Download or listen to Whose We Are, episode 4: Building Foundations.

My guest for this podcast is Yousaf Chaman, the director of the Oriental Rug Program at Ten Thousand Villages, the largest fair trade organization in North America. A native of Lahore, Pakistan, Yousaf has spent many years learning first-hand from skilled artisans about the ancient art of Oriental rugs. In those years, he has seen the difference that fair trade makes in the lives of artisans.

A business and economics graduate of Punjab University in Lahore, Yousaf blends his passion about Oriental rugs and social justice. When he walks onto the sales floor at Ten Thousand Villages, he brings that passion with him as he talks about how fair trade empowers the artisans (women and men) in the villages of Pakistan. Yousaf, who is fluent in Urdu, English, Punjabi and sign language, gives frequent seminars on how fair trade  impacts global relations and lays the building blocks for peace. He is an articulate speaker, passionate about his work, and delights crowds with his knowledge of Oriental rugs and the people and culture of Pakistan.

Yousaf talks about the origins of the artisan group called Bunyaad (the Urdu word meaning “foundation”), and he discusses how the group became connected with Ten Thousand Villages. He speaks of how the artisans benefit from working through a fair trade organization and the expectations for high quality products. Of particular importance is Yousaf’s discussion of the benefits to the communities where the rug artisans live. Like Greg Mortenson who is cultivating peace through schools he builds in Pakistan and Afghanistan, so is Bunyaad providing dignity through fair trade and economic development to the more than 850 families who are part of the artisan group.

Hear Yousaf in his own words talk about:

• The artisan group and how it started
• The changes that artisans experienced as a result of Bunyaad
• How families are making rugs
• How the rug artisan group became connected with Ten Thousand Villages
• Visitors to Pakistan who want to learn how rugs are made
• What life is like for a typical rug-making family in Pakistan
• The difference fair trade principles make in the lives of the rug artisans
• How an artisan becomes a member of Bunyaad
• The hopes and dreams for the future of the rug program