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2 On Sunday children who attended the market picked up their own passport book and map so they could collect country stamps as they visited the artists with their families.

3 Carmen showed me her passport book .

4 Janet Nkubana and her sister founded the Gahaya Links Cooperatives to turn Rwanda’s basket weaving tradition into a source of livelihood for rural women.

5 They have been successful in generating a livable income for over 4,000 women and enabling them to get out of poverty to feed and educate their children. The baskets are available on macys.com.

6 Rebecca Lolosoli founded the women’s organization, Umoja (meaning unity) in Kenya. They make beautiful traditional hand-strung, colorful beaded necklaces. www.umojabeadedjewelry.com

7 The Saraguro women of highland southern Ecuador have been creating beautiful beaded collars for many years.

8 Ana Victoria learned bead weaving from an older woman in her village.

9 Amina Yabis showed my good friend, Willa Shalit and I the jewelry which is made with hand –woven buttons.

10 Amina formed a women’s craft association called Golden Buttons to market this traditional craft with 400 women from her province.

11 So good to see the Haitian artists affected by the earthquake at the Market to sell their art. Pierre Edgard makes colorful papier-mâché masks and animals.

12 Pierre is president of a cooperative of over 300 Haitian artists. His roosters were so colorful.

13 Serge Jolimeau is a master artist who makes metal art out of steel drums.

14 He was inspired by blacksmiths in his neighborhood in Haiti. He has trained many of the best metal artisans in Haiti.

15 I continuously return to the booth of one artisan, Bertha Medina to be in awe of the hand carved details of her designs on gourds.

16 Bertha is from a small village high in the Andes of Peru and learned her craft from her father.

17 She showed me the tools she uses to carve the finely detailed design of each piece.

18 Ramu Devraj Harijan lives in the Banni region of northern India. This region is know for quilt making and embroidery.

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20 The men source and sew the cloth and the women complete the products with beautiful embroidery. I purchased a beautiful handbag and cloth doll.

21 It was so wonderful to be greeted by the friendly face of David Cajo from Chijnaya, Peru.

22 The hand –dyed, Alpaca yarn embroideries called Bordados are scenes from the daily life in the villages.

23 Somporn Intaraprayong works with women from Thailand to make hand sewn garments. The cotton clothing is coated with egg whites for a shiny finish.

24 Elhadji Koumama is from a family of famous Tuareg silversmiths in Niger.

25 His father was one of the most famous silversmiths www.tuaregjewelry.com and jewelry is an important art in their culture.

26 Kholiddin Alieu is a master chess maker from Uzbekistan and learned his craft from his father.

27 The details of the chess pieces were exquisite.

28 Memet Cetinkaya works with Armenian women to produce embroidered textiles that have been past down through generations.

29 Rustan Usmanou produces blue ceramics from the village of Rishtan in Uzbekistan. Rishtan is the oldest center of ceramic art in Central Asia.

30 The designs are hand painted in beautiful shades of turquoise, dark blue and brown.

31 Addul Khatri and his brothers continue Bandhani craft, traditional textiles art that involves intricate tying design to create beautiful patterns.

32 The fabric is completely tied and then dyed