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.

Shymala has high hopes for her granddaughter Roopa, and for her future. Roopa is 14 years old and is in the 9th grade, along with her best friend Mahalakshmi.

Shymala and Roopa live in one of the rooms of New Ambadi Rubber Estate, where we source our eco-certified Fair Trade rubber for our sports balls. These rooms are small, but quite comfortable. They have electricity, an individual water supply, separate toilets, and a small space for keeping chickens and growing vegetables. In fact, there is a waiting list for this type of accommodation. Most workers have to rent houses or flats in nearby villages.

Shymala works in the latex factory of New Ambadi. She is a trade union leader, not just representing the workers of the plantation, but also rubber workers throughout the district. She is also a member of the joint body, which was started when FairDeal Trading (our sister company in the U.K.) began buying rubber under Fair Trade conditions. Our group (FDT in the U.K. and Fair Trade Sports in North America) is the only company in the world that pays a Fair Trade premium for latex, which is then processed into components for soccer balls and other sports balls in Pakistan.

The joint body meets regularly and keeps meeting minutes. It has decided to save the Fair Trade premiums into a fund, which will be used to pay for the children of the plantation workers to go to college. Even though education in India is free, in principle, only children who can afford to go to private schools have a chance of getting a decent job after their schooling. The joint body told us that we need to buy at least 90 tons of rubber in order for the fund to have enough money in it to start paying out stipends.

Shymala hopes that her granddaughter will be one of the first to benefit. She would like her to train as a nurse. The three -year course costs quite a bit, which she could never afford out of her salary.

The second benefit of our buying is that we paid for the registration of New Ambadi into the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) initiative for responsible forest management, helping to make rubber production more sustainable.

The positive effects of Fair Trade (and your participation) just seem to multiply...thank you!

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…

While we are fighting child labor in our industry of sports balls, several other groups are fighting the good fight in their respective industries. Learn more here.

I’m convinced that by marrying the Fair Trade movement to the No Child Labor movement, we can create a lasting solution that truly does eliminate child labor from this industry. How? By focusing on the root problem: extreme poverty.

While this is a complex matter (start with reading Jeffrey Sachs’ The End of Poverty), the simple one-sentence version is this: pay the parents a fair, living wage and they will not be forced to ask their children to work. As a family unit, they will be able to survive and thrive.

While this is an enormous worldwide problem, you can help today by supporting the Fair Trade movement and getting involved.

The FLO writes a Producer Profile for each new organization that they certify to be Fair Trade. This is the one for Talon, our manufacturer in Pakistan.

It was written in June 2006, the summer before we launched Fair Trade Sports. The company noted in the profile called FairDeal Trading is my friend, business partner, and personal “professor”, Dr. Martin Kunz in London.

Although I don’t agree with everything in the FLO document - child labor has definitely NOT been “virtually eliminated” from this industry - it’s still a good document overall on the positive programs happening at Talon, including their medical program - a first in the sporting goods industry in Pakistan.
You can learn more about the benefits of purchasing Fair Trade soccer balls on Talon’s website.

Here is a brief update from our Talon Fair Trade Welfare Society in Sialkot, Pakistan. This is the sister organization to the workers’ union at Talon, the manufacturer of Fair Trade Sports balls.

I’d like to give you a direct glimpse - in their own words - of what the crew at Talon are achieving with the extra funds we pay through Fair Trade premiums (reminder: we do not pass these premiums on to you - we have no multi-million dollar TV ads to support).

Here’s an insightful excerpt from the reporting:

Micro credit is for income generation.Now people living happily life. Health Facilities.

Worker,stitcher and their families getting 100% free of cost medical facility.This facility is not available in over all sialkot scenario.Not even in Govt sector,multinational companies.In these companies and in government sector have specific limit for medical.But for our workers have no limit.We provide them 100% free.

If we consider employee status over all in Pakistan factory workers and football stitcher are third level workers,but our workers availing 1st class facilities in medical programme.

One thing very special here is no classicfication every workers and managerial level worker availing the facilities from the same listed hospital.Mean we have equel ploicy for all workers and managers.

Here is a PDF I made of the micro-credit loans. The addition of the highlighting is mine to call your attention to the type of projects being funded: reselling milk, welding shops, buffalo, carts, sweet shops, tractors, and a bakery.

Please consider telling two friends right now about our fairly traded soccer balls, and continue to support this wonderful work around the world!

Today is International Women’s Day, the global celebration day connecting all women around the world - inspiring them to achieve their full potential. International Women’s Day celebrates the collective power of women past, present and future.

We’ve seen this with our female Pakistani stitchers like Razia. Through the Fair Trade monies that you help us generate, Razia and her colleagues implemented the first health care plan in their industry.

Of all the mentions on sites and blogs from Seth Godin’s recent comments about our Fair Trade soccer balls, this post by Silus Grok is my favorite so far. Likely due to just how close it hits home.

Definitely watch the video in the post the whole way through. Hilarious and heartwarming. And a brilliant pairing of topics by Silus.


Susan and I have a baby girl due mid-May. My son Justice is pretty stoked. I think he’s hoping for another soccer player in the family (did you watch the video yet?).

Fair Trade Sports is proud to be a member of the Fair Trade Federation. 

Membership means we adhere to standards and principals that pursue an equitable and fair partnership between marketers in North America like Fair Trade Sports, and the producers of our products around the world. 

For us, that is specific to Sialkot, Pakistan, the producer of 80% of all sports balls in the world, including our fairly traded soccer balls and more. 

A Fair Trade partnership works to provide low-income producers with a living wage for their work. Among many criteria, FTF membership includes:

• Paying a fair wage in the local context
  
  
• Being open to public accountability
  
  
• Building long-term trade relationships
  
  
• Providing healthy and safe working conditions within the local context
  
  
• Providing financial and technical assistance to the producers of our products whenever possible
  
• Engaging in environmentally sustainable practices