Ain Ebel is a small village in the South of Lebanon. Also known as Arrouset el Jnoub , the "bride of the South", because of its people's joie de vivre and its beauty.
Although in 2006 the village was severely damaged by the Israeli attacks, you can still feel today a profound sense of tranquillity and serenity as you arrive there (the army check points and the UNIFIL don’t even disturb it). You’d spend hours staring at the green hills surrounding you and talking to down-to-earth people who feel strongly attached to their land and family.
Fair Trade Lebanon was there yesterday as we were hosting a training session in a cooperative about the basics of hygiene and food safety.This session was financed and supported by the French Embassy who agreed to accompany one of the development projects we are undertaking and which concerns four of the partner cooperatives we work with.
Our field trips remind us of the responsibility that rests everyday on our shoulders. We are constantly seeking new markets abroad to expand our outreach in order to help these women and cooperatives produce more and all year long. We should all feel implicated in this duty. Because it is our duty and not a choice, it is a reason that I invite you all to embrace and support. Trust me, there are still people out there trying to do good.
Help us talk about the beauty of this land. Help us send out a strong and united message about the need to change the rules in the conventional trading system. Help us protect our small producers who get paid peanuts when they enter a monopolized market that pulls them further down from where they already are.
I was strongly touched, hurt and enraged when one of our partners, a dedicated woman, had a terrible experience with a supermarket chain. The latter did not respect their contract agreement, barely paid the coop 20% of the total merchandise and sent her back some of the products in despicable unsellable conditions, damaged and broken.
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