I own a pair
of TOMS. For those who aren’t aware of
this company, they have a mission to change the way we buy shoes. If you buy a pair, they will give a pair...of
shoes to someone in a developing country! So I can buy a pair of amazingly
designed shoes knowing that someone who doesn’t have shoes will receive a pair
too. I love this concept. I want to be a world changer, however big or
small that might be. In buying TOMS
shoes that I like, I can do that. If
only being ethical and buying fair-trade was always so effective and fun.
As an ICS
volunteer with Tearfund I am working in schools for homeless children and a
variety of other projects that link to their future here in Rwanda. This experience has affected how I look at
life and how lucky I am to live in the UK (clichéd thinking I know!). When I go back to my comfy home in the UK, I
know I will remember the lessons I have learnt whilst working with these
children and young people who face a daily struggle in life. One morning during break time, playing with
the children, a familiar label caught my eye.
The exact one that I happen to own.
The exact one that was on my pair of shoes that I proudly wearing that
day. This kid was wearing TOMS! Different to mine but still TOMS. The realization of that small and somewhat
vain purchase back in the U.K. has resulted in this boy being given a pair of
shoes. Essentially this has a knock on
effect for this boy, and others like him, leading to better prospects
them. As TOMS themselves state on their
website (www.toms.co.uk) “These shoes protect children’s feet from
cuts, infections, disease and when the children are healthy they can attend
school fight minor illness and reach their full potential. Shoes are also
required for school attendance in many countries. Providing school uniforms, to
children that cannot afford them can increase school attendance by 62%. Education
is the key to mobility and vital to breaking the poverty cycle.”
Whilst being here in Rwanda I've had a humbling time working
with cooperatives that produce products to sell locally. A.E.E., our local partner, work using the
Self-Help Approach. Groups of men and
women in the local communities join together, either working at making their
way of living more sustainable e.g. producing crops they can sell, or
increasing their knowledge of Saving and Loans systems. We have been mainly working with groups of
vulnerable women who are HIV positive in their self-generating income
projects. Some grow maize, bananas and
other fruit and veg, others make clothes, jewellery and craft items from
materials at hand e.g. banana fibres to make bracelets. We have had the pleasure of meeting with some
of these groups helping them make bracelets and with their farming. This brings me to my next point…
Market
shopping vs. Nakumatt.
Buying these
products from these cooperatives and from the markets, I know where the products
have come from and I know the people who have made them, the ones who will also
receive my money directly. When my team
and I go to the market and choose our favourite material and order new outfits,
I know that know the individuals and we have built relationships with
them. Whereas Nakumatt, a Kenyan
supermarket chain, who sell Kellogg’s and Nutella, knows that for the expat
community it’s always nice to have a bit of home with you, it’s really just the
same as me buying from a UK supermarket like Tesco, but just in a different
location. We face the same concern of
not giving every provider the amount they deserve. I can’t bring myself to buy bananas from this
Nakumatt when I shake hands with a woman who slaves in the heat to pick bananas
and will sell them to me and I know the money will go towards providing health
insurance for her family.
But Rwanda
faces the same issues as the UK with fair-trade and ethical buying; they may
sell and buy locally and fairly but do the Rwandese buy fair-trade themselves? Rwanda is a developing country and produces
commodities like tea and coffee for the West, yet the only instant coffee they
sell is nescafe, a product made by a company that has long been associated with
being anything but fair-trade or ethical, to the degree that they don’t deserve
a capital “N” in my blog! In the U.K. we
lobby and petition for change and it’s challenging when we see that those
individuals who need that profit not supporting the system protecting
them. But I also meet the men and women
who rely on, and receive, a fair price for their crops and I can see the power
all that lobbying and campaigning can have.
The people we work with can see this too. So, whatever your buying looks like, whether
it’s buying nice shoes that will also provide shoes for children, or buying
fairtrade bananas that provide health insurance for a family with malnutrition,
stick with it! The power you have is
significant. You might only be one
person but you are always going to be one in an army of millions doing the same
and together we are making a difference, one step at a time.
