Take a piece of the world home for the holidays (8 photos)

The annual Ten Thousand Villages artisan sale at Sault College offers unique handcrafted gifts from a variety of developing countries.

But more importantly, the event sparks a conversation about where many items found North American retail shops come from and who makes them.

At least that’s the hope of Karen Marrocco, global citizenship professor at Sault College.

“We are so used to picking up items in a store and buying things that are super cheap, and we often don’t think about where they’re coming from,” she said.

Many first-time visitors to the sale remark on the cost of the items available, Marrocco said.

“But then we can have a conversation about why it’s more expensive than they might expect. It gets conversations going about – in the grand scheme of things – human rights and understanding that there’s people around the world that don’t get the same safe, fair work that we do.”

Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade organization that allows creators and artisans to earn a fair living wage while sharing their talent with the rest of the globe.

As a Ten Thousand Villages participant, Sault College receives 10 per cent of the sale’s profit that will assist in funding the institution’s upcoming and fourth refugee student through the World University Service of Canada’s Student Refugee Program.

The fifth annual Ten Thousand Villages sale continues Saturday in Essar Hall at Sault College from 8 a.m. to noon.