HONOUR MITCHELL: TEEN VOLUNTEERING

In this crazy, busy world we live in, we often forget to give back to our community through volunteer work or by simply donating a few dollars to a deserving cause.

Volunteering ties in well with my last article on stress-busters. Knowing you are helping someone out, generates a very rewarding feeling - boosting your wellbeing. Through my intermediate school years I tried out a range of activities, including baking for families at Ronald Mcdonald House and making animal toys for the SPCA. The happy buzz I experienced was unexpected but very welcome.

At the moment I am enrolled for the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award and one aspect of this award requires recipients to take part in voluntary community service. To fulfil this, I have just started a job at the Ponsonby’s Trade Aid shop - stacking shelves, dusting, packaging merchandise and serving customers.

I feel very privileged to have this opportunity as my family and I are long-times lovers of the organic Trade Aid products. In particular, we are obsessed with the Mint Crisp Chocolate and the Earl Grey tea - delicious!

As part of the job, I am learning some really interesting things about the organisation. For those who don’t know, Trade Aid was founded in 1973 in Christchurch as a social enterprise. Its main purpose is to create fairness in trade by bringing handcrafts and organic food from around the world to sell to we Kiwis. This benefits hundreds of thousands of small-scale farmers and artisans from organisations across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Palestine and the Pacific. Because they are paid a fair price for the work they do, it enables them to achieve a reasonable standard of living. Without this support these communities might still be struggling to achieve their aspirations and find solutions to their issues.

With shops located from Whangarei to Dunedin it’s easy to pop in and support this very worthy enterprise. We are especially lucky to have a shop located on Ponsonby Road - so convenient! Even if you can’t get to a physical store you can always jump online and grab a few staples (including chocolate!) and select some gifts while you’re at it.

I have found a number of things in the store that would appeal to people my age group. But my favourite are the soaps: the pretty, pastel packaging in an array of gorgeous colours is visually enticing. Let’s not stop there, the exotic smells of coconut, cinnamon, pomegranate and rose will leave you wondering which one to choose.

At $3.49 each, why not grab a few? Apart from enjoying the fragrance and colours, you’ll also be helping the soap producers of Palam. This group has gained economic independence through the trade of soap, allowing them to relinquish some of the discrimination of belonging to a lower caste in India. (HONOUR MITCHELL)  PN

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