Archive for the ‘Fair Trade’ Category
12/11/2009
DEC 4-6 Burlington VT
Mountain Spirit Institute will be attending Burlington Vermont’s International Festival on December 4th-6th. MSI will have a booth explaining the mission and programs of the organization. In particular, the Peruvian/USA Music Exchange with the Cusco band Chimu Inka, that was so popular in 2008 will be featured at the booth. Also our Peru and New Zealand programs will be presented, where visitors will have a chance to find out more about going on an MSI program in those countries or here in the U.S. MSI will also have Peruvian Fair Trade products and Chimu Inka CD’s and instruments for sale to help raise funds for their return, and to fund other MSI programs as well.
The Festival has been running for over fifteen years, and according to Amanda Richards, the organizers of the event are excited to have Mountain Spirit attend the festival. We look forward to being there as well!
Tags:Amanda Richards, Chimu Inka, Fair Trade, Mountain Spirit, Peru/USA Music Exchange, Vermont International Festival
Posted in Fair Trade, Film/DVD, Focus on MSI People, MSI News, Music, New Zealand, Peru, South America, Supporting MSI | Leave a Comment »
01/11/2009
Online Release of Chimu Inka DVD
By Randall Richards
Chimu Inka's 3rd CD
This is short version of a video, taken a few years ago on the streets of Cusco. It’s a project to promote my good friends, and Mountain Spirit Institute Program Chimu Inka and their US educational tour. The band toured the northeast US in the fall of 2008 and we have plans to sponsor their return again in 2010. These guys are amazing.
If you would like to help support their tour by a donation or help with logistics, please let us know. Their first tour was hugely popular, and we expect their second visit to be so too.
The group performed and taught about the spirit of Peruvian Folklore music in their country. They also spoke of their instruments and lifestyle in Peru in a series of Q&A sessions after and during their performances. They visited schools, universities, kindergartens, town bandstands and coffeehouses.
Although I’ve had this video on disk for a year, I’m finally getting it online tonight. This is a shortened version of the original production. The higher definition and longer version is available for purchase through our Fair Trade page. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed taping and producing it. Enjoy!
Tags:Chimu Inka Video, Guillermo Seminario, Music Exchange, Peruvian Music
Posted in 1- Video Posts, Fair Trade, Film/DVD, Focus on MSI People, MSI News, Music, Peru, Spiritual, Supporting MSI | 4 Comments »
14/10/2009
Sustainable food and a healthy future for all our children
By Amanda Richards
Fresh, The Movie
A friend of mine had just mentioned she’d seen a movie called Food Inc. , a film that documents where our food in the U.S. comes from. It shows how our food supply is seriously compromised. After seeing the film however, she was wondered what she could do for her family and community – what action steps could she take? She finds that she is still shopping in supermarkets and has felt a bit ‘powerless’ to change her buying habits. Answers to her questions can be found in a new film by Ana Sofia Joanes called ‘Fresh – New thinking about the way we are eating.’ It is an optimistic movie offering a ‘gateway to action.’ Exactly what my friend is looking for. ‘FRESH is a grassroots efforts for a grassroots movement’. Instead of being distributed in cinemas, it is being offered to communities as a way for people to get together and screen the movie for themselves. In this way, it can be used as a tool for action.
I have just signed on to help Linda Howes,CN,HHP,CBE, owner of Nourishing Wellness, organize a showing in the Kearsarge Region of New Hampshire. It’s important. Have a look at the website and get involved. The ‘FRESH movement is a constantly growing community striving to alter the way our food system works.’
“We all just watched FRESH…and we were mesmerized and empowered. Every American needs to see this. You will capture hearts with this. I can’t wait to sit in an audience watching this. It is absolutely masterful. “
Joel Salatin
“We all know about the problems with the American food system, but what about the solutions? FRESH is a bracing, even exhilarating look at the whole range of efforts underway to renovate the way we grow food and feed ourselves.”
Michael Pollan
Tags:Amanda Richards, Food Supply, Fresh, Linda Howes, Mountain Spirit, Nourishing Wellness, Sustainable Living/Communities
Posted in Animals, Conservation, Environment, Fair Trade, Film/DVD, Health, Holistic Living, MSI News, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
30/09/2009
Mountain Spirit has Fair Trade and MSI items for sale on its webpage where all proceeds directly go to artisans, local vendors and to benifit MSI’s non-profit programs. Plans are to make more products available and to have more online checkout payment options. Paypal is available for online payments and new products have already been introduced. In addition the page has been improved with more quick links to find items more easily. Check out MSI’s Fair Trade Page here. Expect to see more in the way of traditional textiles very shortly.
Tags:Andean Arts, Fair Trade, Peru, Peruvian Art, Traditional Textiles from Peru
Posted in Fair Trade, MSI News, Music, Peru, Supporting MSI, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
22/09/2009
Yuri at his storefront, Hauraz, Peru
Climbing Gear Manufacturer Grows Business in Huaraz, Peru
I’ve known Yuri Yamirez for about 12 years. We met through his brother Jorge Martel, with whom I guided on Huascaran and other peaks in the Cordillera Blanca near Huaraz. Back then, Yuri had one sewing machine and was making tents and anything climbing related. He had a chaulk bag inlaid with traditional Peruvian material. Now, he’s got a staff of 8 or so people and is selling items in Europe and the USA. We’ve had his items on our website’s fair trade page for some time, but haven’t done his stuff justice.
Yuri in Yuraq Janka workshop
Peru’s tourism trade is booming, and it’s good to see Yuri has benefited from the rise in Peru’s profile worldwide. His company is called Yuraq Janka, which means (we think) the Cordillera Blanca in Quechua. Yuri does great work. We purchase one of his 40 liter climbing packs (model: Chacraraju 40) which is one of the lightest you’ll find anywhere. If you want more info check out MSI’s fair-trade webpage, or his website, which is still under development but does have an index page and contact info.
Tags:Cottage in industry in Peru, Fair Trade, Hauraz, Huascaran, Jorge Martel, Mountain Spirit, Peru, Randy Richards, Yuraq Janka, Yuri Yamirez
Posted in Fair Trade, Peru | Leave a Comment »
21/09/2009
MSI’s First Peruvian Trade Goods Market, A Success
Amanda Richards at SOWA, Boston
Director Randy Richards, and Chief Operating Manager Amanda Richards traveled to Boston, a few days after having arrived back in the U.S. with tons of goods purchased in Cusco, Ollantaytambo, Huaraz and Lima, Peru. The goods were sold to raise funds for liability insurance and other costs associated with running Mountain Spirit. Although they didn’t sell everything, they re-cooped their costs of goods purchased in Peru.
MSI's Booth: SOWA'09
“Although we’ve been running programs since the late ’90’s,” says Richards, “in many ways we’re still a start-up organization.” He adds, ” We still don’t have the funding quite yet to earn a salary from MSI, but we feel we’re over the hump. We’ve been around long enough, that some people are recognizing the name, plus we’ve got more experience in what we do.”
If you would like to make a donation to help fund operating costs for worthwhile programs that help children, families and adults get into nature, please contact us or send a check now to:
Mountain Spirit Institute
POB 626
Sunapee, NH 03782
Tags:Amanda Richards, Boston, Dexter R. Richards, Fundraising for MSI, Mountain Spirit, SOWA Market
Posted in Fair Trade, MSI News, Supporting MSI | Leave a Comment »
20/08/2009
We stumbled upon Maribel Torres Leon’s Museum of Biodiversity in Ollantaytambo, Peru, when we walking on a side street one afternoon. The motto on her business card states, “Trade rightly, Sustainable Tourism, Cultural Identity”. Check out the video, and if you like it, please support Maribel’s work by either visiting the museum (see address and telephone number below), spreading the word about her good work, and/or making a donation. Well done Maribel!
Museum of Biodiversity
Maribel Torres Leon, Director & Founder
Calle La Convencion
Ollantaytambo, Peru
Tel: 51-84-984-962607 or 984-934263
Email: info@biomuseo.org
Tags:Alternative Tourism, Biodiversity, Cultural Identity, Experiential Education in Peru, Fair Trade, Maribel Torres Leon, Mountain Spirit, Museum of Biodiveristy, Ollantaytambo, Randall Richards, Sustainable Travel
Posted in 1- Video Posts, Conservation, Experiential Education, Fair Trade, Holistic Living, Inspirational People, Peru, Service, Spiritual, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
11/08/2009
By Randall Richards
Willoc woman with child
Before I knew it I had a baby on my back. We were being shown how the Peruvian weaving process works from start to finish. We were in the town of Willoc for the afternoon, above Ollantaytambo, the gateway to Machu Picchu. We were being shown how the wool is shorn, carded, and spun, then dyed and weaved on a back-strap loom. The women showing us were wonderful and very gracious. I’d been there a number of times before taking a few MSI participants up to the mountain village, known for its weavings.
Gringo guide with child
I have always been curious how the woman use the mantas, or clothes to carry everything from children to corn. I had been shown the day before how to fold and tie the knot but still was asking a woman who carried a child how it was done so the baby didn’t fall out. Her idea was to show me by handing over the the whole lot, baby and manta to me. As she helped me tie the knot, I thought, “this knot is as important as any climbing knot I’ve tied over the years. It better be good” The young one hung out with me for about fifteen minutes when he decided he’d had enough and wanted his mom again. I still need to figure out exactly how the folds in the material go, so the baby doesn’t fall out. I’ve got the knot down though!
I highly reccomend losing your stroller for this manta. We sell them at our fair-trade webpage, and I can even post some directions on how you too can carry everything from a child, to corn or even your groceries from Trader Joe’s, Hannaford’s, New World.
Tags:Carying children, Experiential Education, Hannaford's, Manta, Mountain Spirit, New World, Ollantaytambo, Peru, Trader Joes, weaving, Willoc
Posted in Fair Trade, Holistic Living, Mountain People, Peru, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
04/08/2009
By Randall Richards
Kate J. at Willoc circa 1980's
The first time I visited the small mountain village of Willoc, near Ollantaytambo was about 12 years ago. Coincidently, my cousin Kate Jones spent a semester from the Lakeside School in Ollantaytambo and spent some time with a family in Willoc about twenty or thirty years before I showed up. This was before I knew where Peru was. She sent a photo of her with her host family in Willoc, which I had on my desk for a number of years. Then when I finally went Willoc, and recognized the local dress, I wondered if Willoc might be the place that Katy ended up. I called her from Peru to solve the issue, and yes it was. Another year in Willoc, I tracked down her family. I’m headed there again in a few days, and will take a copy of the picture with me again to give to them.
Shearing & Drop Spindle, Willoc
On our Peru’09 program we again visited Willoc, and were shown a demonstration from start to finish of how the weaving is done – from shearing the wool to drop-spindle making the yarn, to dying the wool and finally the back-strap loom weaving.
While there we also were treated to a traditional meal and were shown the varieties of corn that are grown on the surrounding hillsides. The diffierent types are used for the fermented Chicha drink, toasting, cornmeal and other specialties.
As in other places in Peru, visitors are occasionally brought to small mountain villages. Mountain Spirit Institute limits our group size to a maximum of eight participants. Sustainable Travel International has guidelines on how to visit such communities as Willoc.
Learning about varieties of corn, Willoc
We feel at this point, there is a benefit to both the visitors and the villages for such visits, but they must be organized and done with care. One example, I always brief my particpants at the program start, and remind them of low-impact travel techniques, such as respectful use of the camera, matching voice volumes to that of local inhabitants, and follow cues from our hosts.
Our good friend, Anna Sequeros, a former president of the woman’s organization in the region has really worked wonders in bringing equality to village women in the area. More on that in another entry.
Tags:Dexter Richards, drop spindle, Kate Jones, Lakeside School, Mountain Spirit, Ollantaytambo, Peru, Randall Richards, shearing wool, Sustainable Living/Communities, weaving, Willoc
Posted in Experiential Education, Fair Trade, Holistic Living, Mountain People, Peru, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
16/07/2009
By Amanda Richards
Machu Picchu
The Mountain Spirit Peru 2009 cultural immersion trip is already into Day 4 of the exciting program. The group of 7 clients with Randy Richards and Guillermo Seminario as their facilitators, are currently at Ollantaytambo, staying with Anna Sequiros and her family. Today is a day to learn more about local customs, sustainable agriculture, women’s issues and visit the local school. The group will also help prepare their own meal, which for some will include preparing and eating guinea pig – a national dish of Peru. Tomorrow they will set off for Machu Picchu and discover more about the richness of the Inca Empire. An excellent book to learn more about the ruins is by Peter Frost, ‘Exploring Cusco’.
I am here in Cusco, my fourth day in Peru. Randy has always spoken so fondly of the Peruvian people and I am experiencing what he means.The people are so open and gentle and kind, its a delight to be here. The group will be back in Cusco on Saturday and we will spend some time with the very special Chimu Inkas – Guillermo, Mario and Wach
i.
Posted in Books, Conservation, Environment, Experiential Education, Fair Trade, Holistic Living, Peru, Power of Place, South America | Leave a Comment »
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