FAIR TRADE PROJECT
Learning about Fair Trade issues is an extremely powerful way for young people to learn about global issues.Education in this field of studyraises awareness about the realities of poverty, hunger, and other social problems throughout the world. HIS has explored a variety of approaches to raise awareness of‘fair play’ in trade both locally and globally by educating young people and developing a sense of the importance of social justice and equality on a global level.
MISSION
We provide an educational program for young learners to raise awareness about the realities of poverty, hunger, and other social problems related to Fair Trade. HIS provides young learners with an age-appropriate understanding of how the world’s trading systems create unequal distributions of wealth and power and how Fair Trade can help redress these imbalances. We also encourage young people to take a stand when they see social injustice and social inequity in the world around them.
VISION
In the future, we envision our young people taking the initiative to create a world in whichproducers can enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods, fulfill their potential and decide their own future.
ACTIVITIES
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Sale of Fair Trade Products
HIS students learn how their choices in buying Fair Trade products can support and make a real difference in the lives of people around the world. Ethical consumption is an important first step towards genuine civic engagement. HIS learners take the next step by sellingFair Trade productson and off campus.
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Fair Trade Workshops and Symposia
We organize workshops and symposiato explore Fair Trade issues at every possible opportunity. It is vital to the Fair Trade movement that people purchase the products, but as school educators, we need to highlight other strands of action as well. For example, we advocate the importance of Fair Trade for young people and lobbying decision-makers at local, national and global levels. We educate the learners to recognize that we all have a responsibility to take a stand in the face of social injustice and social inequity.
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Fair Trade Project
Learning about Fair Trade seems to be straightforward, but it can lead into challenging territory. The learners are inspired and guided to take action in designing and implementing aFair Trade Project on a relevant theme of their choice. This will enable students to decide on a realistic, appropriate, and effective action plan to support Fair Trade. The project involves local producers and their fundraising partners in developing countries as well as HIS families and faculty in Hamamatsu. HIS learners will be given the opportunity to observe the complete process, from start to finish. They calculate export costs and organize transport and storage on the ship.They also become acquainted with project planning, cost estimates and calculation, duty, logistics, marketing and sales.
BAYANIHAN Fair Trade Project:
HIS initiated The BAYANIHAN Fair Trade Project, in which HIS learners are able to purchase craft products (which are made by the families whose children attend Bayanihan elementary school) at a fair price fromproducers and communities in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippinesand sell them at a fair price in Hamamatsu city.
The money earned through the sale of the products will be used to support the students in Bayanihan elementary school.Bayanihan elementary school is located in the mountainous area in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippines. Some of the children at the school help their parents make craft products and sell them.
HIS Fundraisers
HIS families and faculty work together to organize school fundraisers throughout the year. We form committees to not only organize fundraisers but to also inform HIS families as well as the community of the Vision and Goals of HIS. Although event fundraisers can be a lot of fun, they can also be a lot of work and require parental involvement. We consider it important that our school fundraisers be done in cooperation with HIS families because both HIS families and faculty have a stake in improving our school’s quality of education. We sell T-shirts, badges and stickers that we designed and ethnic foods that we cooked together with the families to build a sense of community as we work together towards the goal of building a more fair and equitable world for our children through education and understanding.