While the Birmingham Fair trade groups were busy working hard in Fair trade fortnight one of their members travelled out to Ethiopia to visit one of the many projects run by LUCIA Life Uplifted by Change In Africa www.luciacharity.org.uk. The project was started in February this year and it is one of many such projects LUCIA has supported and found to be a successful way to improve the lives of vulnerable, poor, healthy women and their families. The LUCIA team was welcomed with such warmth by the ladies who'd gone to enormous trouble with their hospitality by making bread and performing the Ethiopian coffee ceremony in their guests' honour. The LUCIA team felt really humbled to be given so much by people who have so very little.
The 'Vulnerable Women's Empowerment Project' is based in Addis Ababa which is being run and supervised by The Women and Children Development Organisation (WCDO), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in partnership with LUCIA. The project will support the 30 women in self-employment opportunities, in small business activities and newly established community-based saving and credit co-operatives. The indirect beneficiaries will number 380 family members.
LUCIA was started in 2005 and has, over the seven years, supported many co-operative projects like this one.
The team has enjoyed the pleasure of watching the women grow into confident assertive business managers and, dare we say it, start to physically walk taller!
Sylvia Gardner
Sent from my phone
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Flowers from Ethiopia
Christine Gates is a LUCIA officer and strong support of Fair Trade.
As a florist and part owner with Lynda John in Flower Fayre, a business shop in Shirley, I've been given the opportunity to give my support by offering shop floor space to a Birmingham local charity LUCIA - Life Uplifted by Change In Africa www.luciacharity.org.uk, which is run by enthusiast volunteers who offer hope to some of the poorest women and children in Ethiopia.
In February this year imagine my surprise when a week before going as one of the LUCIA team on a field trip to visit some of the projects in Ethiopia, I discover the Dolcetta rose is actually grown by Linssen at Addis Alem, Ethiopia, just one hour's drive from the centre of Addis Ababa.
Linssen, a Dutch company, grow on the farm two fair trade roses, giving good working conditions and fair pay for the local people.
A visit was arranged for myself and the rest of the LUCIA team to visit the farm. On arrival we found ourselves looking at what seemed like miles and miles of poly tunnels filled with the most superb rose bushes.
The healthy plants, we were told by the works manager, a beautiful Ethiopia young woman, flower every two months giving the most amazing harvest of healthy flowers. We visited the packing room where the cut flowers are graded and packed to go to Holland on the next morning flight to be auctioned and sent on the next day to the shops in Europe.
They keep the flowers refrigerated all through the journey from tree to shop to ensure they arrive in perfect condition.
The whole trip in Ethiopia for me was truly amazing: seeing the work and help that can make such a difference to some of the poorest people in the world by just a little support was an inspiration. However, with my belief in fair trade and my personal passion for flowers the rose farm visit will hold a very special place indeed.
Sent from my phone
As a florist and part owner with Lynda John in Flower Fayre, a business shop in Shirley, I've been given the opportunity to give my support by offering shop floor space to a Birmingham local charity LUCIA - Life Uplifted by Change In Africa www.luciacharity.org.uk, which is run by enthusiast volunteers who offer hope to some of the poorest women and children in Ethiopia.
In February this year imagine my surprise when a week before going as one of the LUCIA team on a field trip to visit some of the projects in Ethiopia, I discover the Dolcetta rose is actually grown by Linssen at Addis Alem, Ethiopia, just one hour's drive from the centre of Addis Ababa.
Linssen, a Dutch company, grow on the farm two fair trade roses, giving good working conditions and fair pay for the local people.
A visit was arranged for myself and the rest of the LUCIA team to visit the farm. On arrival we found ourselves looking at what seemed like miles and miles of poly tunnels filled with the most superb rose bushes.
The healthy plants, we were told by the works manager, a beautiful Ethiopia young woman, flower every two months giving the most amazing harvest of healthy flowers. We visited the packing room where the cut flowers are graded and packed to go to Holland on the next morning flight to be auctioned and sent on the next day to the shops in Europe.
They keep the flowers refrigerated all through the journey from tree to shop to ensure they arrive in perfect condition.
The whole trip in Ethiopia for me was truly amazing: seeing the work and help that can make such a difference to some of the poorest people in the world by just a little support was an inspiration. However, with my belief in fair trade and my personal passion for flowers the rose farm visit will hold a very special place indeed.
Sent from my phone
Sunday, 11 March 2012
FAB market at Sustainability fair
Excellent day in Victoria Square, as part of Birmingham's Sustainability Fair. Here are a few photos from the day:
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Traidcraft tour Southern India
Gill and John Parkin presents Traidcraft 'Meet the People' tour to Southern India, 2012
(presented at All Saints Social Justice Group, February):
We started off in Kerala, landing in Kozhikode (formerly Calicut) spending some time in the city
visiting Fair Trade Alliance Kerala and visiting farmers in the hills to the north east of the city.
From there we went south by train to Allepuzha and spent one night on the backwaters before
working our way east visiting a tea growing area and the Periyar wildlife park. From there we
crossed the central Ghats into Tamil Nadu to visit a project called “Reaching the Unreached”
(which is a talk in its own right) and the Meenaskshi Temple in Madurai before travelling by
overnight train to Chennai and then by road to Pondicherry. There we visited various projects,
some connected with Traidcraft.
Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK) is spread throughout Kerala covering 3,000 small farmers
in six districts.
(presented at All Saints Social Justice Group, February):
We started off in Kerala, landing in Kozhikode (formerly Calicut) spending some time in the city
visiting Fair Trade Alliance Kerala and visiting farmers in the hills to the north east of the city.
From there we went south by train to Allepuzha and spent one night on the backwaters before
working our way east visiting a tea growing area and the Periyar wildlife park. From there we
crossed the central Ghats into Tamil Nadu to visit a project called “Reaching the Unreached”
(which is a talk in its own right) and the Meenaskshi Temple in Madurai before travelling by
overnight train to Chennai and then by road to Pondicherry. There we visited various projects,
some connected with Traidcraft.
Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK) is spread throughout Kerala covering 3,000 small farmers
in six districts.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
More fairsteps across Birmingham
More pledges, artwork, activities and chocolate (thanks Coop) across Kings Heath, and also at Evergreen Care Home, winners of our FAB photo competition, October 2011:
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| Fairtrade Chocolate at theTea Dance, KHCC |
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| Freya helps make fairtrade chocolate eggs at Evergreen Res home, Stechford |
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| Foot Pledges at All Saints Church, part of Fairtrade at Kings Heath Farmers Market |
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| Traidcraft table set out for Education Sunday, All Saints Church |
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| More footprints and handprints for fairsteps |
Thursday, 1 March 2012
First steps for Fairsteps in Kings Heath
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| Freya examines the pledges so far |
Children, parents and carers worked together to decorate paper feet, add their fairtrade pledges, and stick them up on our washing line.
This is the first of several workshops to take place across Kings Heath, and to be added to more in the city centre on 10th March.
It's a great opportunity to discuss what people think about fairtrade:
'This isn't something I think about everyday, and it should be.'
Attitudes to fairtrade are changing, but although fairtrade movement is growing there is still a lack of awareness about what is available - no one in the group, for instance, was aware of 'fairmined Gold', and one parent did comment, 'I can't afford fairtrade'.
The Fairtrade movement has taken many steps to get to where we are today - fairtrade still needs to work to get it's core message out, to promote the new lines and commodities available, and to keep in step and understand what our customers are looking for, in terms of ethics and commodities. Thank goodness for fairtrade fortnight.
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