Peacecraft works with over 30 suppliers from 14 different countries, such as Ecuador, Ghana, and Thailand, and it sells unique gifts like handmade dolls from Mexico and soapstone domino sets made in Kenya. Some of these suppliers find Peacecraft through the Internet, some are discovered by Peace Corps members who then help them find markets for their goods, and some are sought out by the Peacecraft team on trips abroad.

While they are from all over the world and produce a wide range of crafts and clothes, all of these suppliers do have something in common: they are all community-owned and -run cooperatives, and they all adhere to fair trade criteria. (All Peacecraft suppliers must must be members of the Fair Trade Federation, the International Federation of Alternative Trade, or the European Fair Trade Association, or they must be approved independently by the Peacecraft Evaluation Committee.)

In addition to earning a livable income from the crafts sold through Peacecraft, members of craft cooperatives often grow stronger together and cooperate to solve serious problems within their communities.

“We have witnessed communities that have been completely turned around through the practice of fair trade,” says Sara Pax, the vice chair of Peacecraft. The cooperatives sustained by a living wage, says Sara, “are able to support schools, hospitals, and educational programs in their communities.”

—Sarah Tarver-Wahlquist