Browsing: aid

they loaded their skewers and coated it all in melted fair trade chocolate.

Last Thursday, over 50 people visited my house between 4pm and 8pm. Some stayed a few minutes; others a few hours. The lure? Not merely the opportunity to wish me a very happy birthday (which it was by the way, much to the relief of my husband!). No, they came for a dip in the chocolate fountain. Choosing from a wide range of fruit (fair trade or organic, of course), sweets and biscuits, they loaded their skewers and coated it all in melted fair trade chocolate. The ultimate guilt free treat.

For many there, it was the first time that they had considered the impact of their chocolate choices on those that grow the cocoa beans. The long hours, dangerous conditions, little or no pay, regular beatings - enough to put you off even your favourite brand.

Stop the Traffik organised the world’s largest fondue party to raise awareness and funds.

Read the rest of Retraining my taste buds - Fondue Follow Up »

Researching brand loyalty last week set me thinking. I would not consider myself a victim of brand loyalty. As any member of my family would tell you, I always buy what’s on special offer or stick to the supermarket’s own brand - which is sometimes boring and sometimes rather unusual, depending on the offers that week!

I guess chocolate is my main weakness. The main weakness for the majority of women, if my friends are anything to go by. Actually, it’s not that I often overindulge; it’s what I choose when I do. I already know all the arguments, but I still reach for the brands I grew up with. It’s just something about the taste.  A lick of a Cadbury’s crème egg takes me back to the tin of goodies under the driver’s seat in my Dad’s car. The first bite of a Double Decker prompts a flashback to my teenage years. The unwrapping of a Galaxy bar has Proustian reminders of waiting for the first signs of labour with my first child.

This week, Stop the Traffik(1) is organising the world’s largest chocolate fondue party. Stop the Traffik is a worldwide movement dedicating to raising awareness of and campaigning against the trafficking of people. Didn’t that end with the abolition of the slave trade? And didn’t we celebrate the 250th anniversary of that a couple of years ago?

Read the rest of Retraining my taste buds »

People flee from violence in the Congo

During its years as Zaire and more recently as Congo, the people of this huge Central Africa republic have battled against many different types of adversity – everything from civil war to the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo that sent hot lava running through the streets of Goma. However, the new clashes between warring factions – once again on the streets of Goma – have led to thousands of people being displaced into temporary camps. Food is short. Water is contaminated. And there is the lurking nightmare that this might slip into a genocide reminiscent of horror that occurred just across the border in Rwanda during 1994.

While the international community decides whether it has the guts to intervene and prevent further violence and bloodshed, the aid agencies are rapidly deploying programmes of aid. To help fund those initiatives the Disaster Emergencies Committee (DEC) has launched a co-ordinated campaign to raise the much needed funds. For more information see our main story.