School’s Fairtrade tea party

The children busily prepared for the event by baking cakes, cookies, gingerbread and muffins using Fairtrade ingredients.

Leaflets, posters and footsteps were also made to decorate the school hall and to provide visitors with useful information about Fairtrade. Fairtrade tea and coffee was served alongside the tasty treats with some musical accompaniment from the school choir. The highlight of the afternoon was the opportunity to listen to Henry Matenda , a Fairtrade sugar cane producer from Malawi, as he told the children and adults about his job and how the money he receives as a Fairtrade farmer has supported his community.

The Fairtrade premium has allowed the village to choose to bring electricity to the community, enabled them to buy a tractor to help their work and build a school for their children to attend. The children and adults enjoyed asking Henry more questions about his experiences and learning.

One child commented “I now understand how the choices we make when buying food in the supermarket can have an impact on the life of someone in another country.”

Phil Knight, CEO of ‘Just Enough for The Real World’, commented “It is fantastic to see local schools like St Mary’s inspiring the children to make a positive change in the future of their lives and others”