It’s Only Fair to Care, Downtown, Over Coffee
Brandon Sun, May 3, 2007 - David McConkey
The time is last Thursday evening. I am enjoying a
coffee break at
Scarlatti’s Cappuccino Bar on Rosser Avenue. The coffee is
delicious and the company wonderful.
Deanna Ginn is speaking with me in her role as voluntary President of
the Marquis
Project. I have been a Board member of that non-profit
organization in the past and I am here to get an update.
Our coffees are “fair trade.” This is most
appropriate as we are getting together on the cusp of Fair Trade Week
in May.
Ginn starts by talking about the fair trade products available at the
Marquis store, Worldly Goods, like coffee, tea, and chocolate.
“These little luxuries that we are able to enjoy so easily
can come at a significant cost to others in poorer countries if they
aren’t fairly traded,” says Ginn.
What is fair trade? The objective, she says, is to provide decent
working conditions and wages to workers, and to be produced in
environmentally sustainable ways. Although the concept has recently
become somewhat mainstream, Marquis has been importing products with
that aim from its partners in Africa since the 1980s.
Ginn emphasizes just how remarkable the Marquis Project is, and how
many lives it has touched, both globally and locally. Marquis is an
independent Westman organization that is nationally recognized for its
overseas work, local educational programs, and for simply surviving the
cuts in federal funding in the mid 1990s.
Ginn lists some recent Marquis projects in Tanzania. One deals with HIV
/ AIDS. Another encourages the sustainable production of sweet
potatoes. Because of the Vitamin A, I learn, eating this vegetable
reduces the incidence of blindness among children.
A third Marquis project in Tanzania focuses on sustainable energy:
dehydrators to better preserve food, more efficient cooking stoves, and
reforestation.
If Marquis is one of the organizational gems of the community, then
Ginn is one of the personal gems. In addition to her volunteer work at
Marquis, she delights local audiences with her performances as a
singer. She is also the director of the Prairie Blend men’s
choir.
Ginn is currently a new teacher of early years in Brandon. At one point
in our coffee break, Ginn bursts into song. I get to hear the
“Caring for the Earth Rap” that she and her Grade 3
and 4 Betty Gibson students have composed. Those lucky kids!
Scarlatti’s is an excellent location for our coffee break,
since it is right next door to the future location of Marquis at 912
Rosser. Ginn says that the move to the new location in the next few
weeks will provide more room for retail products, office staff, and
educational presentations. Right now, volunteers are busy getting the
new space ready.
When Marquis moves in beside Scarlatti’s, it will help make
that part of Rosser one of the most interesting – and
international - in the city. The Double Decker tavern and the Chilly
Chutney restaurant are just across the street. Ten Thousand Villages is
on the next block. Other intriguing shops are nearby.
As we are concluding our coffee break, Ginn notes that one Marquis
event for Fair Trade Week will be a presentation of the documentary
film “Buyer Be Fair” at the Evans Theatre on
Friday, May 4th at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $5 and includes a cup of fair
trade coffee.
Ginn also mentions that Marquis will offer, for the first time, fair
trade flowers for this Mother’s Day.
Just as we say good bye, we reflect on the recent visit to Brandon of
Stephen Lewis and his talk on HIV / AIDS in Africa. One of the
questions from the audience was “What can we do?”
Citizens are needed, said Lewis, to fill the moral leadership gap left
by governments. One suggestion he had was for the public to challenge
politicians during the next Canadian federal election.
Another was to support good non-governmental organizations. There are
worthy national organizations and Lewis mentioned several, including
his own foundation.
Westman is fortunate to have its own right here: the Marquis Project on
Rosser Avenue.
See also:
"Small World" Column by Zack Gross (Brandon Sun)
Books
about fair
trade at Amazon.ca
(or at Amazon.com
)
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