About Alternative Gifts
The gifts offered in "My Shopping List for the World" are unique. They are like no other gifts in our world today. They are gifts of peace and justice, gifts that are sustainable and that build security. These alternative gifts multiply and grow, sometimes exponentially, and offer hope and new life to people facing grave crises and need. They challenge the trivia of our modern culture. These are authentic gifts that people really use and cherish. They always fit and are never thrown away.
About Shopping
It is in the global marketplace, where international neighbors meet each other seeking a better lifestyle for themselves and others. Some come to the market to purchase luxury goods, some only to purchase the food they need for the day, and others are too poor to even enter the market. For women and girls in the Third World, shopping means walking to the neighborhood market and selling a little produce grown in their backyard. Then, shopping becomes bartering, haggling, and making the hard decisions about what is available to feed a family for the least, but still provide the most in satisfying their genuine hunger. She buys a little food from her neighbors who are also selling and shopping. Finally, she loads her small purchases on her head and hikes several kilometers back to her home. There are no disposable plastic grocery bags, handy 6-packs, or easy-to-load SUV tailgates designed for the busy working mother.
About the Markets
A very distinctive shopper attends an Alternative Gift Market. These markets are held in the U.S. and Canada, in schools, churches, and service clubs. Shoppers can also enter this market by e-mail, phone, or letter. This market is known as a supermarket for the poor and the planet, and is truly an international venue for fair trade. Unlike all other capitalist markets in the world, it does not exist to make a profit, but rather it gives away three assets. It gives joy to the donor (or shopper), global awareness and education to the recipient of a gift card, and great benefit to people living in poverty. The shoppers in this market are First World people of every age who enjoy ever advantage of empowerment- The are the "haves" in a world of "have-nots." Because of their compassion, however, they generously share the abundance of their resources with their global neighbors. They purchase simple gifts that change the world.
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