Peru Paper Company

I haven't blogged in a while, and it's been even longer since I've mentioned anything about the cards, but that isn't because we haven't been working on them! LOTS is being done, with some very exciting changes coming soon, including new designs...

BABY

CHRISTMAS

GENERAL- perfect for thank yous, birthdays, etc.

...a new name....Peru Paper Company...with a new logo, seen below on the back of a card (thanks to Marianna, Jason, and Oscar for their input on the wording and layout of the back of the cards):

...and the biggest news being a website that is well under construction and should be up and running in about a month. From there, you'll be able to view the cards, place orders and pay online, and they will be delivered to your front door soon after your order is placed! But, just because the website isn't up yet, doesn't mean you can't order cards yet. Get in touch me (the new business email is grace@perupaper.com), and you can purchase cards, including the beautiful new designs, some of which are featured above.

Many thanks to Andy and Marianna with Fox Webco and Halo Business Advisors for their excitement about this project and the countless hours they've put into this project with me. I'm ecstatic about the launch of this website and will keep you updated about all that's going on. Lots of thanks also goes to Oscar Rodriguez, my Peruvian colleague and friend who is managing the business side of things in Peru. He's the one who organizes the ladies to get the new designs made, the cards produced quickly and at a high standard, and who gets the cards to me. The last order was about 2,000 cards, all handmade, and it was to my front door all the way from Peru in about 2 1/2 weeks from when I placed the order with him. That's not an easy accomplishment.

Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming weeks!

Card Slideshow

I found a fun new website (well, I saw it on Allen Bradford's blog, actually) called animoto. They do these short slideshows for free. I wanted to see how it'd turn out, so I gave it a try. I thought it was pretty cool, and think I could waste some serious time making slideshows on their website. So, here are a few more pictures from Peru and the card business.

Beautiful Poster!

Here is a beautiful poster made by Jennifer Ellis of Independent PCA in Memphis to advertise the cards. This is to go up in their bookstore and is going to be used in other places where the cards are sold. Thanks so much Jennifer- it's amazing!

Missions Reports and Visiting Friends

Two Sundays ago, I headed up to north Mississippi, Okolona to be exact, to visit my good friends Kelly and David Perkins and give a missions report of how the Lord is working in Peru at First Baptist, Okolona, where David is a pastor. It was great to see Kelly and David, and an encouragement to see the interest of their congregation in missions and the spread of the Gospel throughout the world. They were excited to hear about the projects I was involved in, asked lots of great questions, bought LOTS of cards, and were a great encouragement to me.

Setting up the table with stuff from Peru, along with cards to be sold.

A cute little llama from Peru.

I got to read to Kelly's 4 year old preschool class on Monday morning. It was Dr. Seuss' birthday last week, so we read "Green Eggs and Ham" in his honor. They were very entertaining.

With Kelly before heading out. Thanks for your hospitality and for inviting me to your church!

Wrapping Up

I had a wonderful time in Peru and was able to accomplish most of the things I had set out to do during my visit. The things that aren't yet fully finished are under way and should be taken care of soon. It was wonderful visiting with friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, and it is always bittersweet to leave. It's always good to see family and friends back in the States, but that is mixed with some sadness at saying good bye to my Peruvian friends. They always tell me not to forget them and to come back soon.

Back: L to R: Elda, Deisy, me, Margarita, Virginia, Vanessa
Front- L to R: Rosa, Monica, Azucena

Here's a picture from a meeting yesterday of some of the ladies who are involved with the card project, either through making paper (see post below) or through making cards. If you've purchased a card in the past, it has probably passed through at least three of their hands in the process through the various steps of making paper, then making the designs, then gluing and packaging the cards. Please be in prayer for these ladies and the business, that God would continue to bless both!

Lots of Recycled Paper

For the past few years of the card project, we've bought the majority of our recycled paper from some women in Trujillo who make this paper. We initially tried to make our own paper, but found it was a hard process and that it served us better to buy it from a supplier. However, as our business grew, we often needed more paper than they had, or we had to place special orders and wait for the paper to come in. This past year, we decided to try again at making our own paper, recognizing that we needed more paper than we could buy from our supplier and more control over when we could get it. Also, this would offer more employment opportunities for women in our communities. Finding flexible, well-paying work for women who have little education and children at home that need care is not an easy task, especially in a developing country with high unemployment.

I'm ecstatic with what I saw yesterday- thousands of sheets of recycled paper made primarily by women from our Arevalo community, all of it beautiful and ready to be crafted into handmade designs for the cards. What's amazing to me is that all of this has been transformed from trash: used paper that was going to be thrown away.


Yesterday we met to begin the process of labeling, filing, and cataloging our recycled paper. The idea is to know which colors we use the most for our current designs, catalog the colors so it's easy for the ladies who make them to produce an exact match for future designs, and get a good inventory count.Here, Azucena and Oscar start sorting, while Deisy and Monica look over the current catalog of paper in the background.Look at all that paper! You can't see, but there were boxes of paper piled up around the room.
Here are some different colors and designs the ladies have made. I'm constantly amazed at their creativity and artistic ability!
Here are the direct beneficiaries of this business: the children who will receive better medical care, nutrition, educational opportunities, and have a brighter future because of the hard work of their mothers.
One of the things I love the most about this project is that it allows the women the opportunity to work while being home with their children. When we have meetings, there are usually many children present, as they accompany their mothers and then play with their friends while the ladies meet.

"She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed." Proverbs 31:27-28

Overheard in Conversation

Here are some of the things the ladies are saying about working with the card project to me and others:

-"this is the most money I've ever gotten at one time." (one of the ladies said this to Oscar upon receiving their most recent payment.)

-Ladies: "Grace, are we going to present our work to all the groups that come?"
me: "yes, if you'd like to, of course you can."
ladies: "of course! We love to meet the people who buy our work, and it gets us more excited to work hard in the future when we see how much they like the cards. We love being able to build relationships with the people who buy our cards."
(said to me by Monica and Deisy in the taxi on the way to sell the cards to a visiting group from the US.)


-"this business has grown so much. In the beginning, we only had orders for 200 cards at a time, now we are making thousands of cards at a time." (Azucena telling the history of the business and how it has grown over the years.)

-"we work hard to create the designs and make these cards. We hope that you like them." (Monica to a group from the US.)

-"this work is wonderful. It allows us to work from home and take care of our children at the same time. We don't have any other opportunities to work like this." (said by Deisy to a group from the US, explaining why she appreciates this work.)


-"I would like the opportunity to work with this business." (said to me and Oscar by many ladies from all of our churches.)

Please be in prayer for this business, that it would grow, allowing many more women the opportunity to be employed by this project! I would love nothing more than to have similar stories from dozens of women in the future.

Pictures:
Top: Discussing details with Azucena
Bottom: Monica, Deisy, and others learning to make recycled paper.

Meetings, meetings, and more meetings;

Since arriving in Trujillo, I've tried to meet with everyone involved with the cards as quickly as possible to line up what needs to be done and maximize my time here. I've met with Oscar Rodriguez, my Peruvian accountant friend who is managing the Peru side of operations; the ladies who are currently working with the cards; Chris Bolton and Brad Ball of Parish furniture wood project for business advice; the mission accountants to figure out the current accounting situation for the business (I'm now thankful for the accounting classes I was required to take in grad school!); etc. etc. Here is a picture of Oscar going over some details with a few of the ladies that currently make cards (notice the catalog of card designs that they're working on- we're slowly getting things in order!)
While down here, I hope to accomplish the following:
-start the process to get the business formalized with the government (not an easy process in Peru; that's why I just hope to get it started)
-have a better idea of the current accounting situation
-have all the ladies fill out formal job applications and do interviews to make sure we have the ladies in jobs with responsibilities that fit their gifts and abilities
-open a bank account here so it will be easier to transfer money from the States and to aid in accounting.
-fill open job positions with new ladies
-get biographical information for all the ladies to tell their stories to customers
-get all the ladies on formal work contracts to better define their responsibilities and relationship to the company
-have a good understanding of the cost and rate of production for the cards


After this trip, I hope that things will be in better order to being a larger distribution of the cards, either through an internet store or through finding a distributor who is interested in our products.

Please be in prayer for all of these details, as they are a lot, and my time here is short. This business is truly a blessing to the ladies who have few economic resources. As it continues to grow, it will be a larger blessing to the communities in which Peru Mission works, as the Gospel brings about transformation in all areas of life. I am wonderfully blessed to be a part of this project, and hope that it will bear fruit economically, spiritually, and socially in the lives and communities of all involved for years to come.

Headed to Peru!

Wednesday February 4, I'll leave for a 3-week trip to Peru to work with the card business we have going there. God continues to bless the work, and I'm excited about this planning trip. I'll write more about the details soon, but the trip will include things such as opening a bank account for all financial transactions there, getting the business registered with the government (which could take a long time, but at least we'll get the process started), getting work contracts set up for the ladies that are currently working with the cards, researching the best shipping/export options, etc. I'm so thankful for the help of my friend Oscar Rodriguez, an accountant who knows the business landscape in Trujillo and has great ideas for the business, who has come on to manage the Peruvian side of the work with the cards.

Please be in prayer for the trip and for all the work that needs to be done! Also, if you have any special card orders that you'd like, let me know and I'll place those for you!

Photos of All the Cards!

I have uploaded pictures of all the cards to my picasa sight. You can view them here:

Card designs- Oct '08

Shipments for new cards are coming in a few different times in November, so let me know if you have a special order you'd like to have included in those shipments! We are working on a website to showcase all the cards, give information about the ladies working in the project, and let you order online, so be looking for that in the future! I have been amazed at how God continues to bless this project with so much business. What a blessing to all involved!

Why Am I Smiling?

Because I got another shipment of cards from Peru! With the gracious help of Gillian Baikie and Beth Bradford (Allen and Bill's sister-in-law) in transporting and shipping, I received some more cards from Peru today! They're all beautiful, and there are some new ones (like the one I'm holding), that I had not seen before, but that I love! The ladies in Trujillo are so creative and artistic and do great work. The only problem (which is a good problem to have), is that I still need more cards! There has been such great interest in these wonderful cards, and God is blessing this project more than I had ever imagined. But, continue to place orders, as the ladies in Trujillo are steadily making them and genuinely appreciate your business!

Christmas cards available to order!

Here are pictures of some of our newest Christmas card designs that the ladies in Trujillo make. If you are interested in ordering some, let me know! We can handle large amounts as well as special orders if you have something in particular in mind.

Cards!!

Here are some designs of the cards for sale with one of the economic development projects I work with. All the cards are handmade using homemade, recycled paper. The project employs women in Trujillo, and all of the profits are re-invested in the project to employ more women and increase the sustainability of the project. Let me know if you're interested in purchasing cards, and I'd be happy to fill an order for you! They make wonderful gifts and are a great way to support economic development and spread the blessings of the Gospel to the women of Trujillo!

Peru Mission Cards

As many of you know, one of the economic development projects is with a group of women who make and sell hand-made greeting cards. Most of the women are from our Larco church in Trujillo, and this project is the main source of income for many of them. Here's a link to a recent article on the Peru Mission website about the cards:

Check out the article, and then email me if you'd like to order some cards!

http://perumission.org/content/ministries/economic-development/peru-mission-cards.php

*Above is a picture of some of the women working on the cards.