The following information was gathered from Maria Carreno and the Baladarshan website and newsletter.

Maria Carreno is the owner of The One-Eyed Turtle, a member business of Co-op America (soon to be know as Green America) that sells a wide range of recycled and fair trade products from around the globe. In August, 2008, Maria received the following letter from Philip Malet, a representative of Baladarshan, a company that helps train people to make fair trade products in Chennai, India.

Dear Maria,

Regarding the baskets . . . your order for 20 baby Xmas baskets is a wonderful opportunity for Lakshmi and Kanagaraj, a family we rescued recently, lying on the [railway] platform, coming from the countryside where they had lost their jobs. They were working there as casual laborers, but Kanagaraj is physically challenged and Lakshmi, taking care of their 8-month old baby, cannot get work now. So after providing a house and support for them, we encouraged Lakshmi to learn basket-weaving, and it brings some income now.

Working in partnership with the Community Welfare and Craft Promotional Trust, the Madras Social Service Guild, the Government of Tamil Nadu, and the charitable public trust SPEED (Slum People Education and Economic Development), Baladarshan provides employment for impoverished families migrating from the countryside to Chennai, the fourth largest city in India. They are struggling to do what is right, seeking sponsors to fulfill basic needs for food, shelter, and education for the children, but requiring that beneficiaries learn a skill and work to support themselves even though many are physically handicapped or otherwise living under challenging circumstances. They help to cut carbon emissions and waste by making many of their goods from post consumer products.

However, Baladarshan Fair Trade faces serious challenges. They tried to create a weaving workshop to employ 100 women working 40 handlooms to produce cloth for furnishings and hammocks, but the project failed because they are unable to compete with child labor in their country. According to the April, 2008 Baladarshan newletter, it is estimated that 50-60 million children are employed in India’s informal sector, many of whom work at weaving looms, earning 150 rupees/month for work that adults perform at 1500 to 2000 rupees/month. Parents contract their children out for labor, and in spite of the efforts of the Indian government to curtail the practice, sometimes the authorities keep silent because they receive bribes.

Companies like The One-Eyed Turtle and Baladarshan can only compete with child labor if people choose fair trade products. As long as we continue to buy furnishings without a second thought about the sources that supply them, children will continue to work in bondage. Maria reported that Philip found children in Chennai who were literally tied to their looms.

The One-Eyed Turtle has joined Zehn Naturals, another Co-op America member, and the local ashram in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina to sponsor Kangaraj and Lakshmi, sending $40/month to meet their basic needs and enable them to send their oldest son to school. When children enter school instead of forced labor, the cycle of poverty can be broken. Fair trade enables us to help Maria and Philip to help others without sacrificing anything but the little effort it takes to shop in the right places. Please begin by taking a look at what The One-Eyed Turtle has to offer.