Here are just a few of our valued producers, and a little bit about them and how they have been affected by Fair Trade working. Click on a name to see the full story:
- Brazia - How Fairtrade wages benefit workers
- Khan Family - How Fairtrade premiums pay for workers health care
- Bijad - How Fairtrade Premiums pay for Micro-credit loans »
- Kadir Ensure - How Fairtrade funds micro-credit
- Kitman - Sri Lankan Fair Trade rubber project
- Shymala - Fair trade rubber tapping in South India
- Sameena Nyaz - How Fairtrade Premiums help pay for healthcare
- Gollapalli Nampalli - Organic Cotton Growing in India
- Iramma Ramappa Bangari - Organic Cotton Growing in India
- Mr Babu - Fair Trade pension project for rubber tappers
- Mr. Dadmanabhan - Health insurance from the Fair trade Fund
- Ms. Saradha - An operation paid for by Fair Trade premiums
- Rezwan Waris - How Fair Trade Premiums pay for Micro-credit
- Premavati and other Tsunami Victims - Greentips™ Rubber Band Balls
- Mr Sadasivan - Wedding costs help from Fair Trade premiums in South India
To find out more about the making of Fair Trade Footballs, see our video on YouTube.
» How Fairtrade Premiums pay for Micro-credit loans
Bijad is 24 and not married. He was born in Gidpur and went to school nearby in Sialkot. He started stitching footballs to help with his family income when he was 18. He used to stitch four or five footballs in a day for which he would receive around RS 150.
Bijad likes Pakistani music and playing pool, therefore when he was 20 he took out a micro-credit loan of RS 50,000 and purchased a small building and a pool table. The pool table cost him RS 13,000 and the Shop building RS 30,000 the rest of the loan money he spent on purchasing equipment to set up as a barber. He can earn between 10 and 30 RS a day for offering cut throat shaves to supplement his income from the pool table business. It is from Pool that he earns a good income, around RS 300 a day, twice what he earned from stitching footballs. Bijad completely paid of the loan over 2 years in 25 installments.
The pool table also offers a welcome form of entertainment in a poor village where there is very little in the way of entertainment for young people. His friend, Mohamed, is keen to point out that “...this is the best thing to do here, before we got bored”.