Hope Cards, Thailand

Most Bangkok slum women don't want a hand out. They want a job. Hope Cards gives them that job, by providing work for them in their own homes, helping them become more self-sufficient. Women living in slums are provided with materials to make cards. Once they have completed a group of cards they are paid a fair wage for their work. 

Hope Cards began in the fall of 1999 with a few ladies making cards. They now have 12 ladies from 2 slums making cards. Hope Cards are distinct in that they primarily use the bark from the mulberry tree to make the cards. 

Their specialty has been Christmas cards, having produced over 15,000 quality cards for sale in Thailand and overseas to date. They are now also producing “all occasion" cards and Global Village Nanaimo carries a wide assortment of both Christmas and All Occasion cards. All profit made from card sales goes right back into the project to help expand it.