TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES

We're more than a store. Ten Thousand Villages is a place where you can explore and connect with your global village.

From communities throughout the developing world, every inspired design is crafted with love using local materials (usually natural or recycled) and time-honoured skills by makers we have known and worked with for years.

Every purchase improves the lives of makers by supporting their craft and providing a fair, stable income.

We offer a way for you to become part of the story, to shop your values and give gifts with meaning.

Because this is bigger than us.

We work with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed, and who have a basic skill that enables them to make a quality product. A majority of the artisan groups employ women, and many also include disabled people. The products they make reflect their rich cultural heritage and traditional skills.

Fair prices are determined in conversation with the artisans and other people who live and work in their community. We believe it is very important that the artisans who make the products we buy have a say in what they think is fair pay.

All products are paid for in full by the time they leave the country of origin. We generally pay 50% in advance when we first place an order and then pay the rest when the artisan group tells us that the shipment is ready to leave their country. We believe it is important to pay artisans in advance so they can afford to pay for basic daily needs.

How Ten Thousand Villages Began

Nearly 80 years ago, Ten Thousand Villages began with the vision of Edna Ruth Byler, a Mennonite woman from Pennsylvania who unknowingly became one of the world’s first Fair Trade trailblazers. In 1946, while traveling with her husband in Puerto Rico, she met women in the La Plata Valley who created beautiful needlework yet struggled to feed their families. Having lived through the Depression, Edna recognized both their hardship and the dignity that meaningful work could offer. Moved to help, she carried their embroidery back to the U.S., selling each handcrafted piece from the trunk of her car and sharing the stories of the women who made them.

Word spread, and by the 1950s the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) supported her growing purchasing program, expanding connections to artisans in India, Jordan and beyond. What began as a simple act of compassion grew into a global network, becoming the Overseas Needlework and Crafts Project in 1962 and later renamed Ten Thousand Villages in 1996. Today, Edna’s legacy lives on in a Fair Trade community that spans more than 25 countries, proving that every purchase can be an act of opportunity and a way to uplift artisans around the world, just as she first envisioned.

What is Fair Trade?


Fair Trade is a way of buying and selling products that makes sure the people who produce them—especially in developing countries—get paid fairly and work in safe conditions.

It represents a partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international trade.

Fair Trade is based on the principle that trade should have a conscience and proves that greater justice in world trade is possible. It highlights the need for change in the rules and practice of conventional trade and shows how a successful business can also put people before profit.

The Goals of Fair Trade:

  • To improve the livelihood and well-being of disadvantaged artisans, especially women, by providing employment opportunities and market access.

  • To strengthen artisan groups by paying a fair price for their products and by providing continuity in the trading relationship.

  • To protect human rights by promoting social justice, sound environmental practices and economic security.
Learn About WFTO

Our Logo and Name

A stamp represents the makers’ mark, the seal of approval and craftsmanship.

Lighted doors and windows reflect the life inside artisans’ homes.

A continuous line of rooftops reminds us we are all part of the global village.

Our name invites everyone into the maker-to-market movement.

Visit Our Shop

Visit our shop at the MCC Centre in Abbotsford.

102 - 33933 Gladys Avenue, Abbotsford

Open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

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