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A new fair trade project
Klicken Sie hier für die deutsche Version / Click here for German Version
The newest BERUDEP project is an initiative that involves you as a consumer. Through your participation BERUDEP aims to generate income for a local education project and local tailors in Belo. The project is a fair trade initiative.
Fair trade is an alternative form of trade that seeks to provide benefit at all stages of the supply chain, to involve the producer in dialogue and decision making and one that adheres to principles such as paying fair wages, upholding gender equity, protecting workers through safe and healthy workplaces and guaranteeing labour free from slavery or the exploitation of children.
The project was initiated in early 2007 when a German volunteer realised that the sling bags sewn by local tailors were fashionable and would be a popular product in Europe. In looking for a way to gain money for a local school struggling for funds he introduced the idea of a fair trade project to BERUDEP and thus the project was borne.
Tailoring provides much needed income for local people in Belo but unjust trade structures such as the removal of trade barriers on cheap imports has affected the ability of talented craftspeople, like the tailors of Belo, to sell their product for a price that is comparable to those of the local markets. As cheap second hand clothing flood the markets, producers like those in Belo struggle to make living wages. Fair trade is a form of trade that seeks to put the power balance back into global trade.
Left: Teachers from B.S. Fundeng School, Right: Belo tailors
CAMbag works in the following way:
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local tailors sew the bags for orders placed by BERUDEP
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BERUDEP places the orders equitably among the tailoring groups in Belo
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BERUDEP handles the finished bags and pays the tailors an agreed wage that is representative of a living wage in Belo
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BERUDEP then sends the bags to Germany, to fill the placed orders
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The bags are sold in Germany and every customer gets a certificate with information about the project and where the consumer's money goes.
The price of the bag to the consumer covers:
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the cost of the bags and wages for the producers
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the costs incurred by BERUDEP and wages for BERUDEP's work on the project
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the shipping costs
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a donation of 2000 cfa (around 3 €) for B.S. Fundeng school
BERUDEP handles the donation for the school and will invest it into:
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books and durable desks for the pupils and the teacher
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the repair of the roof of the school
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a second building with three new classrooms so that each class level will have its own room
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fair salaries for the teachers
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monitoring and evaluating the impact of this project on the community
Questions you may have about CAMbag:
About the school the funds will be used for:
One of BERUDEP's aims is to improve the education of the local community. Therefore BERUDEP places some of its long term volunteers as additional teacher in local schools. There are several issues that the local schools face and providing international volunteers as temporary teachers can address some of these gaps. However it does not solve all of the problems these schools have to cope with.
One of these problems is the lack of money for books and other materials. A school that has been identified as especially in need is The Baptist School (B.S.) Fundeng in Njinikijem, situated in the mountains, 45 min walk from Belo. It was founded by the local church but it is not funded by the state although it is state-approved. The church does not fund the school so this means the only funding available comes from charging school fees and any donations generously given by the parents.
What does CAMbag mean?
Having the letters 'CAM' placed before a generic term such as rail and oil (eg. CAMrail, CAMoil) is common in Cameroon and gives a unique Cameroonian identity to the name. In the same way CAMbag came about.
Where can I buy a CAMbag?
The sales process is currently in the initial setup phase and currently shops in Germany are being contacted to sell the CAMbags. A list of shops will be published here once they are available.
If you want a bag shipped to your place, within Europe, contact
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