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2012 USFT NATIONAL CONVERGENCE

Fair Trade: Where Do We Go From Here?

https://www.facebook.com/events/201219686635819/

You read our statement this fall…..you’ve been following the fair trade movement for years, and now you’re wondering what’s next for the fair trade movement. Kick off your spring with more than just a spring-cleaning –join United Students for Fair Trade for our 9^th National Convergence, Coming up on March 2^nd-4^th at the University of Maryland at College Park. USFT is proud to open our annual convergence to both students and professionals to learn more about the exciting future of the fair trade movement. Register by February 1, and receive an official USFT Alta Gracia (union-made, living wage apparel) t-shirt. Registration is limited to the first 300 participants—and spots are filling quickly! Registration closes February 17^th.

The theme “Where Do We Go From Here?” will cover all questions that have come up during this pivotal time in the fair trade movement with speakers representing the worker, NGO and company voices behind the movement. Take a look at our schedule packed full of presenters (from Equal Exchange, CLAC, and the Fair World Project), meals provided by the Maryland Food Co-op,  networking opportunities and fair trade coffee breaks! There will be workshops and discussion sessions, along with the chance to browse a Fair Trade marketplace and stock up on fair trade goods.

At this convergence, you will learn skills that will help you organize a movement on campus, inspire others, and empower fair trade producers all at the same time! This will also be the kickoff for USFT’s affiliate program – Alta Gracia Apparel!

Students can also qualify for a number of travel scholarships to attend the conference! Registration is due by February 1^st if you would like to be considered for a scholarship.

Sponsors include: The Cooperative Fund of New England, Divine Chocolate, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Equal Exchange, Global Girlfriends, Pulsera Project, and others.

 Please contact Maria Louzon, National and Convergence Coordinator, at (443)883-5226 or maria@usft.org with any questions.

Day 4-6: Villa Altagracia, Bonao, Playa Nahuay

Villa Altagracia: We did more workshops on strategic campaigning for Alta Gracia.

Bonao: After a 3-4 hour guagua ride, we arrived at a dirt road. We had to get off the guagua and into the back of some 4WD pickup trucks (we barely made it!!) that took us to the top of a beautiful mountain that led to a fair trade farm — which we thought was going to be a banana plantation, but once we got there, it was an organic fruit, coffee, cocoa, and banana farm that has some crops certified to be Fair Trade by IMO. When asked about why they did not choose to be certified by Fair Trade USA, they said it was because they (as well as many others in this region) feel that Fair Trade USA is monopolizing the Fair Trade movement and is not working to give a voice to the farmers, but rather to large corporations. We then headed to a beach — it was chilly (around 70 degrees), but some of us braved the cold air and headed into the ocean — water is so clear and clean here! After only bathing with baby wipes all week, it was quite refreshing to take a “shower” in the ocean.

Playa Nahuay: We got up early and headed to the beach to meet with factory workers from a nearby Gildan factory. Their story was so moving —  although they have formed a union, Gildan still does not respect them and continues to try to distract them by creating false unions within the factory to confuse workers . They have become more hopeful over the past few months because Gildan has said that they want to meet them and provided them with a date to come up with a collective bargaining agreement…..however, they keep pushing this date back…..

Beach =Beautiful day! We rented an inner tube and floated in the surf — ahhh soo nice. Those cabanas were perfect. For lunch we had a delicious spread of avacado

Day 3: Villa Altagracia

We visited the Alta Gracia factory today. What an empowering place to work!

All of the folks that work there are so happy — everyone had a smile on their face, and seeing how enthusiastic the workers are about their jobs has made everyone STOKED to go back to their schools and promote Alta Gracia.

Workshop, workshop, workshop …. then hiking through the Altagracia Hills — and theeeen we went dancing. What a great night!

Will write more tomorrow

Day 2: Santo Domingo and Villa Altagracia

Sorry it has taken so long for us to post — we have had horrible internet and by the time we upload all of our pictures, the internet is so slow we can’t really do anything else. Here are the days broken down with what we have done….sorry it’s long — enjoy!

Day 2:

This morning we started off by chatting with FEDOTRAZONAS Unionists. FEDOTRAZONAS is a awesome union here in the Dominican Republic that is one of the best around — they work hard to ensure that all of their members are treated with dignity and if there are ever problems in any of the factories that the union members work in, FEDOTRAZONAS quickly takes care of them.

FEDOTRAZONAS was monumental in the formation and continued success of Alta Gracia, the apparel company.  Ignacio Hernandez spoke about the history of BJ&B, a former sweatshop in Villa Altagracia, and all of the horrible injustices that were occuring to it’s workers — especially verbal and physical abuse. If women were found to be pregnant, they would be fired because BJ&B did not want to pay for their healthcare or even have to pay them when they were on maternity leave.

After that presentation, we had a workshop on Collective Liberation. It’s so hot here — it was kind of hard to pay attention, because it reminded me of my warm bed back at home, but Josh and I really learned a lot . As a group, we discussed our real reasoning as to why we are here — we aren’t here to be in service to the Alta Gracia workers — we’re here to hear their stories and be a voice for them back in the states and FIGHT for them. Most of us will do this by pushing our bookstores to carry more Alta Gracia Apparel .

We then left Santo Domingo and headed for Villa Altagracia, about a 40 minute ride away from where we were. Let’s just say, 25 people trying to fit in a guagua (spanish for “bus”) with all of their luggage is not the most fun thing.

Day 1: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Greetings from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic!

Today it was about 85 degrees — pretty hot compared to the brisk weather back home. Josh, the Heartland and Midwest Coordinator for USFT, and I got here last night and were greeted by Rachel Taber, from Alta Gracia Apparel, and had a great taxi ride from the airport to our hostel. Anyways, there were only a handful of other people here last night so we stayed in and went to bed.

This morning we woke up and walked through Santo Domingo. Let’s just say that here, there is no such thing as red lights or stop signs. Yes, they exist, but you have to be super careful when crossing the street because even though you may not hear a car, they come out of NO WHERE! Speaking of cars — its pretty amazing the range of cars there are here. From the 1992 Toyota Camry that was our taxi last night to brand new Range Rovers you never know what is going to be speeding up to hit you! Luckily, we didn’t get hit today.

After realizing that we each only had USD, we had to exchange our money! We were walking down the street and saw an American flag and assumed the people that worked there spoke English — WRONG! Well, not 100%, but from the broken English we understood, we were told to go down the street by the park to a pharmacy that has really good exchange rates apparently. Well, we walked down the street and saw a place that looked like a bank (not a pharmacy) and walked in to exchange our money. Actually, it was a lottery vendor, so we almost handed over $500 for lotto tickets — woops! They told us to go next door, so we did, and there we found a bank (still not that pharmacy).  After getting 38 pesos for a dollar (pretty good deal!), we walked out and saw that pharmacy, right next door! I think the guy back at that American flag place was telling us to go to the bank that was NEXT to the pharmacy, now that I think of it. Well, we got our money exchanged, that’s all that matters, right?

We got lunch at this cafe called MGM Cafe. Well, sounds American, but isn’t exactly. After avoiding a close call with almost ingesting unpurfied-ice cubes, we headed to the shopping area. Found some pretty good deals. Neither Josh or I speak Spanish very well, so it was either me speaking in French (accidentally) or Josh speaking in super broken Spanish…or just the both of us speaking in English……all day….and boy did we get laughed at. After shopping, we walked by the ocean and then headed back to our hostel. We  joined some University of Oregon folks and went to the local brewery for a tour. After finding out they only give tours certain times of year and this was not the time of year they give tours, we were about to leave when they said, wait! free beer for all! We walked out of that brewery with a free case of beer for the group and each of us had a little goody bag with a free beach towel and hat. Then it was time to head back, rest and meet with the rest of the group for dinner!

After dinner, we got a cool breakdown of the history United Students Against Sweatshops from Anna and Rachel. Josh and I are so pumped for the rest of this trip! Tomorrow we’re heading to Villa Alta Gracia after meeting with some national union members here. Woot!

Side note —- DEET IS THE BOMB! Josh and I have basically doused ourselves in it and have avoided all bug bites, while our counterparts have not been so fortunate. One guy looks like he was attached by a drugged mosquito — he has welts the size of Alaska on his legs……maybe we can give him some deet, or just make sure he eats TONS of garlic?

I really wish I knew Spanish because I know I would get so much more out of this trip. The language barrier probably is the biggest issue I’m having — I’m so bummed that I can’t communicate my feelings or desires to eat ice cream or hear the stories of all of the residents here. Luckily, the important parts are translated, but sometimes the parts I get the most out of are the personal conversations I have with people on the streets. Hopefully I’ll learn more than cervesa, donde estas, hola, and adios before I leave next Friday!

Happy Holidays from USFT!

Thanks for your support this past year! Have a happy and safe holiday season!

Picture collage created with Smilebox

 

DFTA Annual Meeting: Days 2 & 3

Day 2 & 3

Amazing time! Made tons of connections with folks in the Fair Trade world, especially the Bronner’s! Yesterday we had sessions on specifics of the Domestic Fair Trade Association and then a party to celebrate the devotion and dedication of one of the outgoing DFTA Board members. Today we had a panel discussion featuring some DFTA members and the Fair World Project did a great job explaining the current state of the Fair Trade movement as a result of FT USA making the moves they have.