Who we are
The Good Shepherd Trading Circle is a non-profit company established by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Australia in 1995 to support women in micro-enterprises initiated by the Sisters internationally.
We do this by:
- marketing their products in Australia and New Zealand
- supporting their development by providing small grants for equipment, materials and training
- raising consciousness of the situations in which the women and their families live and of issues like fair trade
We are committed to fair trade and solidarity with women and their families who struggle within the global economic structures to find a way out of poverty.
Good Shepherd Trading Network
The Good Shepherd Sisters are in 67 countries. Their mission is to women and girls and their families who are marginalized in society for various reasons. They believe passionately in the dignity and unique value of each person. This commits them to join with all who struggle for a world which is just and fair for all.
In many very poor areas of the world, poverty is the major enemy. Whether this poverty is caused by war and violence, by natural disasters, by the corruption of national leaders, by the behaviours of companies and major players on the global economic landscape - the effects on the lives of the people is the same. They suffer malnutrition, ill health, unemployment, illiteracy, homelessness, constant anxiety for the future of their children. Women and children are the ones most likely to bear the heaviest burdens of poverty.
In a number of situations like these, Good Shepherd Sisters have established skills training and employment generating projects for women and girls and some for the men and boys as well.
These employment projects often have a local market focus e.g. a cooperative laundry in Davao, Philippines; a jam-making enterprise in Baguio, Philippines; the making of leather goods in Bangalore, India; a small bakery in Peru: a welding project in El Obeid, Sudan.
Other projects need markets outside their local areas. This is where the international network of the Good Shepherd Sisters is able to assist, through organizations like the Good Shepherd Trading Circle in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Good Shepherd sponsored projects similar to the Trading Circle exist in other countries as well:
Handcrafting Justice, New York, USA
Sharing Fair, Toronto, Canada
Sharing Fair, UK
Friends of the Good Shepherd, Netherlands.
