Sunday 10th October will see an all Age Eucharist to celebrate our Harvest Festival. We hope that all, young and old and those inbetween will stay on for a Harvest Lunch in the Parish Rooms.
Contributions of bread, cheese, pate and pudding (especially fruit cake) will be welcome and there are lists in the usual place. We’ll also be doing some child friendly rolls and sausages, and possibly, depending on the weather, some light and informal entertainment for children, and others, following the theme of the service, Jesus as the vine. The lunch is free for everyone, but there will be an opportunity to make a contribution to charity.
As the focus for the Sunday School at Harvest is dried fruit and its producers at the Traidcraft stall on 3rd October and 7th November we’ll have a range of dried fruit nicely in time for making your Christmas cakes, puddings and mincemeat [and don’t forget an extra one for the Christmas Market stall on 20th November]. Traidcraft buys dried fruit from South Africa and Chile. But Traidcraft’s relationship with the farmers, which began in 1996, is much more than buyer and grower. People often ask why the prices on our stall are higher than similar products in supermarkets:
They are grown by small-scale farmers who live and work on islands in the remote Orange River area, near the Kalahari Desert.
But Traidcraft’s relationship with the farmers, which began in 1996, is much more than buyer and grower. Our extra mile approach includes:
● sending advance payments when a hailstorm wiped out 70% of their vines
● helping to develop their association into the Eksteenskuil Agricultural Co-operative (EAC)
● working with them to gain Fairtrade certification
● providing an ongoing support programme – this year it is training farmers in cash flow, planning and budgeting to strengthen their co-operative.
● As well as this, the Fairtrade premium we pay has helped to provide many benefits including tractors, community water pumps, repairs to water canals and schoolbags for local children.
For farmer Pieter van Wyk the community water pump means easier access to water for his home. “We pump the water from the canal. Before I had to fill the bucket and carry it home.”
For pupils at the local primary schools, fair trade means no more plastic carrier bags, as each child now has a schoolbag to carry books to and from school – especially important during the rainy season.
As members of EAC presented bags to the pupils, Don van Wyk, principal at George Island Primary School, explained the importance of this support. “It is like manna from heaven. I tell you the parents will be overwhelmed. Our people are so poor in this area, these things are luxuries in their eyes. People will be talking about this for weeks and months.”
MiFruta was created in 2008, with support from Traidcraft. It is an organisation of 30 small farmers who work with vine fruits. Pili is the daughter of Juan Contreras, who is a member of MiFruta.
She says, “It is difficult for small producers to make a living from our work here, between the middlemen and the banks they have taken all our income. Many farmers have had to sell their land and move to the city.
“Now, with fair trade I expect my son will have access to a better education.”
Traidcraft’s extra mile approach includes:
★ sending advance payments when a hailstorm wiped out 70% of their vines
★ helping to develop their association into the Eksteenskuil Agricultural Co-operative (EAC)
★ working with them to gain Fairtrade certification
★ providing an ongoing support programme – this year it is training farmers in cash flow, planning and budgeting to strengthen their co-operative.
★ As well as this, the Fairtrade premium we pay has helped to provide many benefits including tractors, community water pumps, repairs to water canals and schoolbags for local children.
You can read more about their projects at www.traidcraft.org.uk