Did you know that when you make a purchase from Ethos Kolekto, we don’t actually keep any of that money for ourselves?

We aren’t officially a non-profit yet, but every purchase you make generates a donation to a non-profit organization that is working to end hunger, to end poverty, and to bring education to all; it is re-invested with the artisans; or it is lent as a micro-loan.

Since our first book club in 2021, we’ve made 5 micro-loans.

We’ve made a loan to Rose, a mother in Kenya, who is a dairy and crop farmer. Her loan was meant to help her purchase seeds and high-nutrient fertilizer to raise more crops and enable her to send her children to school. This loan was re-paid in August, 2023.

Another loan was made to Elly, also in Kenya. Rose is a mother of two and is a livestock, poultry, and crop farmer. Her loan was meant to help her purchase livestock feed, fertilizer, and seeds. Profits from the sale of her produce were earmarked to pay for her children’s school feed. This loan was re-paid in December, 2022.

The third loan your purchases enabled us to make was to Viola. A single mother in Kenya with a dream to use farm profits to send her children to school, her loan was for seeds and fertilizers. This loan is still in re-payment.

As our first loans were repaid, we re-invested them with new borrowers. One of these new loans was made to Annet in Uganda. She used her loan to purchase sugar, salt, and maize flour for her retail shop. She is sending all 4 of her children to school and uses profits from her shop sales to pay school fees.

The most recent loan we’ve made was to Quế in Vietnam. She is the main breadwinner for her family and mostly grows and sells pineapples at the market to support her children. She also cultivates timber and sells it to local factories. Her loan is meant to purchase fertilizers and high-quality seedlings to help increase her output.

It is exciting to see how when you, as shoppers, find fun fair trade items in our shop, and when you make a purchase, your dollars reach across oceans to make a real difference in the lives of so many people around the globe.