Mango Tree Imports - Biz for sale

FOR SALE - Business - FOR SALE Dear Mango Tree Customers and Language Enthusiasts, Chris and I have decided that it is time for us to transition out of Mango Tree.  We want you to know that you have been the BEST customers, supporters, neighbors, friends, listeners and shoppers for the past 8 years - thank you, gracias, obrigada, merci, xie xie.  We are hoping that you are either interested in taking over Mango Tree so that you can continue to provide quality products to a town and Capital Region that have embraced fair trade, or that you can help spread the word.   During this transition we will be working the majority of the hours, but we will not be open 7 days per week.  Please stay tuned for updated hours or check thewebsite or Facebook page. Please see the flyer below for information and consider the following:  All inventory and other assets are for sale; basically a turn key operation. We do not own the building that we are in. For additional information be sure to click on the "display images below" in your email.  An image of our FOR SALE flyer should appear.  Happy Valentine's Day!  We are open today from 11-5, even in the snow!  One more bit of news - If you're tired of shoveling, how about a fair trade trip to the Dominican Republic?  Explore the origins of the cacao that's in your chocolate bar and check out coffee trees.  Visit our homepage to click on flyer for more info: Mango Tree Dominican Trip - this March!! Sincerely, Kim Andersen Mango Tree Imports, Capital Region Language Center and Empire State English

African Artisans

When you come in to check out our Kenyan soapstone sculptures, make sure you see what other treasures Africa has to offer, among them our handwoven baskets from Botswana. Despite its economic deprivations and harsh climate, women in north-western Botswana chiefly support their families through basket weaving. Basket weaving is a traditional art which made a resurgence in the early 1970's. One weaver is Mahurero Diyeve, who fled war-torn Angola in 1967. Ms. Diyeve, who never attended school, says of her trade, "I make a lot of money from baskets. I don't know what I'd do for money without basket-weaving." Because of their mother's livelihood, Ms. Diyeve's three children have opportunities their mother never had, "All my children are in school, and my daughter is at university. I want them to become teachers or office workers, not just basket makers."

                    

Make your Valentine's gifts fair trade! Meet Juliet Brago, a member of the Ghana-based Kuapa Kokoo cooperative, which co-owns Divine Chocolate. As she says, "It makes us all very proud to supply the best cocoa for the best chocolate and because we own it, we receive profits which help the whole village." Chief among these is a corn-milling machine, which reduced what had been an hours-long task into five minutes.

Work with Dignity, Quality Products

Mango Tree Imports is proud to feature Kenya for the month of January! Stop on by and get 10% off Kenyan-made cards, jewelry and soapstone sculptures.  Soapstone is a smooth, soft rock gathered from the earth without the use of machinery.  Artisans live on the land where they mine, design and sculpt the soapstone.  In a country where about 38% of the population lives in poverty, workers receive a living wage.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#Economy



        



In a country marred by dictatorship and war, Ugandan women are gaining economic independence through coffee production. Oliva Kushera, a mother of seven, became the first woman to join her coffee co-op. Since then, Kushera has helped other women join Gumutindo Co-Op and started a women's group with a small savings and loan program.




Save the date for Ballston Spa's next First Friday on February 7th! Mango Tree Imports is particularly excited to be part of  our first annual Chocolate Fest and showcase our own fair trade chocolate. In an industry that can be rife with abuse and corruption, we are particularly proud to sell Divine and Equal Exchange Chocolates in a wide variety of flavors.

Eco-Conscious Beauty

This November, we honor artisans from Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. One amazing resource South Americans use is called the tagua nut. Not only can this versatile nut be used to create jewelry and ornaments, the leaves can be used for hut roofing and the dust for cattle feed.  

The fruit of the tree, also called “mococha,” is round, measuring 20 to 50 centimeters in diameter.  While tagua may take up to 15 years to yield its first harvest, it can bear fruit for 100 years.  In the three yearly harvests, it produces between 15 to 16 heads or “mocochas.”

Perhaps best of all, due to its similar consistency to ivory, tagua nut has come to start replacing the material, helping to ensure elephant protection and the survival of these beautiful creatures. 

At Mango Tree Imports, our artisans have made beautiful jewelry, ornaments and decorations out of tagua nuts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytelephas

Return to “The Land of a Thousand Hills”

For several years, Meg Knight has been a regular fixture at Mango Tree Imports, but in December she’s moving to Rwanda for 18 months.

During a visit there in 2007, she had an extraordinary experience that changed her life. One day, between visits to rural genocide memorials, she happened on a fair trade cooperative where former enemies were working and laughing together while making beautiful baskets. Meg recalls the scene: “I will never forget that on a day filled with the most awful images of evil and death, I had stumbled on life and laughter.”  

She returned to Ballston Spa determined to endorse Fair Trade as a way to promote peace and economic justice. She became an enthusiastic employee of Mango Tree and was delighted when the shop started carrying “Cards from Africa,” products from another cooperative she had visited.

          Now, at the request of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda (PCR), she is returning to serve as a volunteer English teacher under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

“The PCR is playing a vital role in the healing and reemergence of the country,” she says, “positively affecting thousands of people in its schools, hospitals, clinics, and community development programs.”

But the Rwandan government has recently mandated a shift from French to English as the second official language, which means church leaders who were educated in French need to become fluent in English quickly. That’s where Meg comes in. She’ll be working to address the specific language needs of department heads and program coordinators at the church’s headquarters. She sees her work as capacity-building, enabling others to do the important work of healing in Rwanda. For more information, visit www.pcusa.org/meg.knight or contact her at meg.knight.000@gmail.com.