It’s Sunday morning and Purity Muthoni is preparing tea at Mathia Anglican Church, Ndima, Kenya. She’s a leading figure in her local Mother’s Union and parish and will serve tea from a thermos after the service.
Tea is important in Purity’s life. With her husband William Mathenge, she has 6,000 tea bushes which they pluck with help from their son and casual workers. Fairtrade pioneer Traidcraft has helped them develop their skills and improve the quality of their produce.
‘Fairtrade is very, very important to me, says Purity. ‘We get good money at the end of the year. We used to grow quantity, but we grow best quality now. Before we were given little, sometimes six shillings per kilo which was not enough. We were stresed. Now we are well-fed. We have a good diet and get money from the tea to educate our children’.
For thirty years Traidcraft has been helping people in poor communities trade their way out of poverty and adjust to changing weather patterns brought on by climate change. They help famers diversify crops and identify other sources of income to survive times of unpredictable climate.
In Devon every Sunday more than 26,000 cups of tea are drunk. Add all the coffee mornings and ‘mums and toddlers’, and a simple everyday action becomes a movement. This Lent let’s choose our cuppa with care and buy fairtrade.
Carol
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