Tag Archives: Fairtrade

Paper Bag Challenge

The Paper Bag Challenge

As part of our Fairtrade project, had an afternoon of very hard work,  trying to imagine what it must be like to have to work really hard, in poor conditions, with hardly any pay. In areas of Kolkata, lots of children the same age as our class and younger, have to do this for hours every day and seven days a week. It is one of the reasons why Fairtrade is so important, to help families in this situation and make sure that children have access to an education.

Our class groups were paid for every 10 bags that they made and there was a rush to make as many as possible. Once we found out how much we had earned, we could have a look at how much food, rent, medicines etc cost and how much we could afford.

The groups worked really well together, but wouldn’t want to have to do this all day, every day!

Fairtrade

Primary 6/7 have been learning about how different groups of people are paid in the banana trade. We split into 5 groups (banana workers, plantation owners, shippers, shops and supermarkets and importers and ripeners) and found out about their roles.

If a banana 🍌 cost 30p we had to decide how much of each 30p should go to each group. It was difficult to decide and in the end we thought that the banana workers should earn the most – 8 p, but we were shocked 😳 to find that despite all the work they do, they only get 1p in every 30p. And that’s why Fairtrade is so important.

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