Is your shopping fair enough? - CFN Newsletter 117

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 117

> Why does fairtrade matter - and how should it be affecting the way you and I - and our churches - consume? Alison Hull talks to campaigner Helen Harrison
> News:
> Keep runaways safe, demand agencies
> Pray for five men in 2004!
> Famine day targets teenagers
> Sites:
> Speed up your dial-up from £25 a year
> New shapes of church for the 21st century?
> Luton churches engaging with local schools
> Marriage MOT: Try a little tenderness
> You've got to laugh: What is love? Children's wisdom
> Members' Zone latest

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Dear All

We've got a practical, inspirational and provocative piece as part of Fair Trade fortnight in today's update, as Alison Hull talks to Helen Harrison about the difference fair trade can make in the developing world - and the simple things you and I can do to change things.

There's our usual mix of news, views, information, resources, humour and advice.

And don't forget - if you've got a question, a problem or a dilemma, do mail us. If we can't help, we may well know someone who can! And do let us know your encouragements and challenges in the toughest job in the world - being a parent ...

It's a good job we've got a heavenly father who knows our failings, and loves us just the same!

God bless

Russ Bravo
Christian Family Network
info@cfnetwork.co.uk
http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk

PS Christian Family Network is here to direct you to the best in parenting, marriage and family resources; to link you up with other Christian families up and down the UK; and to help you make the most of life as a follower of Christ - at home, at work, at school and college, at play and online.

Your feedback, positive and negative, enables us to develop CFN in the way that is most useful for you - so please tell us if we're off the rails or on the button!

And don't forget - if we can pass on material (sample copies of Families Together, leaflets) which will help you tell your friends and your church about CFN, just mail Lyn Bedford at marketing@christianmedia.org.uk and she'll be glad to help you out.

ADVICE

PRACTICAL ACTION

Is your shopping fair enough?

  • ALISON HULL meets Christian Aid teacher Helen Harrison, and finds out how we can all help to make trade fairer

Helen Harrison believes in fair trade. And her belief has taken her a long way – to the Winward Islands and Nicaragua.

A trained physiotherapist, wife and mother of two children, much of her time is spent as a Christian Aid teacher, going into schools, Scout groups and youth clubs, and helping children to learn more about fair trade. But it is an issue that, she believes, every Christian should know more about ...

“Fair trade is a way of fighting poverty through trade,” explains Helen. “There are lots of farmers in the developing world who produce crops on which we are dependent for our current lifestyles – coffee, tea, bananas, cocoa – and yet most get treated like second or third class citizens. They are cheated, paid appalling prices, made to work in terrible conditions and as a result, poverty is high. So they turn to rich nations for help.

“One solution is to give them handouts in the form of charity, but what does that do for their dignity? What does that do for their independence? Fair trade gives them a chance to work their way out of poverty by treating them with respect.”

So why does she think more Christians aren’t involved with fair trade?

“Lack of time to go searching for goods with the fairtrade logo, but mainly lack of awareness,” she argues. “If you don’t know about something, you can’t support it, and if you don’t know the horrors of what you normally support, you won’t turn against it. Also, when fair trade coffee first came out, it was pretty awful, and many people were put off! Now the quality is excellent, and the range of options so much better, so people should give it a second chance.”

So in actual financial terms, what is the difference that fair trade makes?

“Nicaraguan farmers get $44 per hundredweight of coffee on the regular market and this fluctuates. On the fair trade market, they get $77 per hundredweight – plus $5 social premium – and that is a fixed rate. Their farms produce about 120 hundredweight a year. Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers in Ghana get £37 a sack on the regular market, and £66 a sack on the fair trade market, plus £6 social premium per sack – and they produce about five sacks a year, on average. The figures would be similar for tea and bananas.”

Yet in the shops the price of a jar of fairtrade coffee is around the same as a jar of ordinary coffee – so someone, somewhere, is making huge profits. Fairtrade isn’t just about money, as Helen explains: “It gives them a fair and living wage, a guaranteed price, a long term contract and technical advice as required, especially if they want to convert to organic farming. The social premium benefits the whole community, and if they get a fair wage, they can send their children to school.”

So what is life like for those farmers who can’t sell on the fair trade market (and many can’t as the demand is not big enough yet, although it is growing all the time)? On her trip to Nicaragua, Helen met some of them as well.

“They had a very different story to tell, of poor wages, irregular markets, cheating buyers, uncashable cheques, very poor housing and working conditions. They have had to abandon coffee farming as it costs more to produce the crop than they get paid at the market. I also met a fairtrade banana grower from the Winward islands, who said much the same.”

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

Keep young runaways safe demand agencies

Greater Merseyside’s Connexions Service has joined forces with local police, social services, health, education and voluntary organisations to help children and young people who go missing or runaway from home and care.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

Pray for five men in 2004!

Christians are being asked to commit to praying for five men throughout 2004, through Prayer for Men 2004, a new prayer initiative that will be launched at Solon Road Baptist Church, Brixton, on Saturday 28 February.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for the full story

Famine day targets teenagers

World Vision’s 24-hour famine, on 27 and 28 February, asks teenagers to go without food for one day in order to raise money for projects to provide safe, clean drinking water.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> MARRIAGE MOT

Try a little tenderness!

One thing I've noticed that's often missing from struggling relationships is tenderness, that gentle handling of each other that communicates care and love in a very special way. It makes me think of handling a new born baby or a fragile butterfly cupped in my hands. The aim is to protect and reassure and hold safely.

I wonder why tenderness is often seen as a sign of weakness in our society and especially in men. Yet in films, a strong yet tender man always gets my heart fluttering.

There is something comforting and healing about tenderness. It dispels fear and hurt and replaces it with warmth and security.

Learning to treat each other with tenderness can take time, but it's possible for all of us. How could you become more tender in your dealings with your loved one? Will you try?

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk
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> EVENTS

Catch up with the latest in our Events guide at http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp

Send your family/church event to info@cfnetwork.co.uk for a free listing.

Small groups, growing churches 2004

Almost 1,000 small group leaders enjoyed a day's teaching, inspiration and encouragement as part of the 2003 Small groups, growing churches tour organised in March by Christian Herald, Scripture Union and CPO.

Next month, the 2004 tour visits Leeds (6 March), Tonbridge (13) and Plymouth (20), with three more dates lined up for October.

There's still time to book, so visit www.scriptureunion.org.uk or mail Lyn Bedford on lynbedford@christianmedia.org.uk (or call her on 01903 602126).

> SITES WORTH SEEING

http://www.onspeed.com/ - speed up your dial-up to broadband level for just £25 a year

Luton Churches' Education Trust - working creatively in local schools - http://www.lcet.org

New shapes of church to reach 21st century Britain - http://www.run.org.uk or http://www.emergingchurch.info

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

WHAT IS LOVE?

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4-8 year olds: "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore so my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8.

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on after shave and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6

For more, head for our Resources section ...

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> How your church can take fair trade seriously
> Kate's marriage tips - try a little tenderness

> Resources

> Job search - a recruitment firm assesses some Biblical figures
as potential church leaders
> Marriage trends - following National Marriage Week, some
interesting new statistics
> The Passion of the Christ - Tony Whittaker urges churches to
make the most of Mel Gibson's controversial new film on the last 12 hours
of Jesus' life

> News

> Keep runaways safe, demand agencies
> Pray for five men in 2004!
> Famine day targets teenagers

PLUS News Extra: Is teaching on atheism in schools really
needed - or are we just scared of the challenge?

> Top sites this week

> Speed up your dial-up from £25 a year
> New shapes of church for the 21st century?
> Luton churches engaging with local schools
>Teenagers prepare for sponsored fast

> Events: More of what's on near you

> Webwatch Index: more than 600 sites at your fingertips

> Site Search Engine: the easy way to trawl our 1,000-page plus archives

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