What I have learned to expect from artisan visits

I will always underestimate the time it takes to get there, visit, and return. Even after a dozen-odd days of visits, I am still surprised when we are unlocking our door at 4 pm after leaving at 8… and only visiting two workshops.

The smaller the bus/combi/vehicle, the greater the chance of Simon getting carsick.


About half the time, someone crammed in next to us on the bus will take an interest in the gringo family and will ask us where we are going and why… and then they will warn us to be careful because that area is so dangerous. That really freaked me out at first but it’s happened so many times by now – with zero problems – that now I can shrug it off.


Other people on the buses will help us get off the bus at the right place when we are in unfamiliar areas, instead of us needing to somehow make our way to the cobrador and ask if we are close to Puente Benavides or KM 40. Our fellow riders also yell out “Baja” for us to make sure the cobrador and driver actually stop the bus.


If the artisan offers us a drink while we chat, it will be Inca Kola. It is fluorescent yellow, carbonated, tastes exactly like bubble gum, and is somehow the most popular drink in this country. It outsells Coke. I would guess it outsells water, too, since I never hear or see Peruvians ordering water, just Inca Kola. 


If there is dirt nearby, Simon is willing to stay and have us talk for hours.


When we ask the artisans about what fair trade means to them, they equate fair trade with Manos Amigas. They almost always talk about Yannina being family, that their asking prices are respected, their product samples are valued and not given to other producers to replicate for less money, and they are paid on time. Those seemed like nice but fairly unrevolutionary things when we started. But after hearing horror stories of people not being paid for months after an order was delivered (in one instance, after pulling out all the stops to produce an 18,000 piece order, one artisan had to be relentlessly persistent for one whole year, asking for his payment, until the company paid him), if at all, now I understand why Manos Amigas’ punctuality with the 50% advance and balance on order completion is so highly valued.

We will hear about negative experiences with two other exporters, stories that make me cringe and wonder at the fair trade certification process for exporters, as the exporters in question are members of the World Fair Trade Organization (as is Manos Amigas). When we first heard the stories we thought they were sad but anomalies. And now that we have heard variations on the same theme in nearly every artisan visit, we now believe them as evidence of how these exporters routinely act.


I will be humbled by the poverty that many of the artisans live in.


The photos are never as excellent as the real life experience was.


I will return to the office, daunted by the massive amount of information to turn into a story but excited that we are doing something that will prove helpful to Manos Amigas' clients and Global Gifts.