What is Ten Thousand Villages?
Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit program of Mennonite Central Committee.
What does the name Ten Thousand Villages mean?
Ten Thousand Villages’ name was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote, “India is not to be found in its few cities but in the 700,000 villages. We have hardly ever paused to inquire if these folks get sufficient to eat and clothe themselves with.” Ten Thousand Villages holds the belief that each community in the world represents a unique, distinctive group of people. Multiply that idea by ten thousand and it represents the large, diverse community that comprises Ten Thousand Villages.
This year’s learning tour will take 12 Ten Thousand Villages employees from across Canada to South America.
Left to right:
Julie Klok – Lethbridge manager
Dianne Reddekopp – Edmonton manager
Nicky Soulis – Festival Sales, Marketing and Recruiting
Kristen Reffle – West Broadway, Vancouver manager
Maria Lyons – Oak Bay, Victoria manager
Bob Berg – CEO
Alicia McKeown – Stratford manager
Michele Burnett – Regional Sales Manager
Ann Marie Gaouette-Stevenson, Villages trainer
Bev Hiebert – Tour Leader
missing from photo:
Carol Berg –Strong supporter of Villages
Pravina Annamalai, Commercial drive, Vancouver – manager
