St #173, www.villagescrafted.com. Ten Thousand Villages Redondo Beach is located in the Riviera Village at 1907 S Catalina Ave, (310) 465-1600, www.tenthousandvillagesredondo.com
Suzy Nastaskin was born and raised in the South Bay and sits on the Board of Directors of Ten Thousand Villages Redondo. She worked for many years in public relations in Southern California and New York City.
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