The Urban Village

I typically try to start out each and every PEV article with something catchy – the kind of the thing they teach you in school about capturing your reader right away. I batted around some ideas on a way to kick off an article on our latest style feature for The Urban Village, and no inspiration that could do the organization justice would crawl into my cranium. So I’ll just put it out there.

It was a true pleasure to learn more about The Urban Village. It’s a wonderful example of what can happen when good people with good ideas connect with even more good people. No, that isn’t very poetic, but there is no exact equation to these kinds of things. Their existence can boggle the mind – well, my mind at least. Let me give you the basics so you can hear for yourself:

What is The Urban Village?
The Urban Village is one answer to the unreal living conditions and poverty that many village communities in underdeveloped countries face – a strategy to overcome poverty and begin creating wealth. Specifically, The Urban Village uses self sustaining manufacturing to help the rural women of genocide rocked Rwanda learn new skills and make an income while overcoming ridiculous obstacles. What is that self sustaining manufacturing you ask? These women in Rwanda are learning to make fashion and home décor goods, such as mohair and silk blend scarves – scarves that are being made in partnership with Whitney Port from The Hills on her fashion brand, Whitney Eve.
 
The Brains behind The Urban Village
The two big thinkers are Candice Vleugels and Ashley Pittman.  As General Manager of The Urban Village, Candice sets the general direction of the label and manages the day-to-day operations.  Ashley, with an eye on the fashion industry, manages product development efforts, and US focused Sales and Marketing.  Supported by Esperance and Amy, a fantastic two-woman team in Rwanda, the four use a lot of email and Skpe to make decisions about the development of the business.

So… how does this all work?
It’s all about partnerships. Candice and Ashley at The Urban Village work with Rwanda Community Works, a new non-profit striving to transform poor communities in Rwanda by focusing on two vital facets of development - wealth and health, to connect with these rural women in impoverished communities.  They also work with US based urban designers (such as Whitney Port), to “combine African style, materials and skills with strong village work ethic and urban design perspective to create something beautiful and classic.” That’s what the Urban Village is all about.

Let’s get to the point… Let’s talk about the Scarves
You all know Whitney Port of The Hills as well as MTV’s new show, The City. Well, she’s just as thoughtful as she is beautiful – she is one of the first to work with The Urban Village to support the manufacturing of her mohair and silk blend scarves under the Whitney Eve brand. The scarf is doing big things in Rwanda:

“Our partner cooperative consisting of 80 women have learned how to knit in the last year and most of them had never earned a dollar in their entire lives.  Now, they are supporting their families, sending children to school, paying for health insurance, and also investing in additional business opportunities such as cattle and goats.”

This is unreal. We’re talking about a country where the average daily household income is roughly $0.70… and in rural areas, they often make even less!

The Future of The Urban Village
Candice, Ashley and the rest of the crew are continuing to expand their work so that even more families can start seeing a steady income in Rwanda. Their next target is home décor, so keep an eye out. You can buy the scarves today for $60, so swing by www.TheUrbanVillage.org today. I can’t think of better way to spend your fashion dollar.