The Challenge

In so many areas of the world, safe employment and job training can be the difference between life and death, and can be the foothold needed to escape the cycle of poverty. 

Women affected with HIV in India lose all social standing when their husbands die. The husbands have usually contracted the disease, passed it onto their wives (and sometimes children), and then passed away. These women are then ostracized from their communities due to the stigma of the disease and unable to remarry. Some have even had their houses burned down or been turned away by their own families. Most women have no job training and little education, having mostly been housewives. 

In East Java, Indonesia, women who work outside the home as seamstresses usually must live away from their families. Children may go years without seeing their mothers, just so that food can be put on the table. The main market for handmade fabric goods is outside of the area, creating a lack of local jobs for women who desire to remain with their families and communities. 

In Jordan, as in much of the world, disabled individuals have few opportunities for employment. They are dependent on family members or charity for their survival. Families often are not equipped with training or resources to care for them, and in many cultures face additional discrimination and prejudice from the community.

A Solution

Latitudes partners with a broad range of small artisan businesses in over 11 different countries that each seek to alleviate this economic hardship through sustainable employment and business partnerships such as:

• One artisan business in India employs widows affected by HIV and trains them to be seamstresses while providing medical care, community, and education opportunities for their children.

• Another in Nepal works with women at risk for human trafficking and gives them a safe haven for fair trade employment and a compassionate community.

• One in Jordan employs handicapped Jordanians and trains them in various stages of handcrafted woodworking production.

• Another in India works with existing artisan communities to build fair trade partnerships.

Latitudes exists to market and advocate for artisan-based small businesses around the world who seek to impact resource-deprived communities, particularly in poverty stricken regions. Latitudes comes alongside small business owners to help develop marketable products and effective sales channels that allow for employment, job training, and sustainable income for families and individuals. Each of these small businesses are invested in their local communities and seek to impact those with the greatest need for empowerment, advocacy, and opportunity.

Business activities geared towards alleviating poverty, promoting economic development, and reducing inequalities:

Target: Promote and support that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property & natural resources. (adapted from Target 1.4)

Target: Promote and support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. (adapted from Target 8.3)

Target: Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

Measured by the:

• Number of full-time, part-time, and temporary employees employed by Latitude Partners that are earning a local living wage or higher.

• Number of Latitude Partners.

• Units/volume purchased from supplier partners that sold to the organization during the reporting period.

With the successful operation of each of these small businesses, we have begun to see substantial changes to the security and sustainable incomes of the artisans employed. 

• In Jordan, disabled artisans are earning a wage for the first time, and they are finding enjoyment and self-worth in their work. 

• In India, HIV widows are feeling loved and cared for by a compassionate community while earning a living for their families. They are also given medical assistance through their employment. 

• In Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan, women are working from within their homes, earning much needed income while still engaging in family life. One woman was able to purchase a sewing machine for the very first time, out of the proceeds of her work. 

• Again in India, local artisans are finding expanded sales channels for their products, earning income to provide for their families in the midst of harsh times. Other artisans are learning crafting skills that earn an income now and create future opportunities for employment with these newfound marketable skills. 

• In Thailand, local artisans devastated by the collapse of tourism have found a lifeline in direct, fair trade export. 

All of this and more is possible through a relationship with Latitudes

Latitudes exists to market and advocate for artisan-based small businesses around the world who seek to impact resource-deprived communities, particularly in poverty stricken regions. Latitudes comes alongside small business owners to help develop marketable products and effective sales channels that allow for employment, job training, and sustainable income for families and individuals. Each of these small businesses are invested in their local communities and seek to impact those with the greatest need for empowerment, advocacy, and opportunity.

What Does Your Donation Go Towards?

As a vital link in the supply chain, the successful marketing and sales by Latitudes directly benefits each individual artisan as their own hands transform raw materials into lifesaving income. Your donation allows this work to continue and expand.