Connections through common interest

Who would have thought that I would be on-line chatting with a manager of a clothing manufacturing company in Bangladesh? A Web 2.0 tool called Skype has allowed me to connect with Peace Fashion, a company that produces a wide variety of men's, women's and children's apparel. I was searching for a way to help my students learn about the textile industry, and the solution appeared in my Skype in-box. We both belong to the Fashion Industry Network, which is a group of people who are either working or studying in the textile industry. The presentation, sent by Md. Jakirul Islam, included photos of the working environment. I'm hoping that soon we'll be able to invite a representative from the company into our classroom as a guest speaker via Skype. In a couple of weeks, the class is visiting 10,000 Villages to learn about Fair Trade. Maybe we can facilitate a Fair Trade connection between Bangladesh and the United States.