2007.03.01: March 1, 2007: Headlines: COS - Namibia: NGO's: Women's Issues: The Oregonian: Namibia RPCV Kristi Jo Lewis launches Global Sistergoods with her sister
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2007.03.01: March 1, 2007: Headlines: COS - Namibia: NGO's: Women's Issues: The Oregonian: Namibia RPCV Kristi Jo Lewis launches Global Sistergoods with her sister
Namibia RPCV Kristi Jo Lewis launches Global Sistergoods with her sister
She traces the idea to the Namibian village of Okankola, where she was a Peace Corps volunteer nine years ago. "The women who still made baskets and clay pots worried that their daughters weren't going to learn these skills or their cultural values," Lewis recalls. "Girls had to leave and go to the city to find a job." "Study after study has shown that when women are empowered economically and socially, they're the ones who provide care and stability for their families," Lewis says from the company's office/warehouse in St. Johns. "To invest in women is the best investment you can make."
Namibia RPCV Kristi Jo Lewis launches Global Sistergoods with her sister
Sisters hatch plan to help other women
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Edward Hershey
Can you do well by doing good? Two sisters from North Portland intend to find out.
Aided by a network of friends and organizations, Kristi Jo Lewis and Beth Kapsch launched Global Sistergoods in September. The online business sells crafts made by women's collectives in developing lands to improve conditions there.
"Study after study has shown that when women are empowered economically and socially, they're the ones who provide care and stability for their families," Lewis says from the company's office/warehouse in St. Johns. "To invest in women is the best investment you can make."
She traces the idea to the Namibian village of Okankola, where she was a Peace Corps volunteer nine years ago. "The women who still made baskets and clay pots worried that their daughters weren't going to learn these skills or their cultural values," Lewis recalls. "Girls had to leave and go to the city to find a job."
The sisters grew up in Phoenix, Ariz. Kapsch attended Willamette University and went on to work for the state Commission on Children and Families and Children First for Oregon before the birth of daughter Quincy, now 2. Kapsch and her family live in Overlook.
Lewis and her husband live in Portsmouth. She went to Africa in 2005 to complete research for a master's degree in public policy from Portland State and tour with her recently widowed mother, Pat Miller.
"Mom and I came across a women's collective in the middle of the Kalahari Desert," she says. "On a handshake, we made a partnership."
With front money from their mother, they began selling imports from such places as Botswana, Ghana, Honduras, Cambodia, South Africa and Thailand online and at fairs in Seattle and Portland. They say they're already breaking even.
"We just sort of embarked, and it has been incredible," Kapsch says.
With advice from the local Small Business Administration office and other business owners, they've turned to the likes of Mercy Corps, the Daywalka Foundation and Green Empowerment to find collectives.
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Story Source: The Oregonian
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Namibia; NGO's; Women's Issues
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