Fair Trade Sports are crazy about two things: people and planet. This factors into everything they do, especially the way they produce their sports balls. Every ball is fair trade certified, made by sewers and stitchers in Pakistan who are paid fairly, paid on time, and treated with dignity and respect. In addition, the rubber used to produce these high-quality balls is eco-certified. Their rubber tree forests in India and Sri Lanka have been verified by third parties as sustainably grown and managed.
So go ahead, have a ball.
We’re including an excerpt from a blog post on the fair trade sports website, because we think it’s a great example of what fair trade really means.
“Sameena Nyaz is 18 years old, single, and lives in a village called Chak Gillan, near Sialkot, the world capital of soccer ball production in Pakistan.
Her father runs the snack shop in the soccer ball stitching center 200 yards away, which was built by Talon Sports, our Fair Trade soccer ball supplier. Sameena goes there to stitch soccer balls, too. After home-based stitching stopped, the center became one of the first places where women could continue such work. As companies moved the work into big factory units in order to prevent child labor, they effectively locked out women who could not be away from home for the whole day.
Sameena is one of 11 siblings, seven sisters and four brothers. Two of the older ones also stitch balls. Stitching wages are low – only Fair Trade buyers like Fair Trade Sports pay enough to enable the three to provide their family with all the basic necessities.
Sameena never had the chance to attend school – instead, she has been contributing to the family income from early on, and has now been stitching for three years. The family has a small hut and a kitchen garden, where everyone helps out.
Recently Sameena had to have a thyroid operation – the bandage on her neck was still there. All costs were paid by the Talon Fair Trade Welfare Society – the health care program made possible by the Fair Trade premiums, a first for workers, which include Sameena and her family.”
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