Now Thats Fair!

Today we were lucky enough to have Darren from the Salvation Army come and talk to us about international Fair Trade.

We were stunned to learn that in some villages in West Africa up to 9 women and children a week can be stolen while they are out walking to fetch water, and then forced to work in virtual slave-like conditions to produce foods, sports wear and clothing.

The focus was on fair trade farms which produce coco beans for cadbury chocolate and bananas. Fair trade means that the farmers rights are being protected- they are able to get a good price for their beans and therefore are able to have a better quality of life.

Did you know that some of the clothes we buy in New Zealand are made in Bangladesh- they earn an average of 25 cents an hour!! What fair trade is doing is increasing their standard of living, fighting for their rights so they can send their children to school, have medical care and ensuring they have a voice.

If you buy fair trade chocolate, clothes or sports balls you are helping people to lift themselves out of poverty. INFACT if you buy fair-trade bananas 2786 children get to go to school. Anything from Trade-Aid is Fair-Trade.

This all fits nicely into our sustainable living unit. Teaching the children about sustainable practices not only means protecting the earths resources but also looking out the earths people who are unable to protect themselves.

Darren impressed the teachers by giving us a tin of fare trade "Avalanche Coffee", and YES it tasted just that little bit better, knowing that by drinking this brand we were putting wells into villages in Costa Rica!

We were shocked at how much corruption and dishonesty there is in the world, and how the people who have the power are so willing to 'rip' off their own people.

We want to encourage all our families to buy fair-trade products.
We want to stand up and CONSIDER other peoples situations around the world. Our personal challenge is to make a positive difference through the choices we will make throughout our lives.