And it all started on ecademy
April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I can't remember when or how I connect with Gerd but before long we were talking baskets the ones that house dogs to be exact.
Gerd is a Vet based in Naarden in The Netherlands. He had been thinking about adding hand made baskets for cats and dogs, as well as dog collars as part of his offering in his practice when I turned up.
I didn't have these at Ethnic Supplies but as luck would have it I was on my way out to Rwanda so I was confident that I could help.
The dog collars arrived, and although the women had done a great job , they were not suitable for what Gerd had in mind. The samples were free but being a generous soul Gerd donated £50 to the charity LTHT . This is still on drawing board.
I got to Rwanda and presented the idea to the KIAKA co-op. They got to work and before I knew it the Rwanda government had sent me two large boxes containing samples of the baskets. I was faced with a new dilemma how was I going to get the baskets to the Netherlands?
I called Gerd and told him about the baskets, next thing I knew I had the tallest Dutch men I had ever seen were standing in my living room one Saturday afternoon:-) Gerd and his friend had come to collect the baskets!
Gerd was so impressed with the women's work that he has since placed an order for 40 of these baskets he has also become interested in the idea of helping African women help themselves out of poverty through trade and not AID
What started as a random connection as far as I could see has produced some amazing results, I have gained a new friend both for the women I work with as well as for myself, a new customer as well as a whole new market that I previously had no access to.
That almost sounds too god to be true but then that really is the value of networking you just never know where it will lead you!
How fair are we?
March 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
It is week 2 of the #fairtrade fortnight and I am here to share with you some of the thoughts running through my mind with a view to encouraging debate.
To that end I have some questions and will share with you something from my travels.
1. why would you choose to buy fair-trade over any other brand
2. Should the concept of fair-trade be extended to European farmers? Why
Last year was an interesting year for me in more than one way. Ethnic Supplies headed out in a new direction as service provider. The first person wanting my services was a coffee roaster based in North London and my brief was to help him trade more ethically! The first thing we did was to hit the road to Uganda so that I could introduce him to some coffee growers. Our first stop was Eastern Uganda, home to the famous Bugisu Arabica coffee beans.
We were met by the co-op's Managing Director, a really pleasant man. My client tasked him whether his coffee was fair-trade certified. The answer was an emphatic NO!
And before we asked nay more questions he continued , "we used to be but had to pull out" neither I nor my client asked why. But our host went on to say, since pulling out we are exploring the idea of processing and roasting our own coffee prior to exporting it. We believe we can earn more money for our growers that way!"
We really couldn't argue with this. if you think about it coffee beans in their raw form are of no value but it the fact that value can be added to them to the extent that the end user would happily pay £3 or more for a cup of coffee that makes them interesting.
raw coffee beans
So my question is, Are we being fair to the coffee growers by allowing them only 3% of the overall profit by adding value else where?
What is the worst that could happen if we transferred technology and skills to them that enabled them to export a fully packaged coffee to us and thus capture more of that 97% profit?
What do you think. are we as fair as we could possibly be?
If you enjoyed reading this you may find this post interesting too
Ending poverty in Africa isn't about being fair
Let them Help themselves out of poverty
Unusual fashion accessories Have you joined LTHT
Ethnic Supplies Blog
http://lethemhelpthemselves.org/grand-spring-raffle
We were met by the co-op's Managing Director, a really pleasant man. My client tasked him whether his coffee was fair-trade certified. The answer was an emphatic NO!
And before we asked nay more questions he continued , "we used to be but had to pull out" neither I nor my client asked why. But our host went on to say, since pulling out we are exploring the idea of processing and roasting our own coffee prior to exporting it. We believe we can earn more money for our growers that way!"
We really couldn't argue with this. if you think about it coffee beans in their raw form are of no value but it the fact that value can be added to them to the extent that the end user would happily pay £3 or more for a cup of coffee that makes them interesting.
raw coffee beans
So my question is, Are we being fair to the coffee growers by allowing them only 3% of the overall profit by adding value else where?
What is the worst that could happen if we transferred technology and skills to them that enabled them to export a fully packaged coffee to us and thus capture more of that 97% profit?
What do you think. are we as fair as we could possibly be?
If you enjoyed reading this you may find this post interesting too
Ending poverty in Africa isn't about being fair
Let them Help themselves out of poverty
Unusual fashion accessories Have you joined LTHT
Ethnic Supplies Blog
http://lethemhelpthemselves.org/grand-spring-raffle The Man Who Can’t Stop Hiccupping
January 13, 2010 By
On Monday I wrote about the way my local hospital took 6 years to investigate my opticians concern for my sight due to high eye pressure
I was still getting used to my situation last night when I switched on the TV and stumbled upon
a documentary on a young man called Chris Sands..
THE MAN WHO CAN'T STOP HICCUPPING
This young man could not stop hiccuping quite literary and tried everything on offer in vain. The Japanese learned of his plight and ivinted him and his sister to Tokyo and whilst there he saw a neurologist who picked up that he had a brain tumor and that this was most likely the cause of his none stop hiccups.
I was still getting used to my situation last night when I switched on the TV and stumbled upon
a documentary on a young man called Chris Sands..
THE MAN WHO CAN'T STOP HICCUPPING
This young man could not stop hiccuping quite literary and tried everything on offer in vain. The Japanese learned of his plight and ivinted him and his sister to Tokyo and whilst there he saw a neurologist who picked up that he had a brain tumor and that this was most likely the cause of his none stop hiccups.