13 June, 2011

We’re really grateful to Canterbury Christ Church University student Kabir Omotoye, better known as Ola, pictured above with Tammy Stewart-Jones from Thanet Fairtrade Initiative and Miriam Sarrafan, also from Canterbury Christ Church University. Ola helped raise a fantastic £40 for Thanet Fairtrade Initiative. Here’s his story:

“Through studying business in society during my second year at Canterbury Christ Church University, I was fortunate learn a lot about different situations around the world and also watch some videos.

“One of the issues that stuck was that of Fairtrade, which illustrated and offered insight into how some farmers and workers in the third world countries are exploited by multinational corporations. The video that made the most impact was ‘Black Gold‘, which showed a man trying to fight for the less fortunate community workers, in order to get a fair price for their produce. It also showed workers who work long hours and get paid less than £1 in return.

“Watching the video inspired myself and seven of my fellow students to organise an event in honour of Fairtrade. Some of us baked cakes for sale during the event; we organised music students to provide music on the night; and we showed the Black Gold video with subtitles and leaflets to give to people, in order to inform them of what Fairtrade really is about. At the end of the night we were able to raise £40, although we all thought we could have made more, if we had had more time to organise the event and reach out to more people.

“I would encourage everyone to watch Black Gold and to support farmers and workers in developing countries. They help produce the items we have the luxury of buying and using, for instance coffee, which is consumed in huge quantities in the UK. I would urge people to buy Fairtrade products because they could improve the lives and living conditions of farmers and workers by paying them their work’s worth, allowing them to develop their communities and take good care of their families. Please support the Fairtrade movement – many lives could be improved.”