All Fair Circle's Morocco products use natural flowers and herbs hand-picked and are produced locally by the cooperative female workers from Morocco. Stories behind the Cooperative Agency 
Aicha (Member with longest length of service, joined since 2004) "I need around a day to collect enough nuts for one basket and selling each basket of crushed nuts thorugh fair trade can give me 85DH (~85HKD) of income. If that was the mainstream market instead, that could only be around 40-50DH." "This source of income helps me to feed my six-child family." "I have opened a bank account recently. When I am short of cash, the chair of the cooperative agency will accompany me to the bank and assist me." Fatima (on the right) (In her sixties, joined since 2011) After Fatima’s husband had left her in their early stage of life, she alone had always been the only source of income in this single parent family, upbringing all three of her children with hardship. Now that all her children have grown up and started working, Fatima hopes she could live by earning money herself. Now 60% of her income comes from wages she earn from the cooperative agency while the rest is provided by her children. Words from Kaltolima Zetaini, Chair of the cooperative agency (on the left) "As Fatima is alone at home, she was longing for a working opportunity. We, the cooperative agency, always welcomes women like Fatima to join in. Although teaching them the skills and message behind might be a challenge, we are pleased to offer them a chance to establish themselves in the local community."
Kaltolima Zetaini (Chair of the cooperative agency) "In the local society, there was a common conception, especially by men, that women should be staying at home instead of working. This resulted in half of the cooperative producers quitting because of the label they were put on." "Since 2007, the situation has started to improve as the families of the cooperative workers gradually understands the work they have been doing and have seen the rewards too, both financially and socially. In the past, local women might have no say over family decisions. But now, we can discuss matters with our husbands and even going out for a shopping alone!"
Besides the daily earning from picking the fruit and crushing, last year, each member has an extra 5000 HKD as profit share, and by vote, they have decided to spend the rest of the profit in purchasing new machine and support children education and school sponsorship in the community. |
