Meeting the people in Bangladesh

Traidcraft’s Key Contact’s Manager Brian Conder travelled to Bangladesh in March as part of our Traidcraft Meet the People Tour.

As well as experiencing the smog-filled streets of Dhaka, with its incredible volume of traffic, the abundance of activity on the many rivers and the beautiful, lush countryside, he met some of Traidcraft’s producer groups in their homes and workplaces.

In Dhaka, the group visited Aarong, who sell for over 20,000 producers and have five stores in the city, selling clothing, crafts and household items. Their visit to an Aarong production centre set in well-lit buildings in leafy village lanes, could not have been more different from the typical garment sweatshops in the city. Here the villagers live and work in very pleasant surroundings.

“We visited Jute Works and saw their whole operation including production areas, quality control, dispatch and export departments,” Brian said. “They hope to relocate to a larger building next July to cope with an expanding business.”

Opportunities to experience local culture included walking through rice fields to visit a Jute works women’s group in Gazipur, north of Dhaka, where the group was entertained by villagers singing local folk songs as a welcome.

Benefits to the workers there include distribution of profits, a medical fund, welfare grants and a security provident fund.

Another group visited was Swajan, which sell handmade paper products to Traidcraft and household items for export to other fair trade organisations in the USA and Japan.

Swajan’s handicapped workers produce appliqué and mirrorwork for hand-made paper cards. Employee benefits include medical costs , paid holidays and training and a fixed one-hour lunch break. These benefits are not generally available to employees in other organisations.

“In the north-west of the country, at Saidpur, we met workers employed by Action Bag and Eastern Screen Printers,” Brian said. “Here we saw jute products being produced and screenprinted with various designs. Workers were cutting, sewing, mixing colours, printing and designing new products too.

“This was a wonderful experience and has given me a much better understanding of the difficulties and opportunities available in Bangladesh and how Traidcraft supporters are helping many workers to enjoy a happier and more secure life.”

For more information about our Bangladesh Tour please click here

If you would like more information on any of our tours or to check availability please call Lizzie or Paul on 0191 2651110 or email us at info@skedaddle.co.uk