U is for Umtha, in South Aftrica

Umtha, in South Africa created this lovely charm bracelet.  The charms are symbols from the life of Jesus.

Bringing light and hope to unemployed women in South Africa’s Cape Town region is what Cheryl and Dave Milligan are passionate about. That is why their organisation is called Umtha ‑ ‘ray of light’ in the local Xhosa language.

Umtha’s roots are modest. One rainy afternoon in 1991, Dave, himself unemployed, wandered into a craft shop. Picking up a few beads, he made a necklace for his wife Cheryl. Dave found new inspiration in this creativity and started making more beaded jewellery to sell in tourist areas. Before long, Cheryl joined him in the new venture and then they employed two Xhosa women to work with them. ‘As we started to see the potential for the business, God really gave us a heart for the poor and challenged us to make a contribution towards the restitution of a post-apartheid South Africa,’ says Dave.

Today Umtha employs 40 people. Cheryl explains, ‘It’s more than just production ‑ it’s about teamwork and providing sustainable incomes, while creating jewellery of world-class quality.’

Umtha’s vision is to release the potential in the hearts and minds of South Africans, helping them to overcome poverty and deprivation. It comes to fruition in people like Tabisa, who since joining the Umtha team six years ago has excelled in learning beadwork skills. She is now both a necklace maker and the office receptionist. The work provides her with regular income ‑ and also the support she has needed to cope with the death of her baby from pneumonia and the health consequences of having TB herself. ‘If Umtha wasn’t there, I don’t know what I would do,’ says Tabisa. Now she has new dreams for the future: ‘I would love to be married and I want to extend my house. I think it is possible – only God knows.’

T is for Traditions

T is for Traditions.  Christmas carols, decorating the tree, festive food and the giving of gifts that show you care - it’s these timeless and meaningful traditions that are some of the warmest, most wonderful aspects of Christmas.   Fair Trade promotes traditional crafts and helps revive dying arts and skills, providing artisans with a livelihood, and revitalising craft communities.  This Christmas you can start a wonderful new tradition, the tradition of giving fair trade gifts.  Buying fair trade makes a a real difference to the lives of artisans and their families in the developing world.

A to Z of a Fair Trade Christmas and S is for Saint Mary’s, of Ahmadabad, India

We have a couple of lovely Christmas Gifts from St. Marys.

Lined cotton bag with sequin and bead hand-embroidered design   

St. Mary’s Mahila Shikshan Kendra, is a non profit Women’s Handicraft Organization run by the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary in Gomtipur, Ahmadabad since 1970. They are committed to the development of economically and socially marginalized women in Gomtipur, a slum pocket of Ahmadabad. St. Mary’s aims to give employment with fair wages to women of Gomtipur from minority social, cultural and religious groups. Working together as a group in the Centre the women develop a sense of community.

Hand-embroidered cotton rucksack and matching
 pencil case set, for smaller children

St. Mary’s concentrates mainly on hand embroidery in cotton; using their indigenous craftsmanship, these women immigrants produce high quality mirror work and embroidery in traditional designs. Their products include cushion covers, letter boxes, bags, purses, bed spreads, table cloths and Christmas presents.  By adhering to very high standards of quality control, they try their best to inspire in them a deep sense of self-respect and integrity of character, earning their own hard earned wages without any trace of pity or condescension, thus bringing them in touch with their own basic human dignity. Besides their rightful wages, all surplus profits or producer dividends are shared with the women.

The Sisters also have a dispensary, a maternity clinic and medical centre called ‘St. Mary’s Nursing Home’, they run health programmes, saving schemes, loans especially for educational and health purposes, a government recognised course for women in sewing, embroidery and design and also educational scholarships for their children. They ensure that the women send their children to school and educate them and avoid child labour. In many cases when the women are incapable of paying the fees, and educating their children especially the girls they help them by paying their fees etc.

We are on the last hurdle of our A – Z of a Fair Trade Christmas and today it is R

R is for Ring and aren’t these rings lovely? They would make the perfect accessory for a Christmas outfit. At only €9.95 each they are also nice to your pocket. Both of these cocktail rings are made from freshwater pearls and semi precious chippings and would make a great accessory for a special occasion this summer. They are adjustable to fit most sizes.

These lovely Fair Trade rings are from Lotusfeet and are made in the Philippines. The co-operative producing this jewellery is made up of sixty women, and was specifically set up to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for families and communities displaced from their homes by a major hydro-electric project. Nearly 800 households were affected by the project.

Both rings are available for immediate despatch from Arusha Fair Trade.

R is also for Recycled

R is also for Recycled and there is a wide variety of fair trade goods available made from recycled goods. For example, you can buy recycled bowls, jewellery, pens, pencils and even laptop bags from recycled rubber.

We are particularly fond of these two bowls made in India from recycled aluminium. Either would provide a great talking point as a gift at a Christmas dinner party.



Square Platter made from recycled aluminum



Black and White Swirl Dip Tray alsofrom recycled aluminum



Christmas Delivery Deadlines

To ensure delivery in time for Christmas 2010 your order should be placed before the following times/dates:



Dublin                                           10am 24th December


Rest of Ireland including N.I.      Midday 20th December

Great Britain                                10pm 18th December

All orders, including those for the rest of the world, will continue to be despatched as they are received, however if order is received after the relevant deadline it may not arrive until January 2011.

Q is for quality.

Fair Trade Produces Quality


Workers in developing countries are just like you and I, when we know that our work is appreciated and fairly remunerated we take more interest in what we are doing. Quite simply, when artisans know they receive a fair, living wage for their work, they can focus on their work, focus on creativity, focus on good materials, and focus on quality.

Fair trade produces quality, empowers producers, fuels creativity and fosters respect and peace. Producers have a quality of life that would not be possible for them under the free trade system.

P is for Picture Frame.

We have a number of lovely fair trade frames suitable for a Christmas Gift. Send us a photo of your family and we will put it into your chosen frame before gift wrapping and sending to your loved one. There is no charge for this service.  Order the frame, tick the gift wrapping box at check out and tell us in the comment box that you will be sending on a photo, then email the photo to info@arushafairtrade.com

This service applies to digital photos only, please make sure your image fits the 4 x 6 frame.

Continuing our A to Z of a Fair Trade Christmas and we are on the letter O

O is for organic.  Why not give a very conventional Christmas gift an ethical twist with these fairly traded black beauties. They are made of organic cotton and we have just reduced the price by 25%

These socks were produced by Craft Aid in Mauritius, a non profit-making organisation dedicated to the welfare of disabled people. It was created in the year 1982. Their main objective is to provide paid employment to the disabled and rehabilitate them in society. The workforce includes a significant number of mentally and physically handicapped persons as well as mute and deaf persons.

“Cotton is one of the most pest-prone crops grown, and in parts of the world like West Africa, where the cotton is rain-fed (not irrigated), chemical pesticides and insecticides account for much as 60 per cent of the farmer's costs. But the loss in fertility of his intensively farmed soil, the subsidies paid in other countries that price him out of the market and the high risk of pesticide poisoning, mean that even if the farmer can sell his cotton he is unlikely to make a profit. He then ends up spiralling into debt as money is borrowed at usury rates to start the process all over again in the next growing season.

None of that information is new. Ethical consumers have for some time now been aware of the environmental and social costs of cotton production, and increasingly recognise that organic cotton is a sustainable alternative.

Organic cotton eliminates the need for expensive agrochemical inputs, which immediately cuts costs and demands a higher market price, meaning the farmer stands a better chance of working his way out of poverty. It is this knowledge that has driven the demand for organic cotton, now available in some product lines on most of the high street”. (www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments 7th December 2010)



A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – N is for Nativity Set

One of our Fair Trade Nativity Set would certainly be a talking point in your home this Christmas.  Our set from Madagascar depicts very tall elegant figurines beautifully hand carved.  While the set from Peru contains a llama instead of a sheep.  Or choose a set from Indonesia where the hand painted characters are wearing native Indonesian dress.

They come in different sizes so you can choose which would be most suitable for you Christmas Crib scene.  You can purchase them online and prices start at less than €20.

A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – M is for Music

One of the reasons we decided to do this A-Z of Christmas on our blog was to let people know about the wide variety of fair trade goods there are available.  One thing I don’t think people would associate with Fair Trade is musical instruments.  We have a range of percussion instruments, from a lovely Gecko Clacker for little hands to a full size Jammer Djembe.

They are all made in Indonesia by local artists, communities and craftsmen. Producers represent the five main religions and both male and female craftsmen are employed through the various stages of the production process. This helps to 

further maintain a social balance in these areas. Producers are allowed to dictate prices and these prices are above local averages. 

A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – L is for Light

Candles certainly do their part in creating a Christmas atmosphere in your home.  This Tree Tealight is very popular this year and would look lovely in your home.  

It is made of polished aluminum by Noah’s Ark in India.  You can purchase it online from our store here.

A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – K is for Kenya

Tigers Eye & gold plated triangle necklace

We have a range of traditional, ethnic fair trade fashion jewellery which is skilfully produced by physically challenged artisans in Kenya, who would otherwise be homeless and destitute. 

Their fair trade jewellery collection has received international acclaim for their exclusive African designs and excellent finishes and demonstrates fantastic fair trade crafts.

A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – J is for Jewellery Box

A Jewellery Box makes a nice gift for Christmas and there is a lovely fair trade selection available starting at just €19.95.  Made in India you can choose from boxes made from saris, or silk and skilfully decorated with embroidery. They are all beautifully finished inside. A good reason for purchasing fair trade items like this is to create a demand which helps to keep ancient craft skills alive within the communities of indigenous people.  

A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – I is for Indonesia

Indonesia has seen great turmoil in recent years, having faced the Asian financial crisis, the fall of President Suharto after 32 years in office, the first free elections since the 1960s, the loss of East Timor, independence demands from restive provinces, bloody ethnic and religious conflict and a devastating tsunami.

There are a number of brilliant fair trade projects operating in Indonesia, usually supplementing the income of subsistence farmers.  This lovely nativity set, made by Pekerti, is guaranteed to be a talking point in any home this Christmas, the bright hand- painted colours on these six wooden figures are inspired by the Dayak traditional dress.  Pekerti (Indonesian People's Folk-Art and Handicraft Foundation), is a social development agency formed in Jakarta, 1975. Its mandate is to supplement the incomes of subsistence farmers and rural people through the development and sale of traditional fair trade crafts and folks art.  Pekerti trains and gives assistance to the producers to market domestically. They also give services in marketing, especially in export marketing, which cannot be done by the producers themselves. Pekerti also gives the producers an advanced payment for the producers and also a credit scheme for investment.

                     

Our range of musical instruments is also produced in Indonesia by local artists, communities and craftsmen. Producers represent the five main religions and both male and female craftsmen are employed through the various stages of the production process. This helps to further maintain a social balance in these areas. Producers are allowed to dictate prices and these prices are above local averages.   In return they supply high quality products and there is an attention to detail that surpasses products made under factory or other mass-production conditions. This rewards the high quality craftsmen and encourages other importers to work with the high quality artists above other producers. 

 Child labour is not used but the part-time training of older youths is encouraged. These trainees remain in education and they receive a full wage for the time that they spend working. This will ensure that they have a career to follow upon leaving school (if they choose to do so) and will help to sustain the community for successive generations.  All raw materials are sustainable and legal. No poached or endangered woods are used. No toxic or harmful materials are to be used in the production process and any waste created must be disposed of in an ecologically sound manner.

We’re up to H in our A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas and we’d like to introduce you to Hatti Bags from Nepal.

All of our products come with wonderful stories of the people making them but the story of Hatti Bags is one of our favouries.  These beautiful bags, which can be bought in our online store, are made by girls rescued from Indian circuses by the Esther Benjamins Trust.

Shoulder Bag with embroidery
 inspired by Sari prints

In 2002 the EBT sent research teams to the 30 major Indian circuses. At great personal danger, teams identified 232 children under the age of 14, 82% of them girls and nearly all Nepalese. Most of the children had been trafficked at the age of 8 or 9 (although some had been as young as 5). They told how their village communities had been preyed upon by professional agents who had tricked their impoverished and illiterate parents into handing them over to the circus for just a few dollars.

Thumbprints on documents that the naïve parents could not read condemned their children to an 18-hour per day, seven days per week routine for the next 10 to 15 years. Inadvertently they were also handing over their children to a life of malnourishment, harsh training schedules and vicious beatings by the circus staff. Frequently the girls would also be sexually assaulted.

Bold rescue teams were sent to confront the circus owners and use all legal means on the ground to secure freedom. This high-risk process led to the release of over 200 trafficking victims during the period 2003 - 2006. The youngest children who return from the circuses can mostly - and safely - be reunited with their parents and join school at an appropriate age.

Buckled leather bag.

Available in Black or Tan

For the older girls who might lack the academic ability or interest in joining formal education there is a skills training project to help them get back on their feet and gain an independent life, however, it has became evident that securing jobs for the returnees is virtually impossible due to the social stigma associated with being trafficked. So in 2005, instead of trying to secure outside employment for the girls the EBT, in conjunction with Hatti Trading (UK) set up a handbag production centre under Fair Trade conditions to provide a realistic economic alternative to being re-trafficked. 

In June 2007,  Hatti took on responsibility for the production centre and set up an independent private, but not for profit, company called Hatti Production Pvt Ltd. They still work in exactly the same way, providing training and jobs for young women rescued by The Esther Benjamins Trust and the charity is still close on hand to look out for the girls’ welfare, but the production centre is now an independent entity.

What wasn't anticipated at the time was the impact it would have on the girls who worked there; suddenly, they transitioned from being ‘charity cases’ to independent professional young women working for a foreign organisation. Their self esteem went through the roof; finally they could hold their head up high when asked what they do. At the same time there was a move to a new premises so the locals had no knowledge of what they had come from, and the girls could at last truly move on from their past.

Hatti started with 8 girls, there are now 17, plus Ritu, the Production Centre Manager, Shanti, the House Mother and two security guards. Some girls are now living with relatives locally and there has even been a wedding recently. The main difference now is that the girls are empowered to make their own choices and have the confidence to do so.  You might be interested in reading more about  the Esther Benjamins Trust and their work with children and young girls rescued from Indian circus: http://www.ebtrust.org.uk/  

G is for Gifts. The A - Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas

G is for Gifts. This Christmas why not start a new tradition and buy fair trade gifts for your family and friends? For hundreds of thousands of people, Fair Trade means the difference between a hand-to-mouth existence, and being able to plan for the future.

There are some misconceptions that buying fair trade means sacrificing quality. This is not the case. Fairly paid artisans take pride in their work. Goods are often handmade, which translates into closer attention to detail and in the end higher-quality products.

Fair Trade means fair wages, safe working conditions and long-term, stable business partnerships for disadvantaged artisans and producers. It also offers the comfort of knowing that there was no child labour involved in your purchase. Your purchase makes a difference.

At Arusha we offer beautiful Fair Trade certified gifts; arts and handcrafts from the world's artisans. Why not try our gift selector?

A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – F is for Friendship

F is for Friendship and our Friendship Bowl makes an ideal Christmas present for someone you are close to. Outstretched arms envelop this lovely polished alluminun bowl, perfect for sharing fruit or treats

The bowl is made by Noah’s Ark in India. Noah's Ark was established to provide welfare and better living conditions for very poor artisans in the villages of Moradabad, India. Besides fair wages and business support, Noah's Ark provides life insurance, medical and a facility for child education. Through their profits, they are building a school to provide free education to the children who work in the fields of Moradabad. Noah's Ark is also associated with Indian Society of Deaf and Indian Every Home Crusade. Noah’s Ark has recently joined IFAT, the International Fair Trade Association, and currently, over 90% of their sales are to IFAT members. Noah’s Handicrafts and Welfare Society provides free nutrition, medical services and basic education for artisans and their families. Thirty-five artisan groups, representing 280 full-time artisans are working with Noah’s Ark.

Noah’s Ark seeks to enable artisan groups to become established enough to purchase their own machinery and raw materials. These groups can then continue to market and export their handicrafts through Noah’s Ark. As the businesses become more self-sufficient, Noah’s Ark takes on new families. Since their inception, about 20 workshops have become independent.

These bowls always selll out quickly and are available to purchase online.

A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas – E is for EMA

EMA or the Equitable Marketing Organisation is based in Kolkata in India. EMA has been trading fairly for over 30 years. Production takes place at a Development Centre on the outskirts of Kolkata, where almost 200 artisans work, 30 of whom are disabled. The artisans are provided with food and lodging and work in a safe environment from Tuesday to Saturday. They make our leather document wallets which are available in black and red.

The 'shanti' or goat leather comes from Chennai in India. When EMA receives the raw material it is examined thoroughly for its thickness, smoothness and most importantly for tick marks. The leather is then cut, the design embossed, painted, glazed, stitched, lined and lacquered to prevent fading by sunlight. The result is lovely soft leather which is beautifully finished.

The document bag, available in either black or red, is decorated with a 'holding hands' design. There is ample room to fit your A4 documents and folders and all the important features such as inside pockets and mobile phone pocket have thought of.

You can purchase them in our online store

Today in our A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas it is D for dinner.

Christmas dinner is a very important part of the family’s celebrations and wouldn’t it be nice to serve it on a fair trade table cloth?

Our Snowflake Table Linen Dining Set is hand-woven and gives you all the table linen you need for a seasonal spread. The full-size cotton tablecloth comes with 6 placemats and 6 napkins.

This table linen is made by The Tamilnadu Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society. Co-optex was established in 1935 and is a state government organisation which co-ordinates the work and sales of thousands of handloom weavers in Tamil Nadu. It ensures that the weavers receive a fair price for their work.

This might also make a nice gift and we deliver to Ireland, Britain and Worldwide.

It is C today in our A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas.

C is for Children and Child Labour. Over 158 million children aged 5-14 years are engaged in child labour in developing countries. (Source UNICEF). According to the United Nations, 126 million of them are occupied in the worst forms of labour affecting their health or education, e.g. in mines, with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture, or with dangerous machinery. Of these, 50 million work in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. There is an important distinction to be made between a child being forced into labour and a child's willing participation in work. Helping with the housework or in the family business, or earning pocket money during school holidays are all positive steps in a child's development. These forms of work provide children with valuable skills and experience. The work done by a child is not considered labour if it doesn't harm their health, interrupt their education or hinder their personal development.

Most of us are consumers of some products tainted by child labour. It could be the cotton in your table linen or clothes, chocolate with origins in the Ivory Coast, jewellery, hand-knotted carpets from India, your iPod, footballs from Pakistan, that cup of coffee in your local cafe....

If we do not care whether or not the products we purchase are made by child labour, governments will continue to avert their eyes from the plight of these children. So how are we to avoid the trap of benefiting from the labour of children? One answer to this problem is to buy fair trade products this Christmas.

Organizations accredited by the World Fair Trade Organisation who buy Fair Trade products from producer groups either directly or through intermediaries ensure that no forced labour is used in production and the producer complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and national / local law on the employment of children.

The A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas - B is for Books

We are on to B in our A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas and B is for Books


B is for Books, in particular books for children, they make a great Christmas Gift and we have a lovely selection. Our books celebrate diversity . They introduce children to cultures and traditions from all over the world, encouraging them to see life from different perspectives.

Our favourite is called My Granny Went to Market. From Kenya to Mexico to Tokyo in one day you fly away with Granny and count with her from one to ten as she spins around the world on an unforgettable shopping trip. This colourful, rhyming story is followed by a counting page for reinforced learning. This book is suitable for children aged 3 to 7 years.

We have books for older children too and the old favourites like Pirates and Princesses are also there.

The A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas

Today, we are going to begin our A – Z Guide to a Fair Trade Christmas and we are going to kick off with A for Asha.

Asha Handicrafts who are based in Mumbai in India are a wonderful example of Fair Trade Organisation and produce a wonderful selection of goods suitable for Christmas Gifts. You can choose fair trade gifts such as a shopping bag for Mother made from camel leather or a carved spectacles holder for Dad. (The spectacles holder was a surprise best seller last year and we are adding another design in the next few days.)

Asha have been practicing Fair Trade since 1975, even before the concepts of Fair Trade became popular abroad. Asha in Sanskrit means 'hope' and Asha have brought hope by providing a marketing outlet to the individual craftsmen. Asha is an association of voluntary businessmen dedicated to helping craftsmen, financially, ecologically and spiritually though its welfare centre and interrelated programs. The team of Asha welfare workers are stationed at different producer groups and cooperatives and move closely with them and their family sharing skills, extending medical help and education. Technical training is also provided to increase efficiency and productivity to encourage the growth and development of cottage industries.

You can view our selection of products from Asha here.

Velvet Accessories to complete your Christmas Party Outfit

Velvet is certainly making a revival this year and will feature strongly on the Christmas Party scene. If the velvet dress is not for you but you would like to give a nod to the trend then simply take on velvet with a pair of gloves, a lovely soft scarf or a tactile handbag.


Our rich velvet handmade bags start at €23 and are available in Midnight Blue, Chocolate, Red and Grey/Green. We also have scarves to match, which will really complete an outfit. They also make an excellent Christmas Present.

A fair trade organization working with producers in Vietnam, as part of their poverty alleviation program, produce our beautiful fair trade velvet scarves and pom-pom bags. The organization comprises of more than 40 producer groups, most of who belong to ethnic minorities, some have disabilities believed to have been caused by the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War, teaching them the practices of fair trade and ensuring that they earn fair wages.

Please view in our online store for further information.

Handmade Christmas Cards that make a difference

We have some special Christmas Cards on sale in our online shop this year. It is disadvantaged women that benefit most from these enterprises which enable them to earn a sustainable living.

From the Philippines we have a set of three handmade paper cards hand-decorated with dried flowers, leaves, sequins, gems and metallic thread. The cards are made by Salay Handmade Paper Industries is a family-owned business that started in 1987 with the objective of providing a sustainable livelihood for the people in the local area. The business currently has three production sites housing the fair trade paper production, the fair trade craft workers and an admin/sales office. Several workers work from home on a piecework basis. There are over 200 employees, the majority women.

We have a set of four cards is made entirely by hand, and that includes the paper, by skilled Nepali crafts people in the heart of the Himalayas. The craftspeople, most of whom are female, are employed by GPI, a company set up in 1984 with a loan from the World Bank. Originally, it made paper from lokta for the local market. In 1988 it began trading with Body Shop and its market was exclusively exported for some years. It also began using more environmentally-friendly raw materials (waste cotton from garment factories and waste paper from local businesses), because lokta use was linked to deforestation. Employees have grown from about 20 to over 100 (80% women), all in permanent jobs. Products are made from a variety of raw materials including cotton rags, waste paper along with banana tree stems, water hyacinth and jute.

We have another set of four cards, this time from Bangladesh, and they are also handmade. They are made by Eastern Screen Printers who are part of Prokritee. Prokritee has been working in Bangladesh since 1972, starting and operating small cottage industries in rural areas around the country. These include Action Bag and Eastern Screen Printers. There are about 700 people (about 95% are women) who are involved in making a variety of handicrafts and they strive to develop unique products.

The name 'Prokritee' means 'nature' in Bangla. The organisation aims to create employment for disadvantaged rural women. It tends to work with women who are head of their household (often widowed), and who are landless, with few or no assets. It sets up and runs cottage industries in rural areas as well as providing marketing and design assistance to 9 enterprises. The aim is that the groups become strong enough to become independent of Prokritee.

You can buy your Christmas Cards here: http://www.arushafairtrade.com/21-christmas-cards

Fair Trade Cocktail Rings

Aren’t these rings lovely? At only €9.95 each they are also nice to your pocket. Both of these cocktail rings are made from freshwater pearls and semi precious chippings and would make a great accessory for a special occasion this summer.  They are adjustable to fit most sizes.


These lovely Fair Trade rings are from Lotusfeet and are made in the Philippines. The co-operative producing this jewellery is made up of sixty women, and was specifically set up to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for families and communities displaced from their homes by a major hydro-electric project. Nearly 800 households were affected by the project.

Both rings are available for immediate despatch from Arusha Fair Trade.

It's T-shirt Weather, Hip Hip Hooray!

The sun has got his hat on and it’s finally T-shirt weather. Your best option for keeping cool on a lovely warm day is a cotton t-shirt but it is also important to feel good about the clothing you are wearing and I would like to tell you a little about cotton,  the ladies tops we stock at Arusha, and our producers.

            

 Cotton is crop with a very troubled history

Cotton is obtained from plants native to tropical and subtropical climates. After blooming, seeds appear inside a capsule full of fibres; when ripe, it opens to form the boll. Farmers pick these bolls and remove seeds from them by a process called ginning; once seeds and other residues are removed, cotton becomes almost pure cellulose fibre and it is packed to enter the mill. A cotton mill is a place where fibres’ are carded to form a sliver so as to get them better aligned for spinning. Spinners produce the cotton thread which is then weaved into a textile; finally, the textile is ready to make clothing with it. Cotton is prone to pests, so it is the most sprayed crop in the world; taking only a 3% of cultivated land, it receives 25 % of all insecticides.

Similar to other colonial crops, like coffee or cocoa, cotton is the main source of income for several South countries, and is the only crop for large groups of farmers. Cotton is today the most widespread vegetal textile around the world.

Cotton has been used by humans for dressing themselves for thousands of years. For the last two hundred years the Cotton has been associated with human abuse and misery. Originally cotton farming in southern U.S.A. states was done, legally, by African slaves. During the industrial revolution in Britain child labour was common. The East India Company promoted the unjust cotton trade system that fuelled Gandhi's up rise in India.

The misery continues into the present day and recent television programmes depicting sweat shops in Asia have highlighted this.

Two-thirds of this cotton is produced in the developing world. For most cotton farmers in cotton-producing communities it is their only means of income and their only cash crop. In West Africa for example, cotton makes up to 40% of export income. Many cotton farmers also live in poverty – trying to survive on less than $2 a day. World prices on cotton have been unstable for a long time and farmers have been severely affected by the falling prices. Things are getting harder – not easier. Cotton farmers are under pressure from rising input costs of fuel, pesticides and insecticides. This means that few farmers can cover the cost of production, because they cannot pass these costs on when cotton is sold at such a low price. In real terms cotton farmers received five times more for a kilo of cotton in 1973 than they did in 2007.

Cotton farmers in the United States, the EU and China are highly subsidised leading to overproduction. When their huge volumes of cotton are dumped on world markets, prices are driven down and small scale cotton farmers cannot compete.

Cotton farmers in India have committed suicide because they were not able to meet their debt payments. To kill themselves they were drinking the poisonous chemicals they used to spray their crops. (Miles Litvinoff presents more details on reason #10 of his book "50 reasons to buy Fair Trade").

Working conditions are particularly miserable in Uzbekistan.

When the former Soviet Union diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers to irrigate huge cotton fields (the so-called "white gold") in Central Asia it caused the Aral Sea to shrink dramatically almost disappear, not to mention heavy pollution from fertilizer run-off.

Fair Trade cotton brings hope.

Fairtrade provides a lifeline to farmers ensuring that they are paid a guaranteed minimum price for their cotton crop which has been calculated to cover the sustainable costs of production. They also receive additional money to invest in community projects –the Fairtrade premium - and it is for the farmer organisations to decide how they invest it, depending on what they need most - a school, health centre, equipment or a well. It also ensures that the farmer’s children attend school and that trafficked children do not work on the cotton farm. Buying or producing a product made from Fairtrade certified cotton contributes to fighting poverty and to sustainable development for some of the world’s most marginalised cotton farmers.

Generally the fairtrade label means that the cotton itself which is Fairtrade certified, not the finished fabric or item of clothing.

Our t-shirts are made by a wonderful organisation, Craft Aid in Mauritius

Craft Aid, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the welfare of the disabled people, was first formed in 1982. Their main objective is to provide paid employment to the disabled and rehabilitate them in to their communities. The workforce includes a significant number of mentally and physically handicapped people, including those who are mute and deaf. In addition they provide employment to the needy and poor people in their community.

Working alongside able-bodied employees, their disabled employees are producing a wide range of items such as textile products, greeting cards, photo albums and bookmarks. They are also involved in packaging of sugar and vanilla. The workshops were started with 5 disabled employees and today employ 175 people, of which around 50 are disabled, working in different departments of the company. Their declared mission states their commitment to quality as well as always adhering to the principles of fair and ethical trade.

There are four different departments at Craft Aid:

• Textile Department
  A variety of textile products are made in the Textile department. The flow of production starts from cutting and goes right through to finished products. They make products such as gloves, socks, T-shirts, trousers, skirts, night wear, jackets etc.
  
  Most of the products are made of organic cotton and they were the first company in Mauritius to start using organic cotton. Their organic cotton-wear is certified by Control Union International, an independent Inspection organization for organic production method. They are also FLO certified. (Fair Trade Labelling Organization).
• The Pressed Flower Department makes all sorts of greeting cards, book marks, photo albums, calendars and pot pourri. They use pressed natural flowers for the making the items. Some of the flowers used are cultivated at Craft Aid and the rest are purchased.
• The Sugar Department where the activities consist of packaging of unrefined sugar such as standard demerara, dry muscovado, golden caster and special raw cane in a variety of retail packs of 500 grams and 1 kg. They also pack vanilla and spices.
• The Screen Printing Department completes all work in the Pressed Flower and Textile Departments is completed with the use of manual printing machines. Even the preparation of screen such as engraving, gluing of mesh, preparation of colour are done in-house. The greeting cards used by Arusha when you ask for your purchase to be gift wrapped are made here.

Radha Canakiah works in the Flower and Wood Department is one among so many deaf people that work at Craft Aid and like others she is also trying to live her life happily although being disadvantaged. She joined Craft Aid in the 1980 and is still employed and is working in the flower section. At first, for her working at Craft Aid meant having friends like her and enjoying life as it is instead of being at home and being frustrated for not being a "normal person". She was doing coconut jewellery and found satisfaction in what she was doing. By joining Craft Aid and finding lots of friends in the same situation as herself, she feels much more confident. For Radha, Craft Aid is a memorable place as this was where she first met Rajesh, employed in the wood section, who is deaf just like her, but nothing prevented them from loving each other and now they are happily married and have a baby boy. For Radha being deaf no longer means feeling handicapped.

Main Picture: Cotton gathering in Seranko village, Mali © Simon Rawles, 2007 UK Fairtrade Foundation