World AIDS Day 2008

World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1st. The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic.

Take Action

There are many ways you can take action in response to HIV/AIDS:

-get tested for HIV
-practice safe methods to prevent HIV
-decide not to engage in high risk behaviors
-talk about HIV prevention with family, friends, and colleagues
-provide support to people living with HIV/AIDS
-get involved with or host an event for World AIDS Day in your community

**For more information on Worlds AIDS Day or to learn more about prevention, risks and awareness campaigns, go to http://www.hhs.gov/aidsawarenessdays/index.html

First National GD Fair Trade Party!

We are very pleased to announce that Global Daughter has gone National! We had our first Fair Trade Party in Fort Wayne, Indiana courtesy of Joan and Adam. They reported an amazing turnout and response to the product and the story behind it. We are looking forward to expanding our parties throughout the US, and thanks to Joan and Adam it seems like this could be a very successful endevour for women right here at home.
If you are interested in becoming a Global Daughter Consultant please contact Erika at erika@globaldaughter.com

Thanks again to Joan, Adam, Amanda, and Fort Wayne for your support!

The Display


Global Son??


The Hostess Joan put out quite a spread!

Filling out their orders.

Trouble deciding? Take them all!

Erin's Scooty Mishap

Another pain med?? Sure.

That is shock, not happiness.

Recently Erin took quite a nasty tumble on her scooter ride in Pokhara. Luckily her brother, Tony, was there to help her out. Erin still had to make the hour drive, in shock, to the nearest medical facility to get stitches.

Back in Kathmandu Erin tried to see her doctor to tend to the wound. Unfortunately, there was a riot that day and a burning bus in front of the hospital so she could not make the appointment. Two days later she went in and they discovered that her wound had become infected in the bone and that she would require surgery. She had it done immediately with several friends there to help her through it. We are hopeful that even though Nepal is not renowned for their medical services that the recovery will go smoothly.

This Thanksgiving, Erin will be laid up in her bed recovering, so please keep her in your thoughts.

Trafficking is Real.

Women and Girl's Trafficking in Nepal is a prevalent practice throughout the country. Girls are literally plucked from small villages as their parents are promised that they will have a prosperous future "working abroad." Some parents believe that their daughters will find domestic work in India, but some know they will enter the sex trade in major Indian cities. The girls, too, are scammed by "traders" into thinking they will find employment and wealth in the big city. Most are uneducated and desperate and they are taken advantage of by people who have no conscious or humanity.

It is a sad reality for poor families in disadvantaged corners of Nepal. Girls are often seen as a burden for parents- some would rather have them "disappear" than feed and take care of them. So they send them to their fate in back alleys and brothels in India. Here they are abused, raped and treated like animals. They are alone, scared and literally trapped.

Many anti-trafficking organizations based in Kathmandu are working to recover missing girls and rehab those that have been exposed to the sex trade in the past. They perform undercover-type activities to catch sex traders and infiltrate trafficking networks. In some operations, the organizations set out to stop tourist buses and micro vans that come from Nepal and cross the border into India.

One of the producers we work with in a border city to the West relayed to me this story a few days ago. He was on a bus from Kathmandu to the border and about 5KM before the border check area, the bus was stopped by a group of women literally in the middle of the road. They boarded the bus and showed papers that proved they were with Maiti Nepal, one of the most well-known anti-trafficking organizations. They demanded to see ID papers from all those on the bus. They said they were checking for girls who were being trafficked into India. As they checked everyone, they discovered that a man was on board with two young girls, who were neither his daughters nor family members. The girls were questioned outside the bus and it came out that they had been taken from their village a few days earlier by this man who promised to find them work in Calcutta. The man was taken into custody and the girls were escorted back to Maiti Nepal headquarters in Kathmandu for observation and counseling.

When I was hearing this story it gave me chills. This NGO has taken the initiative to attack a problem that the government has been unable to address. And in doing so, they have highlighted the immense need for continued efforts by the government to end this appalling human rights violation. The laws against traffickers are too lenient and the money that changes hands in the web of the sex trade industry in Nepal is the dirtiest money around. People are paid off, families are lied to by both authorities and traffickers, and at the end of the day, girls are still vanishing.

Initiatives taken by Maiti and other NGOs are hopeful. The rehabilitation programme at Mathi is famous. Women staying in the Center even produce handicrafts as a way to earn a living wage. Global Daughter is in touch with the Center and will more than likely be selling a few of their products on-line soon. Supporting this group means saying "no" to sexual exploitation and saying "yes" to empowerment. It is not enough to rehabilitate their spirit, we must offer them a new way of life. By becoming a working artisan, they are given the opportunity to retain stable employment and appropriately integrate back into society. The Center encourages women to be financially secure by teaching them a variety of income generating skills.

We look forward to being associated with this group and joining the fight against domestic violence, trafficking for flesh trade, child prostitution, child labor and forms of exploitation and torture.

For more information about Maiti Nepal, please visit their website at: http://www.maitinepal.org/pages.php?option=About%20Us

Sewing Machine Project Update

In the past two months Global Daughter has been able to raise the funds to purchase two sewing machines for our women producers at the Janakpur Arts and Crafts Center. In a shopping trip with our lead designer, Lanjana, and co-owner of the Center, Ajit, we decided on an electric sewing machine and a foot peddle "fashion maker." Lanjana was very excited to have a new and modern machine- especially the fashion maker which will allow for better finishing work and detail.

Both machines were presented in Janakpur to the workshop's manager, Rina. Due to major flooding in the area, GD could not attend the ceremony to bless the sewing machines. We did, however, receive a letter from Rina thanking us and our contributors for the new additions. She said they look forward to beginning work with the machines as soon as possible.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the project by either purchasing a GD signature shopping bag or donating funds. We were overwhelmed by the out pour of support for the cause and will be extending the project so that we can purchase more supplies for the center in the future.

The success of this project inspires us to find new ways to assist women artisans and provide them with the tools to be successful. Stay tuned to learn what new GD project you can be a part of!

On behalf of Global Daughter and the woman at JAC, thank you for making a difference....one stitch at a time.

*A very special thanks to Kerry Clark of Federal Way and to the Auburn Soroptomist Group for their extremely generous donations.

Purchase your "I am a Global Daughter" shopping bag today to join the Sewing Machine Project...

Find a GD Holiday Event Near You!

This season don't just give a gift....tell a story.

Please visit us at one of the events listed below this holiday season to pick up your handmade-fair trade gifts. With prices starting as low as $5 you don't have to worry about going over your limit and you can still make a purchase that matters!

Thursday, November 20th
Holiday Magic Chat Party, Seattle
The Fairview Club
2022 Boren Ave. Seattle 98121
6PM-9PM
Tickets: $44.00 per person. Includes appetizers, wine and shopping. No-host bar provided. Please visit http://www.chatwithwomen.com/ for your ticket or more information.

Saturday, November 22nd
Rock Creek Shopping Parade, Maple Valley
Rock Creek Housing Community
Start Time: 10AM (All Day Event)
*This is an event put on by Rock Creek Community. There will be open houses with a wide range of gift items for sale. Please email erika@globaldaughter.com for Global Daughter's specific address at this event.

Saturday, November 29th
Holiday Open House, Kirkland
10AM-8PM
*Please join us for food, shopping, special holiday discounts, and fun for an all day open house. Please email erika@globaldaughter.com for more details.

Saturday, December 6th
Tyee Holiday Bazaar, Sea Tac
4424 S. 188th St Sea Tac, 98188
9AM-4PM
*Sponsored by DECA, this is a great opportunity to pick up some unique gifts from local crafters and of course Global Daughter!

In addition to these events, Global Daughter is continuing to throw Fair Trade House Parties. If you are interested in hosting a party, please contact Erika. The hostess will receive a free gift in addition to 50% of any item.

Our online boutique, www.globaldaughter.com is also a great place to do your holiday shopping. Between now and the holidays spend $150 or more and receive free shipping!

We hope to see you at one of our events! Thanks to everyone for their continued support of Global Daughter.

Nepal-India Treaty Needed to Curb Trafficking

This from Nepal Kantipur Report:

KATHMANDU, Nov 5 - It is not possible to provide justice to survivors of trafficking and to punish traffickers unless there is a bilateral treaty between Nepal and India, a regional conference concluded.

"Countries in South Asia should have a common legal standard to trace and punish traffickers," said Sabin Shrestha, an advocate associated with Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD). "For Nepal, special bilateral treaty with India is a must to combat human trafficking."
He said this at the Regional Meeting for Media, Lawyers and Professionals organised by United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

According to Shrestha, Nepal is the country of origin and India is the major destination of human trafficking. The current agreements between the two countries do not include human trafficking. As a result, it is very difficult to produce adequate proof to punish traffickers.

"Only brokers are getting punishment not those who buy our Nepali people," Shrestha said. "If there is proper extradition treaty or common standard legal provision, it would be easy to punish both brokers and buyers involved in human trade."

According to him, till date, evidences documented in India are not accepted as proof in Nepal. For example if an NGO rescues a Nepali woman from an Indian brothel, Nepali authorities do not take this as proof.

There should be a record of those leaving for India and coming from India, which would make it easier to trace traffickers, he said.

Due to lack of sufficient proof, legal protection and support mechanism as well as social stigma and threats from traffickers, survivors of trafficking do not register their case with the police. He also said that the very few incidences of conviction have deterred survivors.

According to one study carried out by FWLD, only in about 33 percent of the registered cases is there a conviction.

International Labor Organization estimates that about 12,000 women and children are trafficked from Nepal every year. However, police records show that during 2006/07 only 112 cases of trafficking were filed with the police, while the number during 2005/06 was 97 and it was 72 in the year 2004/05.

Aruna Thapa of UNIFEM said that SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, 2002, also has provisioned for bilateral treaty. "But this has not been followed up, due to which traffickers go scot-free as Nepali authorities cannot take action against Indian criminals involved in human trafficking and Indian authorities cannot punish Nepali traffickers," said Thapa.

It's Time For a Change!