Conacado
José Rodriguez is 74. He has worked all his life as a farmer growing cocoa and rice, as well as crops such as plantain, cassava and bananas. Despite the fact that the land is fertile and the climate favourable, the farmers are at the mercy of hurricanes which can destroy all that has been built up. José cannot retire as there are no pensions and his farming is his only source of income and food. In the past, the main crop of cocoa was sold to local intermediaries who paid very low prices. “The local dealers treat us badly and earn a lot of money at our expense”.
However, he is now a member of Conacado, the local cocoa farmers’ federation, set up to protect the interests of smallholders. Through this organisation, local farmers work together to process, market and transport their crop. Some of the cocoa is sold on fair trade terms for UK fair trade chocolate, guaranteeing a better price for the farmers and so enabling them to strengthen their federation and invest in the future. They have been able to buy land on which the government built a clinic, and are creating a plant nursery.
“My life is not easy. I am not a person in search of money. I want that everybody has the means to have a decent life. Not only in this country but everywhere people want to live in dignity.
Everyone should have the possibility to live, to develop and to produce.”
José Rodriguez, cocoa farmer, Dominican Republic acknowledgements: Fairtrade Foundation
Jacaranda
Job opportunities are very hard to come by in many countries of the South, and if people have a disability of any kind it is almost impossible for them to find employment. Jacaranda was set up to create employment for students leaving the Jacaranda school for children with learning difficulties. Since 1982 the workshop has been producing fashion jewellery. As far as possible local materials are used – clay, ceramic beads and brass. Workers’ pay is carefully costed to ensure they get a living wage, and some are able to support their families. The jewellery is sold locally and also exported.
“I like working here; it supports my life. I often think that I could not work anywhere else; they would be able to cheat me and I would not get paid much.
I have one little sister… and a little brother. I travel on matatus and buses around town. I get stolen from a lot. But otherwise it is OK. I’ll just stay here and work for a while. I don’t know if I want to do anything like getting married. I like children but you know marriage is a big thing!
That is all I want to say about me, but can these people keep buying our things? Tell them we will keep making new ones for them.”
Margaret Wambui, Jacaranda worker
KV Kuppam
K V Kuppam, a village in Tamil Nadu, has had a friendship link with Bishopston, in Bristol, for many years. It also has a long tradition of handloom weaving. But the local markets in India cannot provide enough work and unemployment in the weaving industry is high.
In 1985, the Bishopston Trading Company (BTC), a workers’ co-operative, was set up to work in partnership with KV Kuppam. It aims to encourage sustainable development in the village by creating fairly paid jobs and providing full, secure employment. Handloom weavers, cutters, tailors and finishers produce attractive, stylish clothing, mainly in organic handwoven cotton, but also using silk, velvet and denim, all of which is sold through the BTC in the UK. Seasonal colour ranges are developed to meet consumer tastes, and four metre lengths of dyed cotton thread regularly decorate the streets as the weavers have no room in their homes. All eyes are on the clouds in the monsoon season, as the stretching can be done only when the rains stop.
Each piece of clothing has a label with the names of the tailoring society, cutter and sewer involved, making it a very personal item. A range of children’s clothing is also available, so even the youngest can be stylish and fair! Any pieces of cloth left over from making the clothing are made into bags and other accessories… nothing is wasted.
In addition to fair wages, the workers have a provident fund, retirement gratuity, sickness benefit and health care. A trust has been established which plans to buy some land for purpose built tailoring and batik units, as well as an effluent plant to remove the waste dyes, which will create more employment.
Gowri has three children, her husband seldom had work and they lived in a house with a leaking roof. They could not even afford candles for light. She was selected by the tailoring unit to wash and iron the cloth after it was woven and this work has changed her life. She now earns good wages and has been able to build her own house and set her husband up with a small vegetable business.
Sorata
With the continuing westernisation of the South, traditional skills are often lost or felt to be of little value. 25 years ago, in Sorata, Bolivia, the Aymara men were working away from home for little pay in the gold mines. There were few opportunities for the women to earn extra money other than by baking bread and exchanging it in town for potatoes. The weaving skills which their ancestors used to make beautiful fabrics were almost forgotten. In addition, there was little education, health care was mistrusted and people had no awareness of their rights.
Diane Bellomy, a westerner wishing to live simply with the Aymarans, started a textile workshop with the women, helping them to develop lost skills and abilities. Wall hangings and rag dolls from wool and antique fabrics were the first products to be made. More craftspeople became involved, skills developed and Artesania Sorata now produce knitwear, incorporating symbols from their culture and designs mirroring their surroundings. The women use a drop spindle to weave the wool which is dyed using vegetable colours from carrot tops, herbs and walnuts. Each piece of work is an individual creation, and many are signed, bringing producer and purchaser closer.
There are centres in La Paz, El Alto and Sorata, with the products finding a market both locally and overseas.
The artisans involved have found a new sense of dignity and renewed pride in their traditions and culture. There are literacy programmes, classes on women's issues and health education, and Artesania Sorata help support work with homeless children.
The Aymaran traditions are falling away as we search for our identity in a culture that has been superimposed on us. In an attempt to revive many of our traditional techniques, as well as to express our personal creativity, we village artisans, age 6-60, are working together to present to the rest of the world our artistic interpretations.
Tukul
The continuing war in the Sudan has led to many people fearing for their lives and fleeing the country. In 2000 more than 10,000 Sudanese arrived in Cairo. The Joint Relief Ministry (JRM), based in All Saints Cathedral, serves these refugees, giving them humanitarian assistance, spiritual guidance and help to build self respect and self sufficiency in preparation for repatriation or resettlement.
Tukul Craft, a small craft and silkscreen workshop, was set up in 1988 as part of this programme. ‘Tukul’ means ‘the small hut’ which, in Sudan, is the focus of villagers’ home and working lives. Traditional crafts were developed at Tukul, both for the local market, through their shop, and for export.
Uniquely African designs are produced on textiles by a photographic method of silkscreen printing and the group have developed a growing collection with the distinctive Tukul look. This includes T-shirts, aprons, pyjamas, tablecloths and bags of all types. As the range increases, more workers can be employed and encouraged to develop skills for self sufficiency.
Tukul has also been developing an advisory role for other projects in the JRM programme – Mistugbal jewellery and the Women’s Income Generation Project (WIGP). Mistugbal produce silver, brass and copper jewellery WIGP make children’s clothes and silk cards using henna tattoo designs from their own culture. Both groups sell their products through the Tukul shop and catalogue.
Many of the refugees are finally resettled in the USA, Canada and Australia, taking the skills learned at Tukul Craft with them.
Sunbula
Sunbula, based in St Andrew’s Church in Jerusalem, is a non-profit organisation which markets goods on behalf of women’s, refugee and other groups in the West Bank and Gaza areas. Because of the difficult political situation, normal access to markets for many producers is impossible. Increasing unemployment among men has meant that more of the burden of supporting the family is falling on women, and most of the self-help groups working with Sunbula are women’s associations. The emphasis is on developing economic independence and increasing social stability. Sunbula also offers training in product development, management and quality control.
Through its shop in Jerusalem and its export arm, Sunbula sells an array of products, including carpets, olive wood carvings, pottery and the embroidery for which the area is justly famous. The many groups involved in this work have a history of making wonderful embroidered products, featuring the sunbula – spike of wheat – the flower that makes bread and gives life.
One group, the Surif Women’s Co-operative, involves around 400 women, who keep this unique Palestinian heritage alive.
Another project, Lakiya, produces Bedouin rugs, with wool hand spun from local desert sheep. They are dyed using indigo plants which once grew around the Sea of Galilee. The co-operative aims to revive and preserve a craft central to the Bedouin social and cultural heritage.
Philani
Life in the townships and squatter communities of South Africa is hard. Unemployment, violence and poverty result in a large number of malnourished children and destitute mothers. Philani, a community-based health and nutrition organisation in Cape Town, was set up to meet these needs and established a Nutrition Rehabilitation Programme. Mothers learn how to cook nourishing meals for their children and participate in a health education project.
As the need for employment opportunities became clear, a weaving project was established so that women could become economically active. They are given training in weaving and marketing, encouraging self-reliance. The rag mats produced by this project are made from waste fabrics and are sold at markets locally, providing much needed income for the families.
The most recent innovation is the Philani Flagship Printing project, offering skills training and printing facilities to mothers with pre-school children who attend the nutrition project. This operates from the Crossroads squatter community, where vibrant, hand printed T-shirts, cushion covers, shirts and hangings are produced.
Many of the women who participated in the various programmes have subsequently received appropriate training in administration, health and nutrition, and are now employed by the project. This has ensured that the Philani centres are rooted in the local communities serving over 500,000 people.
In Crossroads we have no housing, only small shacks made with zinc… I made this design (of part of Crossroads) to show the situation is not good. My design has been used on a book cover and a calendar. I am proud of my design.
I came here because I was unemployed… I'm proud now because I have skills.
Priscilla Mantlana, printer
SANCHAR
In the villages, fields and homes of rural India, Sanchar uses puppets, music, poetry, stories, masks and more in its work. With the local communities it explores issues of development, human rights, gender, education and culture using these traditional folk media.
Sanchar was set up in 1995, developing appropriate communication methods for use in schools, local communities and in street theatre. In order to reach a wider cross section of the people, alternative communication methods are more effective. Traditional folk methods work by encouraging the community to interact with the folk songs, puppet performances and story telling, allowing the message to go deeper and provoking genuine responses. The puppets in particular are effective in encouraging the shedding of inhibitions and biases, allowing the audience to be challenged.
Sanchar keeps traditional culture alive by researching and recording such areas as tribal cultures, folk music and musicians and indigenous healing.
The members comprise puppeteers, a poet, musicians, educators, development workers and students, with the main performers having many years' experience in music, drama, performance and art.
They produce puppets and soft toys for sale, and have taken their skills to many parts of the world.
We state what we can do and do not try to change the whole world"
Ram Lal, 4th generation Master Puppeteer.
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