Beautiful Shoulder Bags now with 25% off

Beautiful shoulder bag made with softest fine Indian goat suede and sheep leather.  25% off the regular price.  Are you tempted?  This bag would make a great Christmas Present and they are now just €56.   Buy this bag and you help support girls in Nepal who have been rescued from a life of slavery. 

This large slouch shoulder bag is is available in brown, black or grey. The main body is made of soft suede with leather detail and leather shoulder straps, magnetic catch to close. It is fully lined with cotton and includes an internal zip.

The bag is handmade in Nepal but hardware is not produced locally in Nepal and so to reduce air miles over the Himalayas, this unique collection excludes hardware, highlighting the soft combination of sheep leather and softest Indian goat suede.

These beautiful bags are made by girls rescued from slavery from the Indian circuses by the Esther Benjamins Trust. You can read more about the story of these girls on the product page of our online shop.

Special Offer – 50% Off Tulip Bell Bag

This large slouch shoulder bag is now HALF PRICE and is available in brown,  black or grey. The main body is made of soft suede with leather detail and leather shoulder straps, magnetic catch to close. It is  fully lined with cotton and includes an internal zip.

The bag is handmade in Nepal but hardware is not produced locally in Nepal and so to reduce air miles over the Himalayas, this unique collection excludes hardware, highlighting the soft combination of sheep leather and softest fine Indian goat suede. 

These beautiful bags are made by girls rescued from slavery from the Indian circuses by the Esther Benjamins Trust.  You can read more about the story of these girls on the product page in our online shop.   

We’re up to H in our A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas and we’d like to introduce you to Hatti Bags from Nepal.

All of our products come with wonderful stories of the people making them but the story of Hatti Bags is one of our favouries.  These beautiful bags, which can be bought in our online store, are made by girls rescued from Indian circuses by the Esther Benjamins Trust.

Shoulder Bag with embroidery
 inspired by Sari prints

In 2002 the EBT sent research teams to the 30 major Indian circuses. At great personal danger, teams identified 232 children under the age of 14, 82% of them girls and nearly all Nepalese. Most of the children had been trafficked at the age of 8 or 9 (although some had been as young as 5). They told how their village communities had been preyed upon by professional agents who had tricked their impoverished and illiterate parents into handing them over to the circus for just a few dollars.

Thumbprints on documents that the naïve parents could not read condemned their children to an 18-hour per day, seven days per week routine for the next 10 to 15 years. Inadvertently they were also handing over their children to a life of malnourishment, harsh training schedules and vicious beatings by the circus staff. Frequently the girls would also be sexually assaulted.

Bold rescue teams were sent to confront the circus owners and use all legal means on the ground to secure freedom. This high-risk process led to the release of over 200 trafficking victims during the period 2003 - 2006. The youngest children who return from the circuses can mostly - and safely - be reunited with their parents and join school at an appropriate age.

Buckled leather bag.

Available in Black or Tan

For the older girls who might lack the academic ability or interest in joining formal education there is a skills training project to help them get back on their feet and gain an independent life, however, it has became evident that securing jobs for the returnees is virtually impossible due to the social stigma associated with being trafficked. So in 2005, instead of trying to secure outside employment for the girls the EBT, in conjunction with Hatti Trading (UK) set up a handbag production centre under Fair Trade conditions to provide a realistic economic alternative to being re-trafficked. 

In June 2007,  Hatti took on responsibility for the production centre and set up an independent private, but not for profit, company called Hatti Production Pvt Ltd. They still work in exactly the same way, providing training and jobs for young women rescued by The Esther Benjamins Trust and the charity is still close on hand to look out for the girls’ welfare, but the production centre is now an independent entity.

What wasn't anticipated at the time was the impact it would have on the girls who worked there; suddenly, they transitioned from being ‘charity cases’ to independent professional young women working for a foreign organisation. Their self esteem went through the roof; finally they could hold their head up high when asked what they do. At the same time there was a move to a new premises so the locals had no knowledge of what they had come from, and the girls could at last truly move on from their past.

Hatti started with 8 girls, there are now 17, plus Ritu, the Production Centre Manager, Shanti, the House Mother and two security guards. Some girls are now living with relatives locally and there has even been a wedding recently. The main difference now is that the girls are empowered to make their own choices and have the confidence to do so.  You might be interested in reading more about  the Esther Benjamins Trust and their work with children and young girls rescued from Indian circus: http://www.ebtrust.org.uk/  

The Incredible Story of a Man Bag

The Man Bag in classic messenger style makes a great Christmas gift for the stylish man in your life. In natural buffalo this Eco Friendly is perfect for the urban man with lots of stuff. The incredible story of how these bags are produced in a remote area, high up in the Himalayas is worth reading:


These bags are made in a small village in a very remote area named Sindhukot which is located high up in the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal. There is no electricity or computers. Neither are there any telephones, mobiles, or radio, in fact no form of communication. So when an order is emailed to the not-for-profit producer’s organisation in Kathmandu and money is sent for the raw materials, it waits there until the villagers can visit.


There is no work in the village, most people barely exist by subsistence farming, however, it is not enough to survive, so in order to get work, the villagers set off for the capital city of Kathmandu. As there is no transport apart from the odd donkey or buffalo, they walk for 3 days to the nearest road; they then get on a bus for another day’s journey to Kathmandu. In Kathmandu they visit the producers’ organisation to find out if there is any work for them. They receive the order then do the same journey in reverse.

At the end of the road, they prepare for their long three day walk back up to their village, on the way they visit all the small villages buying buffalo hide, thus providing other villages with a small income. There is no buffalo hide cash and carry where they can pull up in their pickup truck and load up with the leather they need. All the leather is a bi product and has to be collected bit by bit along the way home.

Having collected all the leather required and arrived home, the villagers then make the bags by hand; there is no electricity or sewing machines. When finished, they do the whole journey again. They put the bags on donkeys and walk for three days down through the mountains, having arrived at the road once again, they put them all on buses (the bags that is, not the donkeys!) for the day’s bus journey to Kathmandu where they can deliver the finished bags and receive final payment.

We buy the bags directly from Hatti Productions who are currently responsible for the income and welfare of the whole community, high up in the Himalayas which make these bags; the income they receive provides invaluable support for the local school. The bags are IFAT Accredited as Fair Trade.

Not only are these bags classically stylish, the leather is extremely tough and durable, the more they are used the better they will get.

This is more than just a bag; it’s a lifeline for a forgotten community.


Thank you to Hatti Productions for providing us with the story.

August 19th is World Humanitarian Day.

Established by the General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations in December 2008, 19 August 2009 is the first World Humanitarian Day. The designation of the Day is a way to increase public understanding of humanitarian assistance activities worldwide. The Day also aims to honour humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or been injured in the course of their work.

Why 19 August? - Six years ago, on 19 August 2003, the United Nations office in Iraq was bombed and 22 people lost their lives. Among them was Sergio Vieira de Mello, at that time the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq. While there have been many other fatal incidents involving humanitarian personnel the General Assembly decided to use the anniversary of this incident as World Humanitarian Day.

We would like to mark World Humanitarian Day by mentioning a couple of our producers engaged in humanitarian service:

St. Mary’s, Ahmadabad, India
St. Mary’s Mahila Shikshan Kendra, is a non profit Women’s Handicraft Organization run by the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary in Gomtipur, Ahmadabad since 1970. They are committed to the development of economically and socially marginalized women in Gomtipur, a slum pocket of Ahmadabad. St. Mary’s aims to give employment with fair wages to women of Gomtipur from minority social, cultural and religious groups. Working together as a group in the Centre the women develop a sense of community.

St. Mary’s concentrates mainly on hand embroidery in cotton; using their indigenous craftsmanship, these women immigrants produce high quality mirror work and embroidery in traditional designs. Their products include cushion covers, letter boxes, bags, purses, bed spreads, table cloths and Christmas presents.By adhering to very high standards of quality control, they try their best to inspire in them a deep sense of self-respect and integrity of character, earning their own hard earned wages without any trace of pity or condescension, thus bringing them in touch with their own basic human dignity. Besides their rightful wages, all surplus profits or producer dividends are shared with the women.

The Sisters also have a dispensary, a maternity clinic and Medical centre called ‘St. Mary’s Nursing Home’, they run health programmes, saving schemes, loans especially for educational and health purposes, a government recognised course for women in sewing, embroidery and design and also educational scholarships for their children. They ensure that the women send their children to school and educate them and avoid child labour. In many cases when the women are incapable of paying the fees, and educating their children especially the girls they help them by paying their fees etc.

The Esther Benjamin’s Trust, India and Nepal

In 2002 the EBT sent research teams to the 30 major Indian circuses. At great personal danger, teams identified 232 children under the age of 14, 82% of them girls and nearly all Nepalese. Most of the children had been trafficked at the age of 8 or 9 (although some had been as young as 5). They told how their village communities had been preyed upon by professional agents who had tricked their impoverished and illiterate parents into handing them over to the circus for just a few dollars.

Thumbprints on documents that the naïve parents could not read condemned their children to an 18-hour per day, seven days per week routine for the next 10 to 15 years. Inadvertently they were also handing over their children to a life of malnourishment, harsh training schedules and vicious beatings by the circus staff. Frequently the girls would also be sexually assaulted.

Bold rescue teams were sent to confront the circus owners and use all legal means on the ground to secure freedom. This high-risk process led to the release of over 200 trafficking victims during the period 2003 - 2006. The youngest children who return from the circuses can mostly - and safely - be reunited with their parents and join school at an appropriate age.

For the older girls who might lack the academic ability or interest in joining formal education there is a skills training project to help them get back on their feet and gain an independent life, however, it has became evident that securing jobs for the returnees is virtually impossible due to the social stigma associated with being trafficked. So in 2005, instead of trying to secure outside employment for the girls the EBT, in conjunction with Hatti Trading (UK) set up a handbag production centre under Fair Trade conditions to provide a realistic economic alternative to being re-trafficked.

The Esther Benjamin’s Trust and the charity is on hand to look out for the girls’ welfare, but the production centre is now an independent entity.

What wasn't anticipated at the time was the impact it would have on the girls who worked there; suddenly, they transitioned from being ‘charity cases’ to independent professional young women working for a foreign organisation. Their self esteem went through the roof; finally they could hold their head up high when asked what they do. At the same time there was a move to a new premises so the locals had no knowledge of what they had come from, and the girls could at last truly move on from their past. A selection of these beautifully made bags are sold by Arusha Fair Trade.

You might be interested in reading more about the Esther Benjamin’s Trust and their work with children and young girls rescued from Indian circus: http://www.ebtrust.org.uk/.