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"Poverty is not just a lack of cash, medicine, or technology. It is also about the confidence, skills, and belief that people can use what they have for the community's good. Surely poverty is as much about identity, meaning, and belonging as material goods." From Making Poverty Personal by Ash Barker Too often we reduce poverty to being a lack of material things. Of course this is an important part of poverty, but we can't overlook the other side which has a lot to do with identity. The lack of confidence is a message that is reinforced through handouts "you can't do...

"And it goes without saying that they are often treated as subhuman and have lost their dignity." This quote is from Kevin Bales book Disposable People and is in reference to slaves in India. The reality is that although legal slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century we must fight today to end illegal slavery. The fact that there are people, many people, in this world that are treated as subhuman and stripped of their dignity is an evil that we must face. It is not a reality that we can afford to hide our faces from.

*That there are some amazing businesses in the world doing good and they are worth supporting. Here is what we, Kairos Traders, learned in 2016: *That Freedom Businesses (those engaged in the issue of human trafficking) are a small percentage of social enterprises. *That scarves sell. *That there are consumers who want their purchase to support a good cause and that they don't know where to start in making that purchase. *To weigh down your display if you are outdoors and its windy :) *That earrings sell. *That you never know what event, or connection, will make the difference for...

Our 2016 took us to many places to share about the businesses we're partnered with; their stories, why they exist, and what they produce. What I love is that each product we sell helps support a business that empowers and brings dignity. In some cases these products help prevent exploitation through job creation. Here are some of our most popular products. Kalpana Scarves made by Purnaa These beautiful scarves are made from up-cycled silk saris. They come in super unique patterns (rarely do we have more than one scarf of the same print) and are incredibly soft. $20 Manab Caps made...

In the book Disposable People by Kevin Bales, Kevin shared this thought "Slavery is too big a problem to solve as individuals". If we are going to make an impact in the issue of Human Trafficking it's going to take a lot of people, doing a lot of things, in a lot of places. Find your part and then find others you can collaborate with.