Fair Trade

Fairtrade Fortnight - Ideas for worshipThese ideas for worship are based around the theme of tea, one of Traidcraft’s key fair trade products. The resources can be used in full or in part, as the basis for a whole service, or for a short slot.

You can also download a pdf of producer images or request them to be sent to you by email as a PowerPoint presentation.

Email: annewitton@traidcraft.co.uk

Producer StoriesIntroduction

One of the good things about worshipping in church on a Sunday is thinking of all the different churches around the world that are doing the same.

Some of them are in our neighbourhood, some are elsewhere in the country we live in and many are across the globe – all of us united by our common love of Jesus and our desire to worship him.

Another thing that can connect us with communities around the world is fair trade. When we change our shopping habits so that we buy things like tea, coffee, sugar and bananas with the Fairtrade Mark, our choice changes things for people on the other side of the world.

But sometimes, it is both worship AND what we buy that are our common connections.

Take, for instance, tea. Just as we make time away from work on a Sunday to come to church, so do communities in the tea-growing communities of Kibena and Peermade – two of the suppliers of tea to Traidcraft.

ContentsProducer stories – Introduction

Case study 1 – Kibena, TanzaniaCase study 2 – Sahyadri (Peermade), Kerala, India (Siji’s story)

Tea has some great qualities

Sermon link idea

Prayers

Activities for young people

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TanzaniaDriving to Kibena in the South of Tanzania, it’s easy to see that you are in tea-growing country. Through the bushes at the side of the road there are flashes of vivid green fields of tea, with brightly coloured figures scattered across them as they pick the tender top leaves.

On Sundays, the baskets are empty and laid aside, the well-walked paths between the bushes have no bicycles propped up. Instead, the tea pluckers are enjoying a day of rest. A day spent with family and friends which, for many of them, has church at the centre. One of the churches attended by workers at Kibena is the local RC church, which is located just a few kilometres from the Kibena tea factory.

The church is growing and the old building has had to be replaced with the imposing new church which can be seen by all who pass.

When Traidcraft visited, they were holding a thanksgiving service – SHUKRANI (Gratitude/thanks in Swahili) and bags of maize and beans (the local staple diet) were brought forward as a thanks offering.

Choose Traidcraft tea and you’ll be helping to provide community benefits like fresh water and improved healthcare for villages like this.

The Fairtrade premium is bringing real improvements to local communities. One of the latest benefits is a new dispensary for the village of Ibumila and its 5,000 residents.

The clinic is a joint venture with the community which is providing the timber and the labour. Local men and women are working hard to complete the dispensary ready for its planned opening later this year (2007).

The new dispensary is also providing another benefit for the community – a new water pump which local residents can also use. Previously, water was collected from small rivers about half a kilometre away.

In the nearby village of Itulahumba, sales of Fairtrade tea have helped to provide new classrooms for the primary school and pay for materials to build a five-bed dispensary.

“We need more people buying our Fairtrade tea because it is making a real difference,” Isaac said.

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Traidcraft’s newest tea supplier, the Sahyadri Farmers Consortium is situated in Kerala, which is known as God’s

own country. This lush, green region is well-known to many tourists, particularly along the coast with its white beaches and coconut groves.

Head high into the Western Ghats and the air becomes less humid, the hilly terrain more exposed to the strong winds.

This is home to many of the commercial tea estates but there are also smallholder tea farms. Most of the smaller farms have their homes built in the middle of their farms. Often cows, goats and chickens live next door, with tea fields close by.

Many of the farms are hard to get to. Vehicles must be left on the narrow roads with the last part of the journey along winding paths and steep steps.

For tea farmers like Siji (who features on the new Traidcraft poster), walking to church from her house takes her past her tea fields. She was on her way to teach Sunday School at St Sebastian’s RC Church when the Traidcraft photographer called.

The morning mass that day was a celebration of the first fruits. Outside the church the bleating of a small goat tied to a tree merged with the singing of the congregation. The goat, along with a chicken, cardamom seeds, tapioca and coffee, were just some of the gifts brought by the local farming families which were auctioned off after the service to raise funds for the church’s development programme.

Selling her tea on Fairtrade terms through the Sahyadri Farmers Consortium - Traidcraft’s newest tea supplier – helps Siji to get a good price for the tea, which means she can send her children to school and put food on the family table.

She also plays an important role in helping other women farmers to have a voice – and make sure that the Fairtrade premium on the tea is well-spent.

“I’ve been growing tea for 10 years.” she said. “The main benefit now is that I am getting a good price – before it was very poor.”

Sahyadri (Peermade) - Siji’s story

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Tea has some great qualities:• Approximately 40% of the UK’s

fluid intake today will be tea.

• Tea contains zinc and folic acid.

• Tea is a source of the minerals manganese, essential for bone growth and body development; potassium, vital for maintaining body fluid levels and fluoride.

• The average cup of tea contains less than half the level of caffeine than coffee.

• Green and black teas are from the same plant, Camelia Sinensis, and contain similar amounts of antioxidants and caffeine.

Drinking tea can help you recover more quickly from the stresses of everyday life, according to a new study by UCL (University College London) researchers. New scientific evidence shows that black tea has an effect on stress hormone levels in the body.

You can find more tea facts at: http://www.tea.co.uk/

Sermon link ideaSo tea has many health benefits – but all of this goodness stays in the teabag unless you open the box and add water.

It’s the same with us as Christians and as a church. We can sing and pray and preach about justice and good news for the poor, but we really need to take action, to be a catalyst for God’s love.

One of the small things we can do is to serve Fairtrade tea in our churches – this releases some of the goodness and the benefits.

But if we don’t do the same in our homes or at work – and encourage more people to do the same – then we keep the potential trapped in a box. And that potential has far-reaching effects, because it can mean better healthcare, better education, better homes for people involved in the tea industry.

In John 4, Jesus talks of giving living water. As Jesus gives us life, our potential is released and we become more as we were created to be. We can then bring his love and justice to others, including the poor, by being a catalyst for him…. like water in a teapot….. releasing the goodness and benefits of tea…

Later, in John 7 (v38) Jesus says,

‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture

has said, streams of living water will flow

from within him’. John explains that

Jesus means the Spirit, ‘whom those who

believed in him were later to receive.’

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PrayersTea is planted:Father, we thank you for those who sowed within us the seeds of faith and have been an illustration to us of your love on earth.

Tea is grown:We pray for those whose faith is young or who feel that walking with you is like walking a tightrope. Bless and inspire them and give them those they need to nurture and encourage them.

Tea is picked:Thank you that as we seek you, we see the fruits in our lives, and there is evidence of our friendship with you in how we think and live.

Tea is blended:Father, thank you that we are all created unique and valuable individuals. Thank you that our created personalities, our experiences and those around us combine to make us who we are, and that we are each unique and each have a purpose.

Tea bags are manufactured:As we seek to live for you, show us where we can use others’ resources and skills that we might be more effective in all that we do.

Tea is marketed:Lord, help us to be authentic in our relationships with others and talk honestly with them about our faith and our experience of you. Through us may you become more real to those around us.

Tea is sold:God, thank you for fair trade – thank you that through it we are able to make a real difference to producers in the developing world and that they can live with dignity, getting a fair reward for their hard work.

Tea is brewed:God, as we rest in you the effects of our relationship with you spread throughout our lives – help the effects of your love to be felt in all we do and by all we meet.

Tea is drunk:Tea is a regular feature of our lives. Just as we drink it each day, help us to remember to come to you each day and to miss your presence as much as we miss caffeine when we don’t have it!

Amen

Father God, as we reflect on our responsibilities as Christians, help us to understand the impact our choices and actions have on others.

Help us to be true disciples of Jesus, living the gospel and bringing social change in an unjust world. Give us courage to challenge unfair trade rules and pray for those who have the power to make far-reaching decisions affecting the world’s poor.

As we eat and drink, help us to pray for those who have laboured to bring the food to our table. Fill our hearts with compassion for our brothers and sisters around the world, so that we acknowledge our common humanity and dignity.

Give us insight and understanding so that we can make good choices about how we spend our money.

You have called us to care for the poor and needy and we want to take that responsibility seriously. Help us to be generous with our time and money so that we can honour you through serving others.

Amen

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Prayer/reflection

PrayersGet a map of Traidcraft producer groups (from the Catalogue or Producer Directory). Put people in groups of 3 or 4 and spend some time praying for specific groups and countries. One group could focus on Africa, one on Asia and one on South America. Alternatively you could focus on specific projects that your church supports. Below are suggested prayer points for each group:

• Give thanks for the benefits that working with Traidcraft brings:

* Fair prices for their products

* Investment in community projects like health and education

* Help in developing new products

* Opportunity for producers to learn new skills

* Development of new markets for their products

* A voice to challenge unfair trade rules

• Pray for the needs of producers:

* For them to grow in knowledge of and love for Jesus

* For their churches and communities to reach out to others with the good news of the gospel

* For protection from persecution and natural disasters

* For better healthcare

* For better education for the children

* For any other specific needs that you know of

Let us bring the needs of producers and families around the world to our loving heavenly father:

For children unable to receive a proper educationLord, hear our prayer

For farmers struggling because of unfair trade rulesLord, hear our prayer

For all who do not have proper health care Lord, hear our prayer

For fledgling industries threatened by EU importsLord, hear our prayer

For all who have power to change world trade for the better

Lord, hear our prayer

For the part that we play in making trade fairLord, hear our prayer

For Traidcraft producers around the worldLord, hear our prayer

Lord, thank you that you hear all our prayers, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

In a world of inequalityLord, help us bring your justice

In a world of hostilityLord, help us bring your peace

In a world of confusionLord, help us bring your truth

In a world of unforgivenessLord, help us bring your grace

In a world of needLord, help us share your provision

In a world of greedLord, help us to be generous

Amen

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Activities for young people

Find the following words in

the wordsearch (answers on

seperate sheet!)

Teatime

Tanzania

Enjoy

Hot

Drink

India

Wordsearch

T R A I D C R A F T B A

E A H O W U D Q L S C I

A S N L F P R I C E T N

T F A Z B O N H M E A J

I P D F A I C V A U B F

M E A H W N U T E Z F D

E N J O Y S I N D I A X

Q K H T L U J A R O I K

D B I V P O G Y I D R U

S C H O O L P J N X O O

O U W I Z N A T K W H V

School

Cup

Fair

Price

Traidcraft

Leaf

Transforming tea bagsYou will need to save used teabags in advance for this activity.

Dry the teabags, snip into one side of the bag and empty the leaves into the bin. Cut away this side of the square, leaving the other side of the bag intact. This should leave a square with a mottled, tie-dye effect which can be decorated and used as the basis for a card or coaster.

Stick the teabag square onto a card and decorate with gold and silver pens.

Using a 9cm square of card and covering your creation with sticky-back plastic transforms it into a coaster for drinks.

This idea is based on a craft project near Cape Town, South Africa, where women decorate tea bags and produce coasters, cards and other crafts.

http://www.svtea.com/foundations/store/scresults.asp?nav=7,77,438

Tea bags can also be used as part of a collage, for example for ‘bricks’ on a picture of a house or school.

MapUsing a map of the world, mark:

• Your church • Tanzania

• India (Kerala)

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Wordsearch answers

T R A I D C R A F T B A

E A H O W U D Q L S C I

A S N L F P R I C E T N

T F A Z B O N H M E A J

I P D F A I C V A U B F

M E A H W N U T E Z F D

E N J O Y S I N D I A X

Q K H T L U J A R O I K

D B I V P O G Y I D R U

S C H O O L P J N X O O

O U W I Z N A T K W H V

Find the following words in the wordsearch:

Teatime

Tanzania

Enjoy

Hot

Drink

India

School

Cup

Fair

Price

Traidcraft

Leaf

www.traidcraft.co.uk