By buying here, they eat there.

The international commercial performance

Little producers cultivate their soil, create work and working force at a good price, harvest products and sometimes even start the first transformation, although importer countries monopolize, by the means of multinational firms and with immense profits, the fruit of this labour. This unequal trade compels Third-world countries to turn towards international help and loan to be able to provide for the basic needs of their populations.
This vicious cycle creates a dependence of the producer countries on the consumer countries, a ratio of force which does not allow, with short or long-term, the sustainable development of the communities in the south.

The equitable commercial performance

Equitable trade aims at balancing trade between the small producers of the South and the consumers of North. Why? Because these exchanges are made to the disadvantage of raw material producers.

For a product to be considered as "fair commerce", it must be produced within fair social conditions and a worthy work, be paid at a price which allows permanence of a concrete production’s project and rule out the intermediaries from the distribution process. In the manufacturing process there mustn’t be any exploitation, children’s labour, nor racial, sex or other discrimination.

The producers sell with cooperatives. There is a guaranteed minimum. Even if the market of the stock exchange collapses, the producer always earns the same.

The cooperative redistributes the money to build schools and medical centres.

Here the advertising budget almost doesn’t exist (in any event advertisement is dealt with by rich countries); therefore very few people know what equitable trade is.

Of course the selling price is a little higher, but by buying products from equitable trade we really help and support fairer exchanges between Southern and Northern countries.

Ana Barbier, Ane Fernandez

South also exists here

We all know the problems of countries of the southern hemisphere, with all those malnourished people dying of hunger, children working, the thousands of illiterates… It is a very long list.
But, are we really conscious of the people who suffer in rich countries, because of cold and malnutrition? People who don’t have a home, who sleep in the street, who do not have a job and who have to beg to be able to eat once a day. They represent the other part of a supposedly developed society. In Bilbao, there are 36.000 homes and 90.000 people who can barely cover the elementary expenses of day-to-day life. 774 people live in the streets (48% from abroad, the majority of them illegal immigrants). The most frequent reasons to end up on the streets are the lack of money, extended unemployment, death of a loved one and disease. 20% of them are, however, university graduates, but who wants to employ a tramp? We try to hide them, to ignore them, but these people exist and like any human being, they have the right and the need to be helped economically and morally. By giving them money, one ensures them a meal, but they feel dependent on our charity. They should thus be helped in a way that does not make them feel marginalized and that makes them want to continue to try having a worthy life. A word, a glance, a smile, it is the least that we can do.
Laura Gardner, Amaia Urgoiti et Ines Uribe

Actions:

Like each year our school, under the responsibility for the parents’ association, tries to improve the life of less favoured people from our city, Bilbao. Various operations are started and make it possible to make the whole school community aware of such problems. We collect gifts for local associations which are given the responsibility to distribute the gifts to the neediest.

Food Stock Exchange: during 1 week, the pupils bring non-perishable food products which are stored in the college before being recovered by “Caritas” which will distribute them in the various canteens for the poor of our city .
The last operation (DEC 2007) enabled us to collect 60 kg of food. Another purse will be launched at the time of our race against hunger, in May.

The collection of toys: as every year we have received mountains of toys that are usually used on Christmas day and immediately after are kept very carefully in the wardrobe witch gets full very quickly. It’s time to think about those who are not as lucky as we are show solidarity and intelligence by giving those toys, that we don’t even look at, and can fill of happiness a lot of children to whom Santa Claus has not been able to offer any presents. A collection of toys is organized annually, and given to Caritas, who gie them away.

Clothes collection for charity: Influenced by fashion and publicity of our days, we buy more and more clothes everyday, mostly having in mind that the massive importation of the Asiatic textile industries make it much more available. But there are some ethical problems (just price, clandestine work and children’s labour), but some waste problems too.

At school, some students have worked about this subject, three years ago, and their results have conduced us to discover an enterprise witch point has motivated them (look in our web page)

Since then we have been working in close collaboration with this company to which we give the collected clothes, with the certitude of their correct use. The last operation in date has allowed us to collect 2 clothes containers, and we’re preparing a new operation which will add to the money collected on the Race against Hunger day.
The clothes are separated, then recycled or re-used, in Peru, Romania or resold in Ekorropa shops, which are second-hand clothes shops here in Biscay.

Vicky Gorria, Monica Muro et Maria Ortega.