Event Tonight

Stop Child Trafficking Now: Ending the Exploitation

When: Sat., Aug. 21, 7-10:30 p.m.
Price: Free, but donations accepted
www.unitedagainstcontemporarytrafficking.blogspot.com

When's the last time you did something to benefit another? Feel like its been a little too long? Well come to Midtown Grill this Saturday and raise your voice to Stop Child Trafficking Now! This charity event will be featuring the artistic talents of Jamie Nichole, Chris Jerles and Robert Newport of Borrow Tomorrow, and Adam Nevins of Common Ground. It will also be having a silent auction and survivor sharing their past experience. There will also be some jewelery and other items for sale made by trafficking survivors from locally owned The Village Experience and Peace, Love, Bling. United Against Contemporary Trafficking (U-ACT) is a grassroots organization that supports and assists local and international individuals and organizations in their fight against human trafficking. Come on, support these guys!

• Midtown Grille and Lounge

• BROAD RIPPLE 815 E Westfield Blvd
• Phone: (317) 253-1141
• www.midtown-grill.com
• (based on 1 user review)
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• This is where I will be at tonight! The Village Experience will have a booth with are freshwater pearl necklaces and earrings, all made my sex-trafficking survivors!

Thailand

Exciting news here:::: Kelly has presented me an opportunity to travel with her to Thailand!! I'm planning on being there for 1 month. The first week I will be at a conference with Kelly in Bangkok, I will then travel to the north to visit a women's group called Population and Community Development Association or PDA. I will spend one week with then developing new products with local artisans. I will then fly down to the south of Thailand and spend one week with SHE Thailand and one week with the Duang Prateep Ban Thai Namchai orphanage and develop more products with them. The products we create will be sold at The Village Experience and their local markets. I will actually be there with the artisans developing products and searching for materials! Crazy huh??

The only stipulation with the trip is that I have to fund the entire thing. Therefore, I have created the brochure to help fundraise for the trip (to enlarge the brochure, just click on it). Many of you may have already received it via email or will receive it through the postal mail. Hopefully, through enough family and friends I will raise enough to cover my travel and expenses. If I surpass my goal, I will use the money to help build up the women's group. Please click the "donate" button on the right side if you would like to help! As most of you know, their needs are simple and a small donation can make a huge difference.

Please contact me if you would like more information regarding the women's groups I will be visiting or if you have any questions/comments!

New Window Display

Since Kelly and Anne brought back so many new pearls, we decided to make a window display with them. Inspiration…"raining pearls."

To create the window, we took twine and tied it to hooks that were already attached to the ceiling. We then made three knots in the twine for the pearls to hang from. We thought it would look better with them hanging at different lengths. In order to see them from the sidewalk we had to put at least 6 to 10 strands of pearls. We also wanted to incorporate the new summer dresses. Therefore, we put the long dress on the mannequin with the new pearls and a beautiful sunhat. Just a reminder: the pearls are from Thailand, which is why the Thailand Book is also in the window. We were going to tackle the other window, but didn't have enough time. I'm sure we will do that sometime this week!

They're Back

Anne and Kelly finally made it back home from Thailand! They brought back so many things with them. They even brought me back a dress--so cute right? Kelsie and I tagged the new items all day. It's quite time consuming when you have to hand write the price, item number, and tie the tag with twine. Despite this, it's still fun getting new products and to be the first to see them!

Look, I'm famous!

Well......I'm not really famous, BUT my biography and the link to my blog is up on TVE's website! Despite it only being a little write-up-which I wrote myself- it kind of makes me feel like an asset to the company. Working on the website was really interesting. Not too complicated but interesting in that you get to see the "behind the scenes" or "back end" of a website. The interns have been delegated the responsibility for keeping the website up-to-date on the events, travels and new products. Tomorrow I will post new pictures of the store and the products to the website, some of which are already posted on my blog.

Working on the website took up the first half of my day and the other half of my day was spent researching new products that can be created. Anne and Kelly are leaving for Thailand tomorrow. While in Thailand Kelly and Anne will be meeting up with SHE Thailand and the Duang Prateep Foundation to discuss and develop new products for the store. SHE Thailand focuses on pearls, while the Duang Prateep Foundation produces this beautiful printed fabric. As of now, the Duang Prateep Foundation is using the fabric to make wine totes, however TVE wants to do more with the fabric. It is made of 100% cotton and comes in a variety of colors. A few ideas for the fabric is to develop student travel id's (similar to the ones made by Vera Bradley), various sizes of make-up bags, passport covers and credit card holders. Below are a few pictures of the fabric that is currently used to make the wine totes:

Just in case you were wondering what the Duang Prateep Foundation is, it began in 1978 to work with the urban poor. In response to the Tsunami of 2004, the organization expanded its services to Phangnga province to help the remaining survivors, mostly children. This foundation supports orphanages, handicraft centers, kindergartens, community development projects, and much more. The women of Duang Prateep engage in income-generating projects to help themselves and to support local children's home, such as Baan Tharn Namchai, where The Village Experience works.

Ideas for SHE Thailand are pearl earrings, both studs and dropped pearls, bracelets with several rows of pearls, necklaces with a variety of sizes of pearls, etc. In researching, it is important to think of the resources these organizations will have available, as well as, the complexity of the product. Having a picture of the product or a simplified sketch is crucial. All while trying to keep in mind the young, college-aged consumer!

Check out my bio under the "Our Team" tab. Then, click on "Advisory Board!"

Night folks:) xxoo

First Day of Work

Today, on this (unfortunate) gloomy morning at 11am was the start of my internship.

When I first walked in I was greeted by Emily. Emily is responsible for researching and coordinating the events TVE attends. Emily showed me the new area TVE has expanded into and helped to get me settled in. She refereed me to the "Intern Packet", introduced me to the other interns, Molly and Kelsie, and reviewed the products TVE carries.

The beginning of my day was mostly spent on walking around the store and learning about the products. TVE has roughly 40 vendors so it will take some time to learn all about the products and their story. When I say "story", I mean how the product is made and who it is made by. Being a fair trade store, each organization/women's group/charity has a unique story behind them. Here is an example:

SHEThailand

The Story

SHE Thailand was started in 2006. SHE (Self Help and Empowerment) is a charity committed to helping women and children at risk in Thailand, many of whom are trapped in the commercial sex trade. SHE is dedicated to providing employment, vocational training, and counseling for women who want to help themselves out of this industry. SHEThailand works with roughly 16 women and their children. Women produce a wide range of artisan handicrafts such as gourmet chocolates, decorative boxes and pearl earrings.

Why The Village Experience is involved

The Village Experience discovered SHEThailand in March of 2009. The women and products they created captured our hearts. The Biddle family, an intergral part of SHEThailand, moved us with their tenacity to see these women find a way to change their lives.

For more information visit: www.shethailand.org

Other than learning about the products, I spent the majority of my day merchandising the new side of the store. The new expansion will focus on home goods. This varies from fair trade coffees, teas, olives oils, tea pots, nesting trays, dry cookie mixes, aprons, bowls, etc. All of which are great and are helping to support impoverished countries!

The new expansion is set to be revealed this upcoming Saturday for our party. Samples of the new products will be able to be taste tested, along with donated food, beer and wine from local Indianapolis companies. The party is open to anyone and will be from 4pm-9pm at TVE store's location 6055 N. College Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46220. I'm already looking forward to the party, meeting the customers and local partners of TVE. Tomorrow I will post pictures of the store and the new expansion!

See you then friends-- xxoo