Connecting Worlds
An Aldea Weaver’s Voice of Internet Protocol
handmade scarves aside
Patrick, our intern, asked to be introduced to one of Aldea weavers via Skype, so that he could conduct an interview. After arranging to speak with Angelica last week, Patrick and I huddled around my laptop in the conference room last Friday afternoon and proceeded to dial the cell phone number Angelica had given us. When Angelica answered, I introduced her to Patrick, whom I told her she could call “Patricio,” the literal translation of Patrick, or “Pato” meaning “Duck.”
She went with “Pato.”
“Pato” talked to her about the community of San Juan, where Angelica lives, and the volcanoes surrounding the lake. He asked if the possibility of the volcanoes erupting right next to where she lived scared her in any way and she said “no,” that when there were seismic tremors, the people of San Juan simply waited for them to pass and hoped for the best. Angelica was patient with Patrick as he referred to his dictionary for vocabulary.
Although I was hoping to encourage the two Aldea affiliates to forge the connection together without me, it was a challenge for me to stay out of the conversation, and I found myself butting in now and again. It took me several minutes to realize that these two individuals from worlds apart were actually connecting, they were finding common ground, things they both knew and could discuss, as if the great chasm between cultures was slowly disappearing. I smiled, and finally was able to remove myself and sit back listening to the two of them growing closer together.
I smiled because I knew that this is what Fair Trade is all about, this is why we started Aldea and why it is such a source of joy for us. And I knew that columnist Stephen Pollard from the Times online was in fact wrong in his declaration that Fair Trade was “nothing but a short-term diversion.” It was so much more than that, I realized, as I listened to Angelica and “Pato.”
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