Hear Fair Trade Roar

Yesterday was International Women's Day, so The Welcome Mat would like to discuss all of the benefits Fair Trade has to offer to all of women kind. Even though Fair Trade is beneficial to everyone, not just a specific gender or race, for women in particular what fair trade does can mean so much more.

Opportunities for work- In the long run it can be harder for women to find employment then it can be for me, especially since the list of "female jobs" is significantly lower than that of "male jobs." But Fair Trade companies intentionally provide jobs for women, giving them a foothold in the work force and an ability to provide for their families in a way that they were previously unable. Divine Chocolate is a good example of a Fair Trade company that is empowering women to have a stronger part in their communities development.

Education and training- Many Fair Trade companies do not just provide jobs, but training in the community for work in their company as well as other professions as well. Asha provides training in catering, education, and childcare.
Issues that affect women are issues that affect everybody, except a lot of the time it can be harder for them to overcome these issues because of their culturally lower place in society. Fair Trade gives women around the globe a leg up to a better life, and empowers them economically in ways they have so far struggled to achieve.

Education for their children- It's a little hard to teach your kids to read in addition to working. For many families in impoverished countries education and schooling is a luxury. However with the extra money received through fair trade, smaller communities are able to build schools and buy materials for their children's education. A good example of this is Rishi Tea, whom as we've said in our blog The Power of Tea has helped build schools in Asia in addition to other types of community development.

Better health care- Health care is a big issue all over the globe, especially for women. In addition to schools, the extra money received from Fair Trade programs helps provide medical care that would otherwise be unavailable to them. For instance, Tinsaba in Swaziland, Africa provides a mobile homeopathic clinic to combat the AIDs epidemic in their community.