Getting Global Gifts to Market Takes International Teamwork

I know a guy who knows a guy. My guy is Ansly, a former student of mine at EIM, an adult English school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Although civil unrest in Haiti has prevented me from returning since 2019, I still raise funds for the school which has persevered through COVID and anarchic violence. I used to bring Haitian metal art back by the suitcase-full and sell it at the Eau Claire Global Market, donating the proceeds to EIM. But since I can't go, I call Ansly, who, as I mentioned, knows a guy, and he hooks me up with the goods: beautiful Christmas ornaments.

I am not alone. The Eau Claire Global Market attracts a delightful bunch of kindred-spirit vendors who haul or ship or enlist friends as “mules” to connect makers in developing nations with a small but supportive U.S. market: Eau Claire. This yields bigger profits, increasing their access to health care and education, thereby improving their capacity to work and earn. This year the Eau Claire Global Market will feature 20 vendors and will be held 9am to 3pm on Saturday, Nov. 9, at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Eau Claire.

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