Traidcraft Exchange update

A story of strength in crisis in Bangladesh

A few months ago, we reported that the Coronavirus Delta variant was spreading into communities that we have worked with for years. Villages that were once isolated and protected from the virus last year have now been severely affected. Official data could never capture the full picture of what these communities have been going through. Testing centres are often many miles away and stretched far beyond their capacity. Even when farmers can reach them, there is no guarantee of a successful test. In normal harvest seasons, farmers hire labourers who travel from neighbouring districts to harvest their paddy. But with the pandemic restricting travel, hiring labourers was not an option. The shortage in availability of labour meant that, even where it was available, smallholder farmers across Bangladesh simply couldn’t afford to pay those rates. The situation was bleak – a season’s worth of hard work facing potential ruin. For the villagers of Pashchim Taldgighi – a community that has worked with Traidcraft Exchange for many years – things were different. They had a simple, but ingenious solution that took advantage of one thing the pandemic couldn’t dent: their togetherness. They took the decision that every group member would work on everyone’s land, harvesting the paddy in turns. They started harvesting on 5th May and were finished within 3 days.

Grassroots self-help groups participating in our projects have also been able to distribute £55,000 in emergency loans to date to their poorest members – with no fixed repayment period or interest charged. They made announcements via loudspeaker to raise awareness of safety measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19. The associations also disinfected offices and market areas and distributed health and hygiene leaflets amongst the district’s villages. For most of this period, our official work was paused because of the restrictions – but that meant that solutions could rise up from the grassroots networks that we’ve helped develop. It’s so encouraging to see the strength of local communities coming to the fore and solving problems in a time of crisis.

This is the sort of potential that your support helps to unlock: long-lasting, resilient and powerful grassroots communities, supporting each other in times of difficulty.

Click below to read a full blog post on the impact of the Delta variant

READ THE BLOG POST

Add your voice to the #FashionWatchdog campaign

Over 8,600 supporters have added their signatures to our petition calling on the government to set up a #FashionWatchdog. The #FashionWatchdog aims to change how clothing retailers do business and help improve the lives of millions of garment workers around the world. Too many fashion retailers cut corners to squeeze out profits, at the expense of the people who make our clothes. Unfortunately, UK retailers are some of the worst offenders. Click below to watch our video and take action today.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Leave a legacy

Anyone considering leaving a gift in their will to Traidcraft Exchange is invited to contact Heather Thompson (heather.thompson@traidcraft.org) to arrange an informal and no-obligation chat about the difference such gifts make in our work.