Fair Trade …… fair treatment for all producers.

PRAYER FOR JUSTICEGrant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it:a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry and none are poor;a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them;a world where we all speak up for those who are exploited through the unfair excesses of capitalism;a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

* What is it?* How Fairtrade relates to Catholic Schools.* How Unfair Trade feels.* What we can do.* Some random … thought provoking stuff.

A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.

Henrik Ibsen

What is it?Fair Trade is all about making sure the people that grow or make the things we buy, get a fair price for what they do.

*

It’s a certified process so that companies are inspected to ensure the working conditions and wages are FAIR. *

Often it is the people overseas who grow the raw products;

such as cocoa beans for our chocolate or cotton for our clothes.

They are the ones who get the worst deal from what WE buy.

*

We buy and eat the food these people grow therefore aren’t we

intrinsically connected to them? After all they grow the food and raw products that sustains us.

*

Could we then ask ourselves: Is there a Christian moral obligation for us and our students to question and attempt to rectify the inequity of this

UNfair trade ?????

Failure of International trade – Poverty Cycle

Years ago many Third World producers gave up theirtheir ecological sound rotational crops in order

to join the world market

• For a short time the price was sound and they were able to at least feed their families with the money

• More and more people wanted to share in the small but reliable wage.

• World prices dropped• Farmers are forced to sell for very low prices despite companies like Nestles making record profits• They have no choice - Without developed democracy

difficult to regulate – need Western Cos to be fairer

Review

Fair Trade – Fairer Future for more people

WHY would this be a ‘Catholic’ thing to do?

Classroom level - Our Religion Curriculum

MORALITY STRAND -

People of Justice – emphasises - ACTING JUSTLY And the units include individuals and groups BOTH within and beyond the Christian Tradition

School Level - Our Mission StatementsSamples taken from: Cairns Catholic School’s

Mission statements*… we are working to provide our students

with an education, which will empower them to take their place in the world as spiritual, moral, well-integrated persons, contributing positively to the life of the Church and the wider society. * … We are a place of self-

renewal and agents of change * … FAITH JUSTICE INCLUSION COMPASSION

Australian - Global level - On Holy Ground Principles The natural world has value in itself and not merely for its use by humans. The world and all in it must be freed from what can be termed a state of suffering. Humans are part of the created world and inextricably part of a material existence. Earth belongs to God and is only on loan to humans who are called to care for it. Human choices in their use of the Earth gives humanity a hand in forming its history, a vocation to heightened consciousness within the life of Earth. Ecological education provides a background for wise & moral decisions. There are limits to world resources and the environmental services that Earth can meet before pushing it to a new epoch.Excessive demands are imposed on the Earth by nations with a consumerist economy & life-style. Restraint and self-imposed limitations are part of authentic human living and are in the tradition of choosing sacrifice for the greater good. The right to a safe ecological environment is a universal human right. Models of development, social structure and styles of technology must integrate environmental factors if there is to be authentic development. Super-development, often for the purpose of economic gain, poses an additional threat to the environment.The richer nations have an obligation to dismantle structural forms of global poverty and help poorer nations experiencing social or environmental problems. Future generations should not be robbed or left with extra burdens for they have a claim to a just administration of the world’s resources by this generation.

It’s simple, really. The biblical story of Jesus’ clash with the money merchants in the temple is often cited as one of the few times we see him angry. And one of the reasons for that anger, many commentators say, is the way in which Jesus saw the economic practices in the temple separating people from God and exploiting the poor and vulnerable. While we can’t know for sure what Jesus would buy today, we can certainly find some guidelines in this and the many other passages in the Bible that relate to money and possessions — and we can look at our own consumption through the lens of faith, paying attention not just to the “what” question, but also the how, when, where and why. In her doctoral research on Christianity and sustainable consumption Dr Miriam Pepper found that, while churchgoers have distinctive values when compared with non-churchgoers - eg they are less materialistic and less concerned with social status, there is little difference in their consumer behaviour . “We still buy pretty much the same things and the same amount of it!” she said.

God Level

Every business transaction is a challenge to see that both parties come out fairly.“ Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)

Like slavery and apartheid, POVERTY is not natural. It is man made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.’- Nelson Mandela

Hat do these people have in common

What do These

People Have

in Common?

WHAT DO ALL THESE PEOPLE HAVE IN COMMON

Craig Keilburger… it takes a child

We are going to play a game.You are a Peruvian family making training shoes

in a small workshop. *

You will buy and sell shoes and materials from he market.

*You can make three different brands of training

shoes from the market. The aim is to make enough to pay the rent, buy food

and send your children to school.

You also have rent collectors and money lenders living in your shanty town.

•

You have some materials in order to make the shoes.

Each famiiy has a different assortment of materials.

If you need more materials you may buy them from the Mercado Central Market – prices are subject to change due to inflation. You may also borrow money.To Do:*Cut out paper shoe and *Add a trade mark of your choice by tracing it from a template.Good quality shoes ONLY and in PAIRS ONLYThis game will represent 4 weeks; every 5 minutes one week passes. A Cost-of-living Collector will come every 5 minutes (week) to collect money to cover your cost of living (for food, shelter, clothing). AIM: To make enough money to feed and clothe your family :To make some extra to send your children to school, medical bills

How was the four weeks working as a Third World Producer?

How much money do you have?How much is owed to the Cost-of-Living Collector?How much is owed to the Money Lenders?

Did any family manage to make ends meet? How? … why not?Did families help each other to survive? Why/why not? Did you feel you had control over your livelihoods?

Who was in control?

Other comments

•You can work hard and still be poor.•Very often people have little control over what is making them poor (international debt, or terms of trade)•The situation of people in poor countries is made worse by the conditions for repayment of debts set by governments and the IMF• The families were being encouraged to compete with each other, rather than work together, and that ultimately this wasn’t in their interest•People are often driven to do things (eg steal) through sheer desperation

Nike expects its revenue to rise to than 40 percent to $27 billion

in the next couple of years"We're going to continue to build, fuel and accelerate the Nike portfolio," said Chief Executive Mark Parker, addressing a crowd during an investor day held in

New York.A typical pair of trainers sell for $100 or

more. The 40 or so factory workers in the Philippines who make the shoe will share just over $1 of that price between them.

* Charity helps alleviates suffering in times of emergency* It also funds ongoing change at grassroots level eg small projects which help make people independent, wells, women’s groups, fair trade assistance, horticultural, trade and academic training, seeds,

tools, even solar power etc *But what charity can’t do is RADICALLY Change the SYSTEMS that keep people poor and disadvantaged.Christians have always done pretty well in the charity dept BUT not everyone realises the

importance of making their opinions known to: RELIGIOUS LEADERS,

CORPORATIONS (and smaller businesses too) the MEDIA and POLITICIANS

Change and Charity

CHANGE not CHARITY Most people do not want to think about people working in

appalling conditions for low wages; But when we Do sit down and think about it … it

seems overwhelming ... What can we do?

Coles & Woolworths – chocolate

coffee and teaFood Co-op - chocolate

Jamaica Blue - coffee (Cairns Central)*

OnlineOxfam – handicrafts, jewellery, food, clothes

Etiko – sports balls, sports shoesAmnesty International

New Internationalist – copies The Hungersite – a lot of Fairtrade (USA)

Ethos Cairns

Almost every product they sell is handmade and has been produced according to fair trade principles including transparency in business practices, fair wages for the producers, equal employment opportunities, safe working conditions and a real concern for people and the environment.

The Justice Squad – 2004 -Campaigns • Fair trade school – selling Fair Trade ProductsPromoting Fair Trade, posters signs, newsletter, Film Nights• Supporting the Jubilee Campaign to drop the debt in Third World Countries – globes and cards• The Micah Challenge – Postcards to Prime Minister•Make Poverty History Campaign – 5th Birthday cards to politicians•Don’t Trade Lives Campaign – letters to chocolate and cotton manufacturers to change their practices … Cadbury, Green & Gold•Emails to Coca Cola company about unfair dealings in India•Amnesty International –post cards to release a Catholic priest Fundraising – blankets, shoes and socks, •Raising $12 000, East Timor, Nepal, Mongolia, India, EA mission. Caritas,•Working with Community: Baptist Church, Jamaica Blue, Rotary, Ethos, Amnesty Local group, Barry Jiggins, Som Tamang

Me to WePhilosophy

Global Dimension - the world in your classroomhttp://www.globaldimension.org.uk/index.aspx?id=310

CAFOD (English equivalent of CARITAS but with a lot more resources)

www.cafod.org.uk

Fair Trade Association of Australiawww.fta.org.au

Stir You World (World Vision for young people)

http://trans.worldvision.com.au/stir/

TEAR Australia - Transformation, Empowerment, Advocacy, Relief.www.tear.org.au

THE MICAH CHALLENGE – Australia - International

www.micahchallenge.org.au www.micahchallenge.org

Don’t Trade Lives Campaign

www.worldvision.com.au/ourwork/solutions/donttradelives.aspx

Christian Aidwww.christian-aid.org.uk

CARITAS AUSTRALIA (great resource on Oscar Romero)www.caritas.org.au

Jubilee Australiahttp://www.jubileeaustralia.org/index.html

Thank You for choosing to hear about Fairtrade

DIVINITY IS THE FULLNESS OF HUMANITY

when we escape its limits.

Response by a Christian Theologian – To the Question of Divinity

It is increasingly becoming my belief that JESUS shows us more about what HUMANITY truly is than what divinity is.

Divinity is a human word …… it is not a concept revealed from on High.

It took me a lifetime to break this religious understanding, but I finally did. I now believe \:

DIVINITY is a word we created to describe the FULLNESS OF HUMANITY

when we escape its limits.

Quotes: The Bible – can’t argue with this!

• Be an advocate for the voiceless Prv 31:8-9• God doesn’t want empty worship but a conversation of heart that

produces justice, love and mercy Is 58: 1-12• God’s chosen servant, persists until justice triumphs Mt 12: 15-21• Be doers not only hearers of the word - James 1:22-27• Rescue the victim from the oppressor Jer 2:3

• Woe to the complacent and the oppressive rich Mi 2: 1-2