Connecting people in a worldof need

Hearts & Hands

The deaf population of China numbers around 72 million. Since the majority of deaf young people are unable to find adequate employment, many turn to gangs, theft, and drugs. In an effort to curb this growing trend, Hearts & Hands offers employment to deaf people in the handicrafts business. All the workers are disabled or deaf, and they are each able to learn useful skills while working in a friendly, encouraging environment. Thank you for offering your support to these people and giving them the hope they need!

Shop Now!

Browse Global Handicrafts’ full online range here or visit our shop at Crossroads Village to walk through our colourful global marketplace, with even more handmade delights from around the world, all of which care for the people who made them.

China Snapshot

Population: 1.35 billion

Capital: Beijing

Population below international poverty line of US$1.25 per day: 11%, or 157 million people

China is experiencing rapid economic growth, but the benefits have not reached millions of people in rural areas. People who are already poor are the most vulnerable to death, injury and loss of livelihood when floods and earthquakes hit.

Natural disasters in China affect more than 200 million people every year.

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Gospel House Handicrafts

Established in 1977, Gospel House Handicrafts produces quality wooden educational aids and recreational toys under fair trade conditions. Its mission is to raise the standard of living of employees, producers and their relevant communities in Sri Lanka, many of whom have few opportunities for training and employment. Gospel House also aims to add value to the country’s sustainable resources. By purchasing these products, you are helping improve the quality of life of these individuals in Sri Lanka.

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Freeset

Freeset, an organisation based in the heart of Calcutta’s red light district, offers employment to women who want to escape prostitution. For the approximately 10,000 sex workers in this area, “poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies,” says Freeset. Working with Freeset can provide some of these women with an alternative life – a life of freedom.

Handmade in India from eco-friendly jute, all stylized with some Indian charm, our Freeset products turn heads as well as helping set women and their families improve their lives.

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Eden Jewellery

Lured to the big cities by the prospect of finding a job to support their extended families, many young women in Asia instead find themselves led into prostitution by deceit, coercion, or desperation. They are then trapped by the lack of sufficient education, job skills, and familial connections needed to break free. They lose hope for a different way of life, suffering physically and emotionally from the struggles they face daily.

Eden formed as an outreach to these trapped women, offering them shelter, protection, medical assistance and skills training as a way to lift them out of their imprisoning circumstances. Women learn various job skills including making handicrafts, allowing them to find a new start in life.

Global Handicrafts sells Eden jewellery in our marketplace store, with many pieces available online. Purchasing the jewellery made by Eden’s artisans allows their work to continue, bringing new life and hope to women in Asia. Browse our Handicrafts store for Eden jewellery and other products by clicking the button below!
SHOP

Shop Now!

Browse Global Handicrafts’ full online range here or visit our shop at Crossroads Village to walk through our colourful global marketplace, with even more handmade delights from around the world, all of which care for the people who made them.

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Educating and empowering youth As in many developing nations, larger cities and towns in Malawi have experienced significant economic growth and development...

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Neighbours help neighbours There are few places in the world where the difference between rich and poor is so clearly visible as...

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Decades ago, bombshells ripped through Cambodia, scarring the land and its people. Young Heang was a little toddler when his family...

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Au Lac Designs

These items were made by rural craftspeople in Duyen Thai, a picturesque Vietnamese village south of Hanoi. The area is well-known for its wide range of lacquerware products and people of Duyen Thai have been engaged in the industry for many years.

Au Lac Designs works in Vietnam as a fair trade organisation, helping traditional craft producers such as those from Duyen Thai develop their small businesses and create sustainable development for the rural poor.

Your purchase of Au Lac Designs products supports Vietnamese craftspeople and their families.

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Artisans Association of Cambodia

Enabling ethical producers in Cambodia to connect with the outside world.

After decades of violent warfare, Cambodia has finally begun to stabilize and its people have started the long road to recovery. 80% of the population lives in rural conditions with low standards of living, and those who migrate to the cities struggle to adjust. In an effort to provide support for many young rural and urban Cambodians, AAC works alongside local workshops where people draw on their rich culture to design products reflective of a long and distinct heritage. Workers receive fair wages in decent working conditions, providing them the dignity of a respectable trade along with training workshops on life skills. Your purchases see these lives built and strengthened. Watch this video of artisans turning bullet shells into jewellery with one of AAC’s partners, Rajana: http://www.rajanacrafts.org/news/story.php?id=6

Shop Now!

Browse Global Handicrafts’ full online range here or visit our shop at Crossroads Village to walk through our colourful global marketplace, with even more handmade delights from around the world, all of which care for the people who made them.

Po Leung Kok Elderly Home, Hong Kong

That point had come for the Chen family. Four months after Mrs Chen’s stroke, her speech had not returned and confusion left her struggling to recognize friends and family. She even battled to sit upright in a chair. Her husband, after a valiant effort to care for her, knew it was beyond what he could provide.

The answer came in the form of the Po Leung Kuk elderly home in Tung Chung, who took in Mrs Chen as a resident. Visitors are struck by the compassion that emanates from staff and nurses at the home, who provide this haven. Mr Chen, visiting each day, saw the nurses work gently with his wife, encouraging her to find new ways to manage her life. They taught her basic sign language. They helped strengthen her muscle system. Today, she recognizes the voices of her husband and the staff. Smiling and gesturing to them, she demonstrates that she can even sit up on her own.

It was this need for care among Hong Kong’s elderly that birthed this particular home. As the staff sought to furnish it, however, they faced a challenge. “We didn’t want to purchase a lot of cheap, identical furniture,” said the director. “We wanted it to feel like home for our residents.” That’s where Crossroads could help! The elderly home’s directors visited our site and spent hours with colour swatches and lists, carefully choosing sets of tables, chairs and decorations that they used to create themed rooms, corners of comfort and community. They created a nursing home that, remarkably, truly does feel like home.

“Around 40% of the furniture, and 90% or our office equipment, is from [Crossroads],” said the director.

That meant, she concluded, they could spend more money on medical support for the residents. It is precisely the kind of Hong Kong support Crossroads loves to provide.

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Peter: Stepping Into New Life

It is hard to fathom the depth of terror in children who live with violent loved ones. The frightening shadow of their parent looms over their childhood, leaving them with no safe place. They learn, from a young age, to expect violence at any time and they fear that, when the anger goes too far, they might even be killed. For some, that death almost seems to offer a blessed relief from the searing pain of life.

Peter Chow*, a 17 year old Hong Kong teenager, lived with this nightmare under his father’s care. Every evening, he would dutifully return home and, as he opened the door in trepidation, he never knew if he would make it through the evening without his father attacking him.

It was the final blow when, one night, his father smashed a glass over the young man’s head. Peter knew he had to flee. Yet he was stuck between worlds. At only 17, he was technically almost an adult, but he had no income to rent a home of his own. Nor did he have the life experience to know how he should manage.

Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department came to his rescue. A case worker took him under her wing and got him safely out of danger. He was given welfare benefits that helped him rent a small room of his own. He now had a roof, and a safe place, but he still needed furniture and appliances to make it livable.

That is where Crossroads came in. His case worker brought him to us and we were delighted to see him choose his needed furniture and electrical equipment from our warehouse.

There are many things we love about this work. A day such as that, when we may play a role in creating a safe place for Peter and other minors like him, brings us a depth of joy too. It may be a ‘day at work’, but it feels like something more.

*Name changed

Educating and empowering youth

Educating and empowering youth As in many developing nations, larger cities and towns in Malawi have experienced significant economic growth and development...

Neighbours help neighbours

Neighbours help neighbours There are few places in the world where the difference between rich and poor is so clearly visible as...

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Decades ago, bombshells ripped through Cambodia, scarring the land and its people. Young Heang was a little toddler when his family...

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“Everything broke in my head, soul and body. You are alive but you don’t feel alive.” A Ukrainian military leader spoke...

Mr Wong: A new start in old age

We were no doubt naïve, but we found it all too easy to assume that a prisoner, when released from jail, would feel unabated joy. For some, the readjustment brings bewilderment and confusion. After 20 years in prison, Mr Wong*, in his 70s, was one who struggled to re-enter normal life. For two decades, every decision had been made for him and Mr Wong now felt baffled and perplexed when even small choices were placed in front of him.

We met Mr Wong when he visited us with his Social Welfare case worker. ‘Shopping’ for such people in our warehouse is quite similar to shopping in a department store, except that we don’t charge them any money for the goods they take! Our staff took Mr Wong around the warehouse, showing him the variety of high quality donated furniture we had on offer.

It was clear, though, that even this was hard for Mr Wong. His case worker patiently helped him as he agonised over each decision, measuring to see what would fit and choosing the kinds of furniture that were most appropriate: a bed, cabinets and more. Finally, he left with a van filled with the goods and we rejoiced that, together, we had helped this man begin again.

At Crossroads, we love to work with the Social Welfare Department in cases such as Mr Wong’s, where the community’s most vulnerable are relying on help.

*Name changed. Photo is a representation only.

Educating and empowering youth

Educating and empowering youth As in many developing nations, larger cities and towns in Malawi have experienced significant economic growth and development...

Neighbours help neighbours

Neighbours help neighbours There are few places in the world where the difference between rich and poor is so clearly visible as...

Cambodia: Bullet shells to Peace Doves

Decades ago, bombshells ripped through Cambodia, scarring the land and its people. Young Heang was a little toddler when his family...

Ukraine: losing everything

“Everything broke in my head, soul and body. You are alive but you don’t feel alive.” A Ukrainian military leader spoke...

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