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Helping Families, Better Housing, Better Health Care, Sustainable Agricultural Projects, Better Education, Keeping Families Intact, Empowering WomenFor more information please visit www.transfairusa.org Helping
farmers care for their families
Additional
income from Fair Trade helps farmers avoid debt, improve their working
conditions, and buy clothing and school supplies for their children.
Top “Before,
life was very hard for us, mainly because we could never get a decent price for
our harvest. With the income we get from Fair Trade, our children are now well
fed and have better clothing. We have also been able to send our children to
school and pay for teachers.” Top Flavio
Clemente Gaitan, La Esperanza co-op member, Colombia Top Better
housing
Fair
Trade revenues invested in a local community housing project provided new homes
for members of the Colombian indigenous co-op Ingrumá. And in El Salvador, the
Fair Trade co-op APECAFE led local reconstruction efforts to rebuild 500 homes
that were damaged or destroyed by the 2001 earthquake.
(The auther was in Guatemala City - about 100 miles from San Salvador when this
quake hit). Top “For
us Fair Trade was like a revolution. Before, this house was not ours. Now it
is.” Top COOCAFE
Member, Costa Rica Top Health
programs
The
CECOCAFEN co-op in Nicaragua has used Fair Trade premiums to establish a
reproductive health program for co-op members and the surrounding community.
Local health promoters educate women about cancer prevention and treatment, and
a woman doctor visits the community regularly. Top Sustainable
agriculture and reforestation
The
Fair Trade model supports environmental sustainability by strengthening the
economic viability of small-farmers and providing financial incentives and
market access for sustainably-grown coffee. Many Fair Trade co-ops, such as
UCIRI in Mexico and La Florida in Peru, have used Fair Trade revenues to
establish sustainable agriculture training for co-op members and other local
farmers. Top Schools
and scholarships
The
Costa Rican co-operative COOCAFE used Fair Trade revenues to fund improvements
in 70 local schools and to provide 6,700 scholarships so students could afford
to attend high school and university. Top “Ten
years ago, our children couldn’t study past the age of eight because there was
no bus to the school and we had no money. Now with Fair Trade, we have fixed the
road and we have bus service. Our kids can go to school with the help of
scholarships from the co-op’s fund. One is getting a business degree at the
university and the other is in high school.”
Sabino Brenes, COOCAFE member, Costa Rica Top Keeping
families together
With
today’s low coffee prices, many small farmers and coffee pickers are fleeing
the rural areas in search of work. Women and children are left behind to tend
the fields and pick the coffee. Kids are taken out of school, and there are new
reports of child prostitution on the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In
contrast, income earned from Fair Trade coffee is helping families stay together
on the farm and keep their kids in school. Top Empowering
women
Peru’s
COCLA co-operative supports a women’s leadership project that includes
training and income generation projects. In Nicaragua, CECOCAFEN uses popular
theater to educate the community about domestic violence. In Mexico, the CEPCO
network of coffee co-operatives has a Women’s Commission that has helped to
elevate the status of women coffee growers and to change traditional perceptions
of women. Women also get training in cultivating coffee and other
income-generating activities. Top “Thanks
to CEPCO, we have woken up. We
realize that as women, we can do more than stay home and have children.”
Epifania Velasco, CEPCO member, Mexico Top | Buy
Fair Trade Coffee
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