Product Releases

Ten Thousand Villages Introduces New Artisan Partners

Fair Trade Retailer Begins Relationships with New Artisan Partners around the Globe
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Ten Thousand Villages Offers Educational Toys for Back-to-School

Handcrafted Puzzles, Musical Instruments and Games Make Learning Fun
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Company Releases

Ten Thousand Villages Introduces Heirloom Anthology

New Collection Inspires Theme: Preserving Cultures, Sustaining Lives
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Ten Thousand Villages Introduces Carved Home Decor Featuring Angkor Motifs

Artisans in Cambodia Inspired by 9th Century Carvings
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Ten Thousand Villages Named to World’s Most Ethical Company List

Fair Trade Retailer Named to Top 100 List by Ethisphere Institute for Third Year in a Row
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Unique Handcrafted Nativities Unveiled for Holiday Season

Exquisite nativities featured from the West Bank, Peru and Haiti.

 (AKRON, PA) – Ten Thousand Villages is hosting a series of “Nativity Unveiling” events during November 1 through 15, featuring a vast array of handcrafted nativities. This holiday season, the featured nativities honor the holiday spirit through their thoughtful and creative interpretations of the birth of Christ.

The Music Box Nativity is made from beautiful olive wood. The music box plays the Christmas carol “Silent Night” upon being wound up by a star-shaped handle. It comes from the village of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem in the West Bank, where it has been said that angels heralded Jesus’ birth.

Artisan Raja Bannoura collects pruned olive branches and wood, stacks them in his yard, and dries them for six to nine months before cutting the wood for use. His olive wood nativities are made from laminating many small rectangular pieces together. By using pruned branches, Bannoura ensures that the beautiful olive trees are not cut down for carving purposes.

The Embrace of Love Nativity features Mary and Joseph embracing their baby Jesus, all wrapped warmly in traditional Peruvian clothing. Created and produced by Samuel Huaman, this unique miniature nativity is done in hand-painted ceramic in earth tones from Manos Amigas artisans.

Manos Amigas, which means “Hands Joined In Friendship,” is a fair trade organization that works with family handicraft workshops in impoverished areas of Lima and in the Andean highlands. Founded in 1991, Manos Amigas donates 20% of its annual surplus to feed some 400 children each Sunday and to help pay for school uniforms and supplies.

The River Stone Nativity includes flowing forms of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in hand-carved Haitian river stone. Using local river stone, artisans chisel the form and features of this sculpture. Next, they rub a black paste, made from water-soluble aniline dye, into the features. Finally, they apply a coat of black shoe polish followed by a coating of beeswax to add luster.

The River Stone Nativity comes from the nonprofit Comité Artisanal Haitien (CAH), or Haitian Committee of Artisans. CAH provides benefits to artisans, including fair wages, marketing, business training and emergency financial assistance. More than 800 artisans in some 170 Haitian workshops market their crafts through CAH.

A fair trade retailer, Ten Thousand Villages offers nativities and other artisan-crafted home decor, personal accessories and gift items from around the world.  Ten Thousand Villages features products from more than 130 artisan groups in 38 countries and offers a network of more than 150 retail outlets throughout the United States.

For more than 60 years, Ten Thousand Villages has established fair, long-term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans lack opportunities for stable income. Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

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