'After Black Gold' 13 Oct 2008
George Alagiah / Joe Human presentation: 'After Black Gold'
'After Black Gold' comes out of visits to areas of Ethiopia, specifically looking at how some coffee-producing areas of the country are benefitting from the switch to Fairtrade. It is a follow-up to the film 'Black Gold'.
This Fairtrade presentation event was held at Chesham High School.
Monday 13 October 2008
Programme:
- 7.45pm Welcome & opening introductions
- 7.45 - 8.15pm 'After Black Gold' presentation (part 1.) by Joe Human
- 8.15- 8.45pm - Talk & Q&A (George Alagiah & Joe Human)
- 8.45- 9.15pm Student drama
- 9.15 - 9.30pm 'After Black Gold' presentation (part 2.) by Joe Human)
- 9.30 - 10pm FT refreshments & chance to look at stalls
About the presenters...
Joe Human
Joe Human taught for 20 years, in Kenya, Papua New Guinea and England, following which he worked for Oxfam GB for 20 years, in education, campaigning, general management, communications, and humanitarian work (in GB, India and Ethiopia).
When Joe Human retired from his job at Oxfam to the Lake District, he knew he wanted to keep campaigning for justice. But on what topic? Having arrived in the “incredibly alive and engaged community” of Keswick, he found himself joining an embryonic group that engaged with Fair Trade and wider trade issues. It was the beginning of a Fair Trade exploration that has taken him from local guesthouse dining rooms to the Ethiopian village of Choche.
Amongst Fairtrade Town groups, the Keswick Fairtrade story has semi-legendary status. A large part of this has to do with their work on hospitality and tourism. While Keswick itself is a small place of about 5,000 residents, “we are,” Joe explains, “one of the most densely 'bedded' places in the country.” The 30,000 tourist beds themselves weren't of particular interest to the group, but the breakfasts that went with them were, as were the tourist cafes and restaurants that abound in the area. As part of its Fairtrade Town bid, the group launched a major campaign attempting to persuade local tourism businesses to serve Fairtrade products for breakfast and at other meals. The result? The village now has an astounding 150 tourism businesses that are engaged with Fairtrade.
About four years ago, though, the Keswick group decided to go one step further, and to see if they could develop a relationship with people in a producer community. They decided to seek out a community producing coffee (“There's quite a lot of coffee drunk in Keswick”) and expressed a preference for an African community, so that the link could help counter the negative images of Africa in the media.
[thanks to www.ccow.org.uk/ for ths information]
George Alagiah
George Alagiah news presenter, journalist and patron of the Fairtrade Foundation.
[From left] Abigail Rawlins, Deputy Head girl and Fairtrade representative at Chesham Park Community College; George Aligiah; Joe Human; Mairi Lubelska, Chesham High School Fairtrade representative.
[From left] Cheryl Gillan MP, George Aligiah; Councillor Alison Pirouet, Chesham Town Mayor; Joe Human; Rev Colin Cartwright, Chairman, Chesham Fairtrade Steering Group; Vicki Mistry, Deputy Chairman, Chesham Fairtrade Steering Group