On Friday, around 400 children from St Oswald's and Parkside schools in Ashbourne wore sunglasses to school. The idea of this fundraising exercise was to raise money for weavers in Ecuador who have poor eyesight yet cannot afford to purchase glasses. It is a unique way for the children to have fun expressing themselves while learning about global citizenship and helping to make a real and lasting positive impact in the lives of others.
As part of Pachacuti's Fair Trade Certification, every year, together with each producer group, Pachacuti creates an annual action plan that allows producers to direct how Fair Trade will benefit them the most. In 2008 one embroidery group all complained of poor eyesight. In Spring 2009, we paid for eye tests, glasses and eye operations for the 20 workers who required them, totalling $800.
After the success of this project, Pachacuti approached our co-operative of women Panama hat weavers based in Ecuador and enquired if the 300+ weavers might need glasses. The answer was a resounding YES.
The women live in a poor, rural region of Southern Ecuador and rely on the weaving of hats as their primary source of income. This traditional skill is demanding work and requires good eyesight to produce quality hats. To remedy this situation Pachacuti and the Co-operative decided to make the purchasing of glasses for the weavers their primary goal for their 2010 Fair Trade Action Plan.
Pachacuti arranged for eye exams to be given to the weavers and it was determined just over 200 of the women required glasses, with 65 weavers being prioritised as needing glasses urgently. This was beyond the financial means of Pachacuti and the co-operative to purchase. It was with the help of a group of Ashbourne residents that the Sunglasses for Glasses concept was born as a means to achieve the funding for this project. It is our hope that, through the involvement of area school children, we can together raise the money needed for the purchase of the glasses whilst providing an opportunity for the children to learn about global issues and empathy for others.
Sunglasses for Glasses day last week raised enough money for over 30 pairs of glasses, so we are well on our way to our target! A huge thank you to the schools and children who took part and I'm looking forward to posting some photographs of our weavers with their new glasses!