Moskitto
7th November 2001, 22:08
Mario Hernandez, coffee farmer
Mario grows coffee in Nicaragua. He explains the difference between unfair and fair trade. Beforehand we were paid by the middlemen who paid us whatever they felt like. Now the price is steady. If we are paid very little for a product we have nothing to buy food with. If you invest your money in the farm you have nothing left for food. Now I have money to buy my little children their little clothes. I could build my house. Day to day things are improving, and this is because of the better price. Before, if we were ill all we had was a prescription, but not the money to buy medicine. Now as we get better prices for our coffee we can have actual medicine, not just a piece of paper. It is all a chain. Their co-op sells to the fair trade coffee organisation cafédirect.
Suresh, sports-goods maker
Suresh works in a large Indian sports-goods factory. The company doesn’t pay us fairly for the work we do. Sometimes the labour officials visit the factory, but they never ask the workers questions. When foreigners come they don’t meet the workers, just the employers. A neighbour adds When you join you can only work for a maximum of eight months before they expel you for two months to stop you becoming permanent. There is no union and anyone who tried to set one up would be sacked.
(Source: Christian Aid report, May 1997).
Muhamasukree Masaning, Thai villager
Muhamasukree has seen the devastating impact of prawn farming in his area. UK retailers sell prawns from Thailand. There is a myth that shrimp farms are helping the poor. The reality is the opposite. They cut down the mangrove forest to come in - this is the breeding ground for shrimps and fish. Salt water affects our drinking water, getting into our wells. It makes the soil salty and ruins any crops we have. The waste water decreases the number of fish and increases diseases which kill the fish we are nurturing in the sea.
(Source: Christian Aid report, May 1996).
Dima Baghen, tea picker
Dima works on an Indian tea plantation. After every 15 days of work I am paid Rs 350 [about £5.20]. Medicines for three TB patients finishes off most of my earnings. I struggle to keep my family going. So I don’t know what to do with my meagre income.
(Source: Asian Women Workers Newsletter, July 2000)
Hasina, garment worker
Hasina is a sewing machine operator in Bangladesh. The management won’t allow trade unions. If they knew I was a member, I’d be sacked, maybe beaten up.
(Source: Fashion Victims, Cafod 1998)
Mario grows coffee in Nicaragua. He explains the difference between unfair and fair trade. Beforehand we were paid by the middlemen who paid us whatever they felt like. Now the price is steady. If we are paid very little for a product we have nothing to buy food with. If you invest your money in the farm you have nothing left for food. Now I have money to buy my little children their little clothes. I could build my house. Day to day things are improving, and this is because of the better price. Before, if we were ill all we had was a prescription, but not the money to buy medicine. Now as we get better prices for our coffee we can have actual medicine, not just a piece of paper. It is all a chain. Their co-op sells to the fair trade coffee organisation cafédirect.
Suresh, sports-goods maker
Suresh works in a large Indian sports-goods factory. The company doesn’t pay us fairly for the work we do. Sometimes the labour officials visit the factory, but they never ask the workers questions. When foreigners come they don’t meet the workers, just the employers. A neighbour adds When you join you can only work for a maximum of eight months before they expel you for two months to stop you becoming permanent. There is no union and anyone who tried to set one up would be sacked.
(Source: Christian Aid report, May 1997).
Muhamasukree Masaning, Thai villager
Muhamasukree has seen the devastating impact of prawn farming in his area. UK retailers sell prawns from Thailand. There is a myth that shrimp farms are helping the poor. The reality is the opposite. They cut down the mangrove forest to come in - this is the breeding ground for shrimps and fish. Salt water affects our drinking water, getting into our wells. It makes the soil salty and ruins any crops we have. The waste water decreases the number of fish and increases diseases which kill the fish we are nurturing in the sea.
(Source: Christian Aid report, May 1996).
Dima Baghen, tea picker
Dima works on an Indian tea plantation. After every 15 days of work I am paid Rs 350 [about £5.20]. Medicines for three TB patients finishes off most of my earnings. I struggle to keep my family going. So I don’t know what to do with my meagre income.
(Source: Asian Women Workers Newsletter, July 2000)
Hasina, garment worker
Hasina is a sewing machine operator in Bangladesh. The management won’t allow trade unions. If they knew I was a member, I’d be sacked, maybe beaten up.
(Source: Fashion Victims, Cafod 1998)