Millions of people who live in disadvantaged communities in South Africa suffer from poor nutrition. GoodStripe is launching a pilot in collaboration with FoodPods South Africa, to help entrepreneurs earn a sustainable livelihood by selling excess fresh, organic vegetables to their neighbors and feeding themselves. This initiative is intended to meet the need for easy access to affordable, fresh, organic vegetables on an ongoing basis! We will keep you posted on the progress!
Here we are in September and fellow do-Gooders have asked - “All good? Have not seen any blog posts recently”. We are not going to make excuses - but here is our focus - we have put together a much stronger assortment of GoodBag programs working with several non-profit organizations. We have also worked closely with industry partners in communicating the GoodStripe mission. We are alive, well and doing Good. Will be more regular with the posts folks. We needed a breather to get our programs right! Thanks for hanging with us. Good Things Come to Those Who Wait! Thanks for waiting, we are almost there.
We want to take a moment to reflect on 2011, especially December. At the end of 2011, the GoodStripe community had helped us give nearly 2,000 GoodBags™ full of useful supplies to kindergartners in India, mothers in India, and high school girls in South Africa. These people received school supplies, mosquito nets, and sanitary napkins so they could make the most of the opportunities life has to offer. We’re incredibly proud of the first year of our GoodBag™ initiatives, and we are going to take a few months to reinvent our model in 2012 and come back with a way to enable more people engage in doing good.
At the end of 2011, another great thing happened - the GoodStripe website went live, and fair trade products started flying off the shelves! A big THANKS! to everyone who got the ball rolling and experienced the feel-good fun of choosing a GoodBag™ at checkout. Visit our site and see for yourself!
Get a jump on your holiday shopping with EMERGE! A Global Bazaar at Princeton University! This shop-for-good marketplace will be open for business
Sunday, December 11 from 1-4p at Chancellor Green on the Princeton Campus
[Chancellor Green]
Come see us and lots of other great organizations working for good! Check out the event and other attendees at the EMERGE! A Global Bazaar website.
PSST! Wanna deal? Visit us on Facebook and get an exclusive offer for EMERGE! Tell your friends.
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It’s been a great few days for GoodBag™ recipients! Earlier this week we distributed our second set of Sanitary Supplies in South Africa, and a few days before we completed the School Supplies GoodBag™ program in rural India.
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[GoodBags plus bananas- part of every festive Indian occasion!]
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As of November 12, half a hundred more students are now decked out with pencils, erasers, crayons, activity books, and backpacks - yes, backpacks!- which will continue to serve them as they progress in their studies. Parents, teachers, and the village head were present to celebrate with the children.
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[our November 12, distribution, with date displayed in continental fashion!]
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Of course, the distribution event is only part of the story. Learn more about our School Supply GoodBag™ program here!
Come see the Fairific collection in person when we hit the Fair Lawn street fair. Look for our Fairific banner - it leads the way to fun fair trade stuff for babies and kids, plus great Fair Femme and Fair for Five merchandise!
[warm up your fall or get ahead on holiday shopping!]
See you there!
What’s better than a GoodBag™ program that gives out the good to folks in one country? A GoodBag™ program that gives out the good in two!
Our Indian GoodBag™ programs have been active since July, equipping women and young children with mosquito nets to prevent malaria and school supplies to support their educations. Now we’re adding a new GoodBag™ program to the roster… in Cape Town, South Africa!
GoodStripe has partnered with Ocean View Secondary School, which serves teenage girls in the impoverished townships surrounding Cape Town. By working with the school administration and our GoodStripe field partner, we learned that absenteeism is a prevalent issue at Ocean View. Although it has negative implications for the girls’ educations and futures, there’s a way for the GoodStripe community to help. Hurrah!
Many of the girls who attend Ocean View do not have the resources to secure sanitary supplies for their periods, and nearly a dozen leave school every day for this reason. Some miss as much as a week of school each month, all for want of pads. We created the Sanitary Supplies GoodBags™ to address this problem alongside the school administrators, who are incredibly dedicated to empowering their students. With time we hope to see with the ripple effects of the girls earning their degrees and working to break the cycle of poverty that exists in the Townships. The GoodBags™ are by no means a silver bullet, but they can do some real good.
The first Sanitary Supplies GoodBag Distribution took place October 10, 2011 in the assembly room at Ocean View. Both of the school’s deputy principals addressed the girls with a positive message about their individuality and potential. The girls also learned about GoodStripe and the GoodBag programs, and received basic health information and a questionnaire to test their knowledge. After all, knowledge is power! Then each student received her GoodBag of 20 sanitary pads!
Perhaps most importantly, the girls learned how to be active partners in the GoodBag program. Since the program’s objective is to reduce absenteeism substantially over the next three months, the girls are expected to use their pads and come to school during their periods. We hope that by giving the girls the tools they need to change their behavior, they will get more out of their educations. 
Two more distribution dates are already planned for the next two months! Stay tuned for more GoodBags™ and GoodStriping in South Africa.
[photos courtesy of Ocean View Secondary School]
It’s back to school in America, but children around the world need new school supplies, too. That’s why GoodStripe has partnered with the Ambedkar Integrated School in rural India. On September 28, 2011 GoodStripe and our field partner DISCC India distributed fifty new GoodBags™, chock full of school supplies and including a backpack, pencils, eraser, crayons, and a drawing and activity book. The students also got bananas and nutrition biscuits for a healthy snack!
The GoodBags™ were given to lower and upper kindergartners, ages 3-5, at Ambedkar. Our field partner reports that before the children’s families were persuaded to send the little ones to school, they were aimless and likely to wander the village during the day. As such, Ambedkar is an entirely new experience for them, one that introduces positive activity like drawing, playing games, and learning poetry, along with lots of change. We hope that by offering these young scholars support, like the specially designed GoodBags™, they will be excited by education and motivated to learn.
The giving event brought members of the community together at the colorful and brightly decorated Ambedkar Integrated School. Local village leaders, parents, and students enjoyed the festive day, which included speeches, performances, and the GoodBag™ distribution. Older students, pictured below, sang welcome songs for the guests and were accompanied by their teacher, who plays harmonium. Next month, another fifty youngsters will be present at a distribution ceremony of their own, so stay tuned. In the mean time, Click for more about the school and the School Supply GoodBags™.
[photos courtesy of DISCC India and Dr. Tulsi]
Welcome Fairly Certain Readers!
Thanks for joining us on the new GoodStripe blog. Like we said, it’s still us writing about all the good stuff you’re used to, just on a new platform. Also as promised, the Fairly Certain content is already here. Scroll down and see for yourselves. We’re glad you’re here.
-Your GoodStripe bloggers
Hi There, Blog Friends!
We’ve all been eagerly awaiting the online launch of the Fairific collection, comprised of fun fair trade stuff for kids and baby, and the time is nearly here! Not only is the Fairific Collection making a home on the web, it’s finding friends - we’re excited to introduce you to the Fair Femme Collection, a beautiful selection of fair trade accessories for the socially conscious woman and the Fair for Five Collection, a gaggle of fair trade goodies for $5 or less. All three of these fabulous collections, plus new ones, are coming soon to the brand new GoodStripe.com.
What’s GoodStripe™ , you ask? It’s an online venue brought to you by the same people who created the Fairific Collection. On GoodStripe™ you’ll find great products that do good of all stripes, and you’ll get to give a GoodBag™ with every purchase! Yippee! 
Our GoodBag™ Programs have been active since July - for every purchase, we’ve given a GoodBag™ full of useful supplies to a community in need. (Click to read about GoodBag™ beginnings, our July distribution, or our August distribution.) We love giving GoodBags™ , but when you shop the new GoodStripe.com you get to choose which GoodBag™ you give! Soon you’ll be able to read up on our GoodBag™ Programs and pick your favorite - then click it at checkout. With every GoodBag™ you give, you’re letting your GoodStripe™ shine! 
Thanks for joining us as we launch the Fairific (and friends!) collections and GoodStripe.com - we’re happy to have you! Stay tuned for our new social media pages and to sign up for GoodMail, which we’ll use to send you news, deals, and more. We hope you’re as excited as we are to be part of the new GoodStripe.com!
Sincerely,
The GoodStripe™ Team
It seems we spoke too soon. In our last post we explained that Fairific was discontinuing the Mosquito Net GoodBags™ in India and replacing them with School Supply GoodBags™ because the rains and accompanying mosquitoes were making their seasonal exit. It marked a natural time to turn our attention to other pressing needs in the area. But like we said, it seems we spoke too soon.
Our field partner Dr. Tulsi has been keeping us informed about local conditions. This morning he reported that the “whole of Varanasi city [is] completely submerged in water due to the heaviest rains I have ever seen,” and that neighboring villages were experiencing extreme conditions as well. “Electricity was gone,” he says, “mobiles and computers stopped working, people were deprived of food… for 3-4 days and all communication systems including roads, railway tracks, and airports were also full of water. Everything was at a standstill.”
On the east coast we recently experienced Hurricane Irene and her furious downpour, so our sympathies are especially fresh. Luckily for us, a flood doesn’t trigger thoughts of water stagnation, mosquitoes, and mosquito-borne illness like in India.
As we reflect on these natural events, we can be glad that the Fairific community gave as many Mosquito Net GoodBags™ in July and August as they did. The 100 families who received Mosquito Net GoodBags™ are better prepared to deal with the flood and it’s aftermath than they would have been without them. Of course, there’s nothing we could put in a GoodBag™ that would completely protect someone from all the trouble the world has to offer, but at least each one offers something good that can make life a little better.
Click here for more on our Mosquito Net GoodBags™
(photos courtesy of Dr. Tulsi and Fairific)
The rains have finally passed in rural India, and with them the year’s most severe threat of mosquito-borne malaria and dengue fever. As the season changes, Fairific looks ahead to new needs we can alleviate with our September GoodBag™ distribution. By working with our field partner we’ve found that, just like American children starting a new school year, the students in rural villages need school supplies, too. Happily, the Fairific community is here to help! In late September, Fairific and field partner DISCC, India will distribute 50 School Supply GoodBags™, each with a school bag, two pencils, an eraser, a set of crayons, and a drawing and activity book, to kindergartners at Ambedkar Integrated School. We talked with DISCC President Dr. Tulsi Das about implementing the new GoodBag™ program.
[current students at Ambedkar Integrated School]
Fairific: Dr. Tulsi, can you share a little about the Ambedkar Integrated School with our readers?
Dr. Tulsi: The Ambedkar Integrated School is one of DISCC, India’s permanent projects. The school was started under a tree many years back and gradually, with the support of international friends, we have built a structure of 4 rooms where children can study. The school is situated in a completely rural area with mud huts, grain fields, cows and buffalo, small roads, and villagers who are mostly below the poverty line. Here, below the poverty line means they have a very meager income and few resources to manage their family. Most of them are from a lower caste, have reached a low level of education— just enough to read a little bit, and work in the grain fields where they earn about 100 rupees per day (note: about $2.02). To put that in perspective, potatoes cost 15 rupees per kilogram and onions cost 25 rupees per kilogram— quite a lot compared to the average income. Another quality of life issue is that the children generally don’t have sports or games to keep them occupied, so their choices are working in the fields with their parents or roaming around the village. You can see why going to school, even under a tree, is a much better alternative.
[the early days of Ambedkar Integrated School]
Fairific: Is there anything significant about the school’s name, Ambedkar?
Dr Tulsi: Yes! Dr. Ambedkar was the person who wrote the constitution of India. He was a social activist who devoted himself to the poorest of the poor as well as the oppressed communities of Indian society. This school was established in keeping with his ideas and philosophy. As such, it is located in a remote village with the intention of providing basic education, health, and hygiene skills and boosting confidence in the village’s poorest children.
Fairific: What is a normal day like for the students at the Ambedkar Integrated School?
Dr. Tulsi: The students’ school day runs from 9.30AM to 2PM. Usually the day starts with a prayer, followed by Yoga lesson, followed by Thought of the Day, and then children go into their respective classes. The timetable for these children is not like any other school of the world but is based more on functional knowledge and life skills. For example, they learn the concept of money, the concept of time, and good values, and they do so through stories, songs, and cultural programs. Along with this functional education, children are taught health education, sports and games, English, Hindi, mathematics, and science up to grade 4. The students also enjoy a class picnic each year.
[Dr. Tulsi with older students at Ambedkar Integrated School]
Fairific: We’re excited to be giving out creativity boosting materials like crayons and activity books. As a psychologist, can you share a bit about the importance of these items?
Dr. Tulsi: For starters, the kindergartners love drawing and painting and we wanted them to enjoy their creativity. From a more scientific angle, people see everything of this world in the form of colors, movements, voices, and excitement. These four elements are very important for the growth of the brain. In fact, a hard scientific fact is that we don’t remember in black and white. Rather, we remember in the form of sounds, movements and colors, and excitement. We also know that at around 4 years of age, children are developing their understanding and recognition of color. This, along with the four elements of memory, are for better or worse. For example, if I ask you what is the meaning of Papa in your memory then the face of your papa with colors and sounds is there, but no word which comes in memory as “papa.” That’s just the way it is. All this adds up to the great importance of colors, shapes, actions, and so on, and we saw that by supplying young students with crayons and activity books that we could help them develop these critical functions, and do it in a fun way.
Fairific: Thanks for talking with us, Dr. Tulsi. We can’t wait to see photos from the September GoodBag™ distribution!
