Today, we want to share the incredible news of a rescue mission by the International Justice Mission (IJM), which freed 273 forced laborers from two brick-making factories early last week. This effort entailed working with local authorities in Chennai, India, and is the second largest anti-slavery mission in IJM’s history. The laborers described the terrible conditions in which they were forced to work 17-hour days, six days a week. They were not allowed to leave the factories and were paid pennies at the end of the week. Children as young as three were forced to work in these conditions as well. All claimed to have been promised decent employment. A turning point in this rescue mission came when...

Our mission at the Buy The Change is to encourage and support business building for women in the developing world. We hope to inspire you to change the lives of women around the world by simply changing where and how you shop. As we’ve discussed before...

Here at Buy The Change, it is our passion and mission to support women worldwide. With Father’s Day approaching (June 16th) we think it is the perfect opportunity to switch gears and to give credit to all the amazing Fathers who: Love, Protect, Guide, Teach, Cherish, Adore, Inspire, Encourage, and Engage their daughters. We especially want to recognize the Fathers in developing countries who are breaking down gender stereotypes & inequalities by actively and positively participating in their daughter’s lives. These are: Fathers in India, who participate in CARE’s Essential Package for Child Development, which focuses on health, nutrition and cognitive development of the child and improving the livelihoods of families. These fathers participate in monthly reflective meetings to improve their parenting knowledge and skills....

The Buy The Change Foundation, which is a registered non-profit, was founded to support international woman-centric organizations through grant-giving. A different organization is chosen each year to be the grant recipient. For 2013, The Nepal Youth Foundation - Indentured Daughters Program is the beneficiary of the Buy The Change Foundation.

We wanted to respond to a fantastic question we received in regards to our blog post on the Bangladesh incident and fair trade. Kelsy asked:

I just have no idea: how do you know which garments are "fair trade" and which are manufactured at a safe factory? If a sweater from Banana Republic says, "Made in Bangladesh" (or anywhere), how do I know if that particular one was made responsibly? It seems retailers get their clothing from various places, and probably are changing season to season as well. Maybe you could send a follow-up email on how/where to educate ourselves on this. With thousands of factories, it seems like it would be very difficult to know, but maybe there is an easy way? Or should we assume that none of the major retailers care about fair trade? Thanks for educating us!

As we've said before, we believe that fair trade principles ensure a good, living wage is given and that no exploitation occurs. When you make a fairly traded purchase, you are supporting farmers and artisans in the developing world and their communities. Your purchase contributes to improved healthcare, education, empowerment (especially for women), as well as minimizing negative environmental impacts of commerce.