This Labor Day, as we honor the labor movement as well as the social and economic achievements of American workers, we also want to pay tribute to the laborers in Pakistan that help produce our Fair Trade certified line of sports’ balls.

Eight million homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by flooding in Pakistan, a natural disaster affecting more people than the Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, and the Haiti earthquake put together, according to Oxfam.  Fair Trade Certified producer Imran Kahn and his immediate family may not be counted among the 8 million, they are scrambling to help affected extended family and friends.

Imran Kahn dropped out of fifth grade at the age of ten to work in a rubber processing factory.  At the time, child labor was quite common in the Sialkot area of Pakistan due to overwhelming poverty. Fifteen years later, Imran now makes Fair Trade Certified wages as a producer in Sialkot, Pakistan.

Imran lives near the Sialkot district in Pakistan -  the principal global source of hand-stitched sports balls – supplying more than 70 percent of the global demand. Historically, sport ball manufactures have been criticized for low wages, substandard working conditions and illegal employment of children – forced into labor because the adult wages were too low to support the family. Today there are six Fair Trade Certified sports ball producers in the area.

Imran is proof that Fair Trade Certification is playing an important role in the battle against child labor by ensuring that adults can receive Fair Trade Certified wages. In a country with an estimated 30 percent of the population living below the poverty line and where agriculture remains the largest industry, Imran and his father, who works in a tire repair shop, have been empowered to provide for their family of 10. Even though Imran and his family do not own land yet, they do have access to many of the Vision’s Fair Trade benefits, including discount healthcare, transportation and shopping.

As a result of a visit to an eye camp, organized by Vision’s Fair Trade committee, Imran’s youngest sister Nadia, the 10-year-old pictured here, is still in school and received free medicine for a serious eye infection.

By using the Vision bus for his commute to work, Imran saves a significant amount of his earnings per month.  In addition, Imran saves at least 3 percent on the family grocery bill by visiting the “Fair Price Shop”, a significant savings for a family of ten on an extremely tight budget.

Imran’s story is not an isolated case. Fair Trade has a positive ripple effect. It began with Imran, but the benefits extended to his family, and ultimately, to his entire community. For Fair Trade to continue to improve the lives of producers, Fair Trade sales need to continue to increase.

Help spread the word. Share Imran’s story. Pursue quality with Fair Trade Certified sports equipment. Show RESPECT. And don’t forget to support Pakistan relief efforts.

You’ve probably seen the headlines, the photos, maybe even the stats: Pakistan remains underwater – and not just literally.

To date, nearly 2,000 deaths have occurred due to the flooding, and Pakistan’s government says 20 million people have been affected.

The UN reported that this catastrophe is more devastating than the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and even this year’s earthquake in Haiti - but it has attracted far less in donations. In fact, the Red Cross’s recent text message campaign yielded only $10,000, about 0.03 percent of what it earned for Haiti.

Is it donor fatigue? The Atlantic examines four other reasons for the lackluster global donation effort.

Whatever your reason, the need is rising even as floodwaters recede. The United Nations issued an urgent appeal to donors to contribute more in aid dollars to the devastated people of Pakistan. Reports say that donors have contributed 40 to 60 percent to the UN’s relief fund, which was established to help provide food, shelter and clean water over the next three months.

Lack of additional aid could result in food shortages, riots and more widespread death.

But you can help.

Avaaz.org[i], a new global online advocacy community that brings people-powered politics to global decision-making, shows what we can do to aid the effort.

• Send a message to key donor governments.
• Donate directly to the effort through your favorite charity by visiting the Charity Navigator.
• Stay  informed by reviewing the list of contributions and pledges, as of Aug. 25, 2010, by clicking here.

Visit Avaaz.org for more details:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_relief_fund/?fp

The Red Cross says it needs $16 million to provide aid to the Pakistan flood victims (and that number may soon double). As of August 18, 2010, they have received only $9.6 million.

Photo (CC licensed) by Flickr user DVIDSHUB.

The local journalists (and most of the youth, I’m told) in China have figured out how to outsmart the government censors and access banned websites. One of these smart folks happens to be a writer for one of China’s trendiest publications, the Modern Weekly.

I had the pleasure of a long Skype conversation with Ms. Catherine Lee, who was one of the most prepared and professional journalists I’ve spoken with in quite some time. She knows how to ask poignant questions, to be sure.

Modern Weekly is distributed throughout Guangzhou and Shanghai, a combined market of 30 million people, many of whom are under the age of 30. Her focus of the story was to “inspire young people there to think more and explore their own business universe.”

I’ve been told by friends who can actually read the article that she succeeded. Well done, Ms. Lee!

Check out this video for summertime fun toys and gadgets. Especially the reusable water bottle filter from Richard Smiedt’s Bobble.

Too cool!

As if they don’t have enough to deal with (politics, military, terrorist attacks), the Sialkot region where our stitchers are is now underwater.

Nadia Hosni recently interviewed me for her column In The Hot Seat. I’ve read her pieces for awhile, as she’s interviewed several colleagues I hold in great respect and she asks insightful questions.

This subset of her column are among my favorites…definitely worth reading:

• Siddharth Sanghvi (World of Good / eBay)
• Tom Szaky (Terracycle)
• Chris Mann (Guayaki)
• Blake Mycoskie (TOMS Shoes)
• David Griswold (Sustainable Harvest)

Please allow me to share one with you that was sent to Tom Hoffarth, a respected journalist and Fair Trade leader in Los Angeles, in reference to our eco-soccer ball for children featured in Oprah’s O Magazine:

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Hi All, This is so exciting and UPLIFTING. What great news. Your grass root efforts at Fair Trade has ignited the attention of Oprah and I pray that the Fair Trade fire burns bright. On a personal note, when I saw the magazine photo of that colorful soccer ball I got for my 6 year old nephew Tommy at Chirstmas,  I got kind of emotional. To explain: I saw Tom play his first team soccer game last week — with that ball — and saw him play well with his teammates. Tommy is currently recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting from long term child abuse by a preschool teacher. He has had major difficulty functioning in regular classroom/ group child play situations. Well that colorful soccer ball has led to positive interactions with kids at the park and now he is playing on a soccer team and saying “This is great”. This is the first time he has shown ability to play through and not have a breakdown. That colorful ball made with love has spread a lot of love and healing. Thank you all for your efforts and generating that gift!!! You are all awesome. My sister Fran is thinking of donating balls for the school Tommy attends. I’ll have to Email her all this info. Love, Peg

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As I said, one of the best parts of my day…

A&K Kenya has recently improved its pioneering African-made ‘sound ball’ for the visually impaired. Designed to make a rattling sound when played with and
considerably cheaper than imported alternatives, the ball will give many more blind and visually impaired children in Kenya the opportunity to benefit from taking part in organised sport.

The ball is made using ‘sound boxes’, which are glued to the inside of a leather panel. This causes the ball to rattle when it is played with.

A prototype for this ball was distributed to The Thika School for the Blind in 2007; feedback from those students enabled A&K to produce the final design. At present local stores in Africa do not stock balls for the visually impaired, so schools have to import them from abroad at high costs.

A&K was initially challenged to develop such a ball by Henry Wanyoike, Kenya’s renowned visually impaired marathon runner. The balls are printed with his famous quote,

“I may have lost my sight, but not my vision”

What are you doing this Fall? Want to help plan the future of the Fair Trade movement? If yes, keep reading…

This September 10-12, the Fair Trade Futures Conference will be convening under the theme “Transforming Our Global Community”. The event will bring together entrepreneurs, students, advocates, faith community members, concerned citizens, interested individuals, and others in Boston.

The event includes seminars, workshops, site visits, discussions, social activities, and an exposition of 50+ Fair Trade vendors to educate and inspire about the holistic approach to business and poverty alleviation that Fair Trade provides. For more information and to register, please visit the Conference Website.