Thyolo Hospital Receives Maize Donation From Satemwa Fairtrade Workers Joint Body

Today, Thyolo District Hospital took delivery of 57 bags of Maize donated by the Satemwa Tea Estates' Fairtrade Workers Joint Body.   The bags were part of the this years Maize Distribution following the success of the Joint Body Maize Distribution programme in 2009 to alleviate hunger due to the Maize shortage experienced last year.

Mr Rabson Kalowa, Joint Body Chairman said "At the time, 2,500 bags (approximately 125,000kg) of Maize were purchased by the JB and sold to workers at a heavily subsidised price (about 50% of the purchase price) - 1 bag of maize for each of the 2443 workers and their families.



"It was suggested by some of the workers that the remaining 57 bags should be donated to the local, Thyolo District hospital.  This suggestion was unanimously agreed by the Joint Body committee and we are pleased that we can help the wider community in this small way."

The presentation was attended by Thyolo District Commissioner, Mr Mandere, Mr Tindwa of the Tea Association of Malawi and Thyolo District Medical Officer, Dr Jame, who said "The hospital faces many challenges in supporting the Thyolo community and the support provided through these Fairtrade initiatives is greatly appreciated.  We are very grateful to the Satemwa Fairtrade Workers Joint Body for this donation"


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Satemwa Fairtrade Joint Body Bus Arrives!

Satema Fair Trade Workers Joint Body Bus










The Satemwa Fair Trade Joint Body are the proud recipients of the new Workers' Fair Trade Bus, which will be put to work ferrying workers up and down the Estate's 7km Dirt Road.




 
Up until now, workers have had to walk or cycle the undulating estate road on the side of Thyolo Mountain. The bus will be available to all workers on the estate for a nominal fee, which will be used to support the maintenance and running costs of the bus.



 



Satemwa Fairtrade Joint Body Chairman, Rabson Kalowa said "The bus is great news for all of the workers as it will help everyone get to and from the factory and fields more easily and safely.

The bus will also be used to help transport the sports teams that the Joint Body supports"

Fairtrade Auditor visits Satemwa

Satemwa Tea Estate, Satemwa Workers Joint Body and Msuwadzi Smallholder Tea Growers Association have all been audited by the Fairtrade Association during the first week of June.

FLO-CERT, the auditing division of Fairtrade, visited all the fields and divisions of the smallholder farmers and the estate. They also reviewed all of the paperwork and interviewed workers.

In the final meeting FLO-CERT auditor Kennedy Chakanyuka congratulated the JB on all their projects. He said they showed genuine development and the positive impact that Fairtrade premium, through the JB, has made to the area. He highlighted the 6 new local bridges, clean water and the adult education classes as ‘very encouraging. Quite moving, really'.

But he reminded everybody that things must still improve, pointing out problems with the Smallholders record keeping and business planning, overtime issues in the security division, and that the newly elected JB members need to understand more about how it works.

Msuwadzi Chairman, Wilfred Custom, observed “it was the first time most of our members have met these people from Fairtrade. We didn’t believe we would get this far. Many of the growers were afraid and did not speak out in our meeting. They always say they don’t know anything about this and that, when they do. Most of us, you see, we are illiterate. We need help with our business planning. We face so many problems”

A VSO volunteer, Michael Shaw, helping Msuwadzi comments “This is just the first step. They will need training and support to keep up with Fairtrade Standards, otherwise they are made ‘non-compliant’ and risk suspension. The problem is that these global standards are tougher year-on-year, including requirements for complicated business strategies and planning documents. It will take years to reach the ‘year 1’ standards for most Malawian members, especially those who are illiterate, so we are trying to talk to FLO about making these more appropriate. Fairtrade is very new to Malawi and people here are at different development stages to those in South America, for example. This is why the most disadvantaged farmers in Malawi are failing to benefit from Fairtrade. They produce good crops, but they are illiterate.”