The Fair Trade Link between Pondicherry and Southampton
Pondicherry is on the South-East coast of India, 160 kms South of Chennai (Madras). Several years ago a link was set up between Pondicherry Fair Trade, which has been exporting locally-made goods, and Vandanamu Fair Trade in Southampton, which imports and distributes them. All income received by Vandanamu Fair Trade is returned to South India, with the surplus from charges for goods and shipping being distributed as Fair Trade Premiums and Social Premiums.
Several people from the Southampton area have visited the Pondicherry producers, and in January two Southampton Solent University students – Tiffany Irons (whose final year project is on Fair Trade) and Ben Cotterell (recently graduated in photography) – joined Bernard Carré of Vandanamu Fair Trade on a “working tour”, studying employees’ working conditions and the utilisation of Fair Trade premiums.
The photographs here show their visits to a hand-made paper works, a candle works, woodworkers and a sewing unit. They also participated in a meeting during Pongal (the Harvest Festival in January) of all the producer groups, for the distribution of Fair Trade premiums.
Kala (Tamil translator) and Tiffany talking to workers at the hand-made paper factory
Sathya Handicrafts – A tsunami relief initiative
The coastal village of Periyamudliar Chavadi, a few kilometres north of Pondicherry, was very badly affected by the tsunami. Only a few months later, in April 2005, Pondicherry Fair Trade set up a sewing unit for survivors, making screen-printed cotton bags. The images to be printed on the bags are e-mailed to Pondicherry as JPEG files by Vandanamu Fair Trade in Southampton. They are immediately used to create printing negatives as shown here. Two days later, the women at Sathya Handicrafts start stitching the bags.
Southampton clients include October Books in Portswood, The Fair Trade Shop in Shirley and Solent University Students’ Union. Bags are also made for The Co-operative Group, the Women’s Institute in Jersey, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, Purbeck District Council, the Fair Trade Shop in Oxford, and several organic food shops. Please examine the bags on display and take a leaflet about them.
Sathya Handicrafts, the tsunami relief sewing unit
The Periyamudliar Chavadi Night School
Every child of the village attends this school in the yard of the local temple; some young teenagers, obliged to leave day-school to take paid work, also attend it. It is run entirely by volunteers; the “headmaster” - the village postman - has been awarded a Nehru commendation as a social worker of outstanding merit.
The school does not usually accept donations but in January it agreed to accept a Social Premium from Vandanamu Fair Trade, which argued that it owes to the village profits on Sathya Handicrafts cotton bags which were not distributed in the tumultuous year following the tsunami. The school agreed to the purchase of a portable stand-by electricity generator, as in the summer months (when the city dwellers use their air conditioning) there are frequent power cuts.
With the profits of the recent Solent University students’ fashion show organised by Tiffany Irons, it will be possible to install instead a simple solar-powered lighting system. This is now being designed by school staff members.
The recent Solent University students’ fashion show showed that Fairtrade products could be stylish and fashionable as well as ethical.