|
Parishes offer 'fair trade' items to empower poor, teach justice
By Janice L. Semmel, news@catholicsun.org
November 6, 2008
Catholics who attend St. Paul Parish know they can find Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolate the first weekend of each month after Masses, but churchgoers can expect to see an even greater variety of goods during the Advent season.
“Besides offering the opportunity for people to buy Christmas items and other gifts so that their consumer dollar is used justly, we also see ourselves as helping to educate the public in general about the necessity of entering into economically just relationships as part of our Catholic social teaching,” said Debbie DiCarlo, St. Paul’s coordinator of sacraments and ministry outreach.
“Fair trade” is a social approach to empower developing country producers and promote sustainability, advocating for fair payment as well as environmental and living standards.
St. Paul organizers obtain the fair trade goods from WHEAT’s (World Hunger Education, Advocacy & Training) Hand to Hand Project in central Phoenix.
Just and living wage
Tamera Zivic, executive director of the organization, said the Fairtrade Federation certifies the artisan groups, wholesalers and retailers. Artisans receive as much as 90 percent of the proceeds for fair trade items and don’t pay shipping.
This program’s got a lot of foresight to it by addressing and positively impacting global poverty and additionally impacting the complexities of illegal immigration, DiCarlo said. “Every aspect of the production of a product ensures that those who are involved are paid a just and livable wage so that their families and their communities are able to live with dignity.”
Mexican coffee growers, who could not compete with large corporations, illegally came to the United States to support their families. Now through the Just Coffee Cooperative located in Chiapas, Mexico, these coffee growers have an opportunity to stay on their land and make a living growing and selling their fair trade coffee.
Items received by WHEAT come from at least 42 countries around the world, Zivic said. She encourages buyers to purchase items they want because they may become unavailable.
“If you see it, buy it because the next set will be different,” Zivic said.
The most popular fair trade item sold around the world, Zivic said, is the goldfish paperweight made by Vietnamese orphans, who consider the paperweight their orphanage’s mascot and a sign of hope. Orphans paint river rocks with glimmering goldfish. Transparent layers of epoxy made from natural plants coat each rock, which sells for $7.
“The ingenuity that people use is amazing,” said Lenore Martinez, a St. Paul’s volunteer and fall festival coordinator.
Other fair trade items include a variety of nativity scenes from Peru with some from Vietnam and Mexico. WHEAT also carries woven purses made in the Philippines from old telephone books, dried and decorated gourds from Peru, ceramic candleholders with a story written on top from Bangladesh, along with many other items such as ornaments and jewelry from different countries. Zivic said that story cards come with most items.
These items and more will be sold at St. Paul’s third annual Holiday House, Martinez said. “People want to know what’s new each year.”
“St. Paul’s has a good set up,” Martinez said. “We continually put out new things. If buyers want more and St. Paul’s runs out, we try to get more by taking orders. We do the fair for two weeks after the Masses. It’s a good place to do Christmas shopping.”
|
