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Campaign Promotes Benefits of Fair Trade

Monday September 26

Fair trade means more than just a fair wage, according to a new campaign by the UK’s largest Fairtrade retailer.

Traidcraft’s ‘Show You Care’ campaign highlights the stories of producers it works with around the developing world, drawing attention to the community benefits fair trade brings.

In particular, they are showcasing the work of GPI (Get Paper Industry) in Kathmandu, Nepal, which produces environmentally friendly handmade paper and felt products for Traidcraft.

GPI not only provides employment opportunities and pays workers a fair wage, and funds educational scholarship programmes, builds schools and provides healthcare advice and support for its staff and their families.

Many of the GPI workforce lost their homes in the devastating earthquake of April 2015, which killed more than 8,000 people and injured more than 21,000. Schools were also demolished, meaning children in communities supported by GPI were left with the prospect of little to no education.

But thanks to people buying its fair trade paper products, GPI has been able to support its staff through these extremely difficult circumstances, rebuilding and repairing homes and schools and in doing so bringing hope for the future.

Milan Dev Bhattarai, founder of GPI, said of the earthquake: “There were two dimensions of the problem. One was fear and the other was a sense of hopelessness. They saw the future as black because they thought that after the earthquake that the work would not be there and their earnings would be hampered.

“We’re really thankful to our supporters like Traidcraft. They sent us money to give to our staff who had been affected, which created hope for them as they were not expecting that as they knew there were people who cared. They also kept ordering from us and gave hope for the future.”

Read more about the Show You Care campaign here.


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