Ten Thousand Villages Houston is a different kind of retail gift store mostly staffed by volunteers who assist in selling high quality handicrafts from struggling artisans in Asia Africa and Latin America. These artisans from developing countries set their own prices for their handicrafts and are paid a liveable fair income so that they can support their families in their home countries. Another goal of our program is tell the life stories of our artisans to the North American market thereby promoting intercultural understanding.