Black Gold and Fairtrade

Today is the last day of Fairtrade Fortnight. Bournemouth University has organised a series of activities. Over the past two weeks, owners of fairtrade shops were invited and Poole Council representative said hopefully Poole can become a fairtrade town in a few weeks. What impressed me most of those activities was the movie, Black Gold, shown on campus. It's a documentary about the plight of Ethiopian coffee farmers and how fairtrade can help them. Here are some stunning statistics and information I jotted down while watching the film:

*20 billion cups of coffee are drunk everyday.

*Before Oromia Union (a co-operative system formed by Ethiopian coffee farmers) was in place, Ethiopian coffee will have to go through 6 chains to the hands of end consumers. The union helped remove 60% of the chain.

*Women working 8 hours picking coffee beans in Ethiopia earn less than one dollar a day.

*But "$0.57 a day would change our lives beyond recognition," a coffee farmer said.

*"Chat" or "khat" is a small shrub used to make narcotic drugs with a better price than coffee beans. Many coffee farmers in Ethiopia are forced to grow chat on their coffee farms to sustain their families.

* "We want to avoid death," said a coffee farmer who was forced to grow chat.

*Part of the unfair trade problem is caused by no subsidies to farmers in poor countries and subsidies to those in many developed countries.

*"Trade is more important than aide," an African representative emphasised in the Doha round WTO meeting.

*7 million people in Ethiopia depend on emergency food aide every year.

*Over the last 20 years, Africa's trade share in the world has fallen to only 1%.

Eastern Elements Revisited

A recent feature I wrote is about how eastern culture, philosophy, religion, martial arts, etc (called eastern elements for short) influenced western people's lifestyle. All of my interviewees are western people from different backgrounds. They made me re-examine my own culture, my religious beliefs and the philosophy involved as if I have also undergone a process of mental catharsis. The following are two excerpts of my own reflection:

“This concept is similar to a hidden atheist view of the universe in Daoism, of which Wu Wei (non-action) is an important part. Wu Wei, is often confused with, but is never the same as, inaction: it means unintentional behaviour without any deliberate attempt. It is believed that any purposeful behaviour would lead to deviation from nature. Thus Wu Wei is often associated with concepts such as de-materialism, anti-commercialism, “letting nature taking its course”, harmony, and flexibility, on which the philosophy of martial art Tai-Ji is based."

…

"Buddhism emphasises that everyone can reach enlightenment, or Nirvana, through following the Noble Eightfold Path (the way to cease suffering) spontaneously. The concept of reincarnation illustrates the understanding of life as a continuum---previous life, present life, and afterlife, thus the importance of seizing the moment, not to indulge, but to uproot the stems of suffering. In this regard, Mr Mercel-Sanca's proactive determination to enlightenment is closely aligned with Buddhism.”