Gidpur is a small village outside of Sialkot, Pakistan. It is centered around a large banyan tree that provides welcome shade from the sweltering heat.

The village is very poor. The road is extremely rutted and the few buildings are single-story brick dwellings that house large families. Martin and James from FairDeal Trading (our sister company in the UK) met the Khan family, who had been joined just days before by a new member, a healthy boy.

The mother - Mushulcut - was sitting with her new baby. The baby was delivered at a good hospital in Sialkot, where Mushulcut stayed for 24 hours after giving birth. The hospital fees and all necessary medicines were paid entirely by our Fair Trade program, which is funded by your purchases of our certified Fair Trade sports balls.

"I am very thankful that the hospital was paid for," she said. "Without this, we would be in debt. My last baby was also delivered with the help of the Fair Trade (program), and she was a girl. Now we have a boy and we have called him Morcadus, which means The Holy."

Mushulcut's husband Selferaz is also keen to say how helpful the Fair Trade initiative has been to them. "We are a Fair Trade family," he said with a grin on his face.

Solvie Karlstrom of National Geographic's Green Guide recently featured our eco-friendly Fair Trade football on CBS as one of her favorite items this season.

"The other item that I really like this year is this fairly traded football, it's lined with FSC certified rubber, which comes from the rubber trees of well managed forests." explains Ms. Karlstrom. Check out the article and the video.

Kadir Ensurre is a welder. He makes security grills and window fencing for people's homes.

He also repairs tools and metal furniture. He says he is always busy because there is such a demand for his type of work. His small workshop is on a busy road, so he attracts passing trade as well as having regular customers.

Kadir trained as a welder for two years until he was 18 years old. His mother, who stitched soccer balls for us, took out a substantial loan so that Kadir could start his own welding business. He pays rent on his shop every month, and the rest of the money was spent on numerous power tools, compressors and a welding plant.

He also makes a seperate monthly payment on his micro-credit loan from the program we fund, while still bringing home enough money so that his mother can retire from stitching soccer balls. And when the loan has been fully paid off, his income will rise considerably.

Kadir points out that without micro-credit it would be impossible for him to have opened his workshop. Banks would demand a guarantor or property to back a loan, things his family does not have. A bank loan would also accrue large interest charges that would make paying off such a loan very difficult.

Kadir is looking forward to expanding his business when the loan is paid off. "I enjoy my job and want my business to grow," he said. Micro-credit loans provide real help, as well as personal and professional growth. We are honored to be part of Kadir's life!

Mohammand Riaz is content. His four children are healthy and well. The winter wheat, which he is cultivating on his two hectares, is looking good. Last season, his main crop of rice yielded an exceptional five tons, which he could sell for a profit to the rice mill.

Mr. Riaz is 45 years of age, lives in Sialkot Pakistan, and works at our partner’s certified Fair Trade sports ball production facility. Two thirds of all soccer balls produced worldwide are manufactured in his home town.

It takes 690 stitches to turn 32 pentagonal and hexagonal panels of synthetic leather into a soccer ball. Depending on the quality of the ball an experienced stitcher can stitch three to five balls per day. The most tricky bit is the final seam, which has to be done blind - through adjacent seams - and without puncturing the eco-certified latex air bladder.

Mr. Riaz credits his good harvest to Fair Trade…several years ago his employer, Talon Sports, became the first Fair Trade supplier of soccer balls in the world. The initial run of sports balls were sold to a cooperative in Italy.

Whenever Mr. Riaz stitches a ball which has been ordered by Fair Trade Sports, he is guaranteed a wage which is about 50% higher than what is usually paid in the industry.

Another part of the Fair Trade premium we pay (but don’t pass on to you the consumer) goes towards financing a health care program for all workers involved in the sports ball production at our facility - because Fair Trade orders are still the exception to the extent that getting a Fair Trade ball to stitch is a bit like winning the lottery. The health care plan, on the other hand, continuously benefits all employees and is an industry-first for workers like Mr. Riaz.

On top of this, the Talon Fair Trade Welfare Society provides small loans to workers who want to develop a second source of income, since the stitching of sports balls is highly seasonal - the years of World Cup Soccer are good - the years in between can be lean.

Mr. Riaz applied for a loan to purchase an irrigation pump for his farm; two-thirds of the loan is already repaid - and is now micro-credit loans for some of his colleagues.

The positive cycle created by the Fair Trade movement (and supported by you) continues…

Fair Trade Towns USA is a new campaign organized by local and national Fair Trade advocates to encourage and support the Fair Trade Movement in the US.

Following the example of the Fair Trade movement in Europe, the campaign supports local “grassroots” groups by offering tools and resources to become a Fair Trade town or city. Fair Trade Towns brings these local groups together, united with the common goal of making Fair Trade products the standard in the U.S. - one community at a time.

The town of Media, PA is the first Fair Trade Town in the US. They recently ordered a slew of Fair Trade soccer balls, footballs, and basketballs to outfit their schools, parks, and recreational leagues. Perhaps your town is next!

Special thanks to Melody Hamby for the great photo!

We kicked off Fair Trade Month a day early in Los Angeles at the Just Lives Festival in the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.

This wonderful event is organized by Fair Trade LA, Catholic Relief Services, and the  Progressive Jewish Alliance.

What fun to smell delicious Fair Trade coffee wafting through the air while listening to a few inspired acoustic musical performances. And seeing the wide variety of Fair Trade products available was fun, too, including our Fair Trade footballs.

In addition to our Fair Trade soccer balls and volleyballs, our Ultimate discs were seen flying through the festival as well, upsetting only a few cups of coffee.

:)

Coop America’s new Guide to Fair Trade (PDF) was recently released for both consumers and Fair Trade advocates.

The Guide features descriptions of national and international Fair Trade products (such as our Fair Trade soccer balls) with an extensive directory of businesses and organizations offering those products.

In addition to general information on Fair Trade, there are personal testimonials and suggestions how to involve yourself more as a consumer in the overall Fair Trade movement.  I liked the step-by-step plan of action for mobilizing consumers and local producers, such as hosting Fair Trade events and petitioning local supermarkets to carry more Fair Trade products.

This is a great tool to empower consumers! The more consumer demand for Fair Trade, the more people we help around the world!

Join us as we celebrate October as Fair Trade month!

What is Fair Trade? Glad you asked. Our friend Siel in Los Angeles (aka Green LA Girl) has a great primer on the subject.

When you are out in your local marketplace this month, please consider whether a Fair Trade version of the product you seek exists. The obvious one this month is chocolate as Halloween approaches. If your local market does not carry Fair Trade chocolate, ask the manager for it!

Our friend Dean (of Dean’s Beans fame) is active with the other project we invest alot of time into, the abolitionist group Not For Sale. He has transformed Dean’s Beans into one of the first abolitionist companies in the US.

Dean has also recently uploaded a few videos that speak directly into the heart of what Fair Trade means to an individual producer and community, based on his work in Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea. Recommended and uplifting!

The Green Festival is coming to Seattle (where Fair Trade Sports is
based) this Spring!

Green Festival is a joint venture between Global Exchange and Coop America. I’m serving on the Host Committee to welcome this show to our city. We met last week at the Seattle Aquarium for a work session that was 50-people strong. Seattle-area leaders representing
groups ranging from electric vehicles to green media to social justice nonprofits. Exciting!

My favorite part was Global Exchange Co-Founder Kevin Danaher’s short talk about the two cycles currently at odds in our world…the Money Cycle and the Life Cycle. His question/challenge to our team was, “Which cycle will dominate?”

    

I know which cycle my crew will work towards…LIFE!