Kitman is 67 years old and still works a full-time job. Since he started working, he has been a rubber tapper on the Frocester Plantation in Sri Lanka.

By local standards, Kitman is a successful man. Each of his seven sons has found work in the capital of Colombo (two hours away by bus). The eldest son is in charge of a small business, two have become tailors, two work as drivers, and two are employed as shop assistants. One of his daughters is a teacher, while the other works as a rubber tapper on the same plantation as her father.

With their joint savings, Kitman has managed to improve the basic accommodations provided by the plantation to the extent that the structure of what once was called battery housing is hardly noticeable anymore. The house is currently being occupied by nine people: Kitman and his wife, three of their daughters-in-law and two grandchildren, as well as their daughters.

The house has one major drawback, however; there is no running water.

Water must be fetched from an open well that is 100 yards across the village road. According to the medical officer of the plantation, many people in the area suffer from dysentery and other water-borne diseases as a result of the lack of a safe water supply.

In an agreement with the plantation owners (the first Fair Trade deal in rubber), our group ordered rubber for our products (the inside air bladder of a Fair Trade soccer ball is made of latex, which comes from rubber) and paid a Fair Trade premium for it.

In line with Fair Trade criteria, the management and the workers established a Fair Trade Welfare Society and jointly decided how this money would be spent. One project will be the installation of a pump and a piping system, so that 20 households around the well will each get a tap in front of their unit. Kitman's house is one of them.

The other major Fair Trade project agreed upon is the restoration of a restroom for the workers at one latex collection station, which includes a canteen area to keep food safely and a unit with sanitary latrines, along with a place where workers (mostly women) can change into their working clothes.

Arguably, all of this should have been provided by plantation management, particularly since rubber is selling well right now with strong global demand. However, our purchases of rubber have led to an agreement that management will provide the funds to ensure that these projects will be completed, even though the initial Fair Trade premium is not enough to cover the costs.