Fair Trade Organization Celebrates World Population Month with ODT Maps

Amherst, MA, July 31, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The Canadian Ten Thousand Villages organization committed to raising awareness and taking action around World Population issues this summer. To do this, they decided to dedicate this summer to educating North Americans about the urgency of dealing with our global population crisis.

Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit program of the Mennonite Central Committee, provides fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. They work with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. The income produced helps pay for food, education, health-care and housing. Ten Thousand Villages helps give artisans the hope, dignity, joy and respect from earning a decent living. They purchase products from more than 130 different artisan groups in over 35 countries, giving them fair value for their work. The organization supports the working poor and those who are disadvantaged or lack assistance. These women and men have basic skills enabling them to make a quality product that reflects their culture and tradition.

Once prices are determined, Ten Thousand Villages ensures that artisan groups receive their compensation in full. Artisans are paid 50% in advance when an order is placed, and the rest once the shipment is ready. As part of the burgeoning fair trade movement, Ten Thousand Villages is making an impact on the lives of people around the world. Using a variety of provocative world map images published by ODT Maps of Amherst, Massachusetts, Ten Thousand Villages is able to identify for customers here the source country and artisan for each of the products.

This population education project features three unusual maps, helping first-world consumers realize that there are “Many Ways to See the World.” The maps include ODT’s World Population Map, the What´s Up? South! World Map (an intriguing world map image with south at the top of the map), and the Peters Equal Area Map. All three maps are on display at over 40 Ten Thousand Villages stores across Canada. Free materials are downloadable off the Ten Thousand Villages web site including a printable State of the Village Fact Sheet which provides an interesting view of the world's population. You can also test your worldly knowledge by taking the World Population Quiz which tests Canadians on what they know about world population facts and issues. These resources are both at: http://www.tenthousandvillages.ca/cgi-bin/category.cgi?&type=store&item=pageZAAAD83&template=fullpage-en&category=fairtrade&lang=en

The State of the Village Report is also at
http://odtmaps.com/pdf/popvillage.pdf
and a USA version of the World Population Quiz is at:
http://www.populationeducation.org/media/upload/popquiz.pdf

ODT’s collection of maps (www.ODTmaps.com) has the common theme: alternative views of the world. They reinforce the message, "Let's look at things from a fresh perspective!" ODT has distributed maps through North American fair trade stores for the past decade, is a member of Green America, and has offered educational resources (including free screenings of their social justice DVDs) for fair trade projects on a local and national basis.

ODTmaps is an Amherst MA-based map publisher focusing on improving our understanding of global relationships. They offer a series of equal-area maps (showing the world in true proportion), maps with south-on-top, and a special collection of city centered world views (based on Lambert’s Azimuthal projections) and population maps. They offer maps, puzzles, books, DVDs, games and globes -- all focused on seeing our collective human impact on the planet. See their web site at www.ODTmaps.com or contact them at 1-800-736-1293.

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