Mayabehn's story

Here is the story of the typical conditions and pay that many people around the world have to suffer:

Do you believe in life before death?

That's a question that was raised in May for the Christian Aid week, but if you're anything like us, May was a long time ago. One way to keep that thought at the front of your mind all year round is fair trade, and regularly buying fairly traded products.

But why would you buy fair trade products when they are more expensive than the supermarket?

• More of the money goes directly to the producers in the Third World.
  • For a pound of supermarket coffee costing £1.50, just 12p goes to the coffee picker.
  • Traidcraft coffee pays a fair market price, which is what makes it more expensive.
  • But that money goes directly to the producers at an agreed, stable price so that communities know how much money they will have coming in.
• Traidcraft continues to support communities it buys from, even if prices fluctuate. Supermarket buyers move from region to region to get the best possible price at the time and keep their profits up at the expense of decimating the income of the community.
• It means countries don't have to grow cash crops just to pay back international loans, but can grow enough crops to feed their populations.
• This is trade, not aid.
  • Most communities don't want charity. They want the opportunity to provide for their families and develop their own businesses, usually as co-operatives.
  • Traidcraft also give interest free loans to help people get started.

But Traidcraft is not immune to market pressures and fluctuations in world commodity prices. If people in the West do not buy the products, then there's nothing that Traidcraft or the Third World producers can do. And Traidcraft has had a bad time over the last year, particularly with some of the crafts and clothing failing to sell.

So what about the stall you see in church every other Sunday? It's helpful, but not much use in a wider sense, to just buy the odd item from the stall. For the producers in Africa and India to benefit, there has to be a regular flow from the Third World to us, and that means regular shopping. The ideal situation would be for people to buy regularly from the stall -- not just coffee and tea, but everyday items such as sugar, rice, cereals, dried fruit, chocolate and so on. The more you buy the more we can provide.

Although the recycled paper products such as tissues, toilet rolls and cards are sourced from the UK and Europe, these also help Traidcraft offer the interest free loans to the Third World co-operatives to get on their feet and build a viable business.

We must stress that this is not about increasing profits. The stall is run entirely by stalwart volunteers, and the products are sold to you at the discount price that is offered to Traidcraft reps, not the recommended price. The whole point is to channel funds to poorer countries in a fair way, buying the things we use everyday.

Fair trade is not about charity, it is about thinking about the power of your money, and where it will do most good. You could consider it as part of our Christian responsibility and as part of your giving -- the extra cost is going to people that really need and value it.

For our part, we will endeavour to have the everyday items in stock. Sometimes that's not possible, as Traidcraft is at the whim of the international markets, and some of the suppliers have problems meeting delivery schedules. But that's exactly the kind of thing that Traidcraft is working on to make the co-operatives more competitive in the worldwide market.

What we want to do is get the stall running every week so that you can buy regularly and have better access. To be able to do this we need another couple of volunteers so that everyone only has to run the stall once every two months.

So please stop by to have a look and have a think about how your spending power can directly go to help disadvantaged people build their own lives and their own self respect.