Day 19 : Fairtrade - Use your Brain, not just your eyes

Day 19 : Monday 29th February 2016

Fairtrade - Use your Brain, not just your eyes

Hi everyone, today is the start of Fairtrade Fortnight, so we are going to stick with the Fairtrade topic we began talking about last night.

On the video we showed you some Fairtrade items that were basically food, but Fairtrade is about much more than just Bananas, Chocolate and Coffee. There are lots of things which come from the

Third World like clothes, gifts, flowers and just about anything you can think of. 

While it's good to be looking for the Fairtrade symbol wherever you can, lots of things aren't covered by Fairtrade schemes but you should still be looking at ways that you can buy things where people have been treated fairly and ethically.

Clothes are an obvious place to start because we all use them . A lot of clothes companies don't treat their workers well, and they might even use children to make their clothes. It is somtimes hard to tell but if you are buying a top for less than the price of a couple of pints of milk, that's probably a good indication that it isn't a fair trade.

That doesn't mean that if something is expensive, the company will be treating their workers well, but you can do some research into the sorts of policies companies have and decide which shops and companies you are happy to buy from. If you make those decisions before you go shopping, it is a good way to avoid getting sucked into buying cheap things just because you think they are a good deal.

Some companies seem to use Fairtrade in a bit of an unfair way too. They might get one or two of their products to get the Fairtrade symbol but then not treat workers fairly in lots of other parts of their companies. I am not going to say who those companies are but you can so some research for yourself, because they do exist. 

It's a bit like the school bully sucking up to the teacher and getting lots of praise for being good but then behind their back, they are really mean and nasty to everyone and treat people really badly. 

My main message tonight is that Fair Trade is a really good thing and a really good place to start when you go shopping. But you have to use your brain too and think about what you are buying, so that you can see the bigger picture.

If we all do what we can to shop ethically, we will make the world a better place.

Thanks for visiting the blog today - bye......Amelie ; ) 

(Erin is asleep...but we think she's dreaming of eating Fairtrade disc shaped chocolate, covered in delicious crispy multi-coloured shells....)

http://fortnight.fairtrade.org.uk/learn-more/#breakfast-map

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/

Day 11 - Helping Refugees - Part 2

Day 11: 21st February 2016

Helping Refugees - Part 2

Hello there - so yesterday we were talking about refugees. Lots of refugees are fleeing war in Syria and other parts of the world because it is too dangerous to stay in their home country. We have been looking at videos of refugees coming to Europe and what happens in the camps when they get here. We have also been reading about some of the things that people are doing to try to help them and some of the things that people in parliament are saying.

It seems that lots of people don't want to help them, which is very sad. There are people saying that they are all bad people and we shouldn't help them. We have been working on not stereotyping people at school and I don't think it is fair to start saying all the people who are refugees are bad. There are selfish people everywhere and criminals in every country. There will be some refugees who are not very nice people but there are lots of not very nice people who were born in this country and it doesn't have anything to do with where they are from. If people start calling people bad based on where they have come from, they are being racist.

I saw on the videos that there were plenty of children who need help. There are families who are getting spilt up and life is very hard for them. The politicians in power don't seem to be doing enough to help these people. I listened a bit to what was being said in parliament. I don't understand everything but I didn't like the way the Prime Mininster was talking about these people, as if they hadn't suffered and been through a lot to come from a war.

I do understand that it would be very difficult to have all the refugees come to this country. But it doesn't seem that the leaders are working quickly enough to help families. They need to come up with a way that the refugees can go to each of the countries in a way that is fair but they also have to make sure that families and children are not split up and looked after properly.

We're putting some links underneath the blog where you can donate money or find out more information about the things you can send.

You can also look for local groups in your area who help refugees.

Like my sister mentioned in the video (GO ERIN!!!!) there are petitions and letters you can sign which will tell the politicans that they need to do more.

Thanks for reading our blog. I've learned a lot about refugees this weekend from reading and watching videos. I think if more people found out about what was going on they might not be so angry at refugees and want to help too.

Love Amelie and Erin ;)

Info (Scottish Links at top since we are in Scotland)

Scottish Refugee Council

Scotland-Supporting-Refugees Facebook page

http://www.helprefugees.org.uk/

Refugees Welcome

Sign the Open Letter to David Cameron

(or here...)

Donate  

Save the Children

OXFAM Appeal

UNICEF APPEAL

There are lots of other organisations too. These are just a few and you can search online to find local groups who are working in your area.

Day 10 : Helping Refugees

Day 10: 20th February 2016

Helping Refugees

This was a difficult blog for the girls because there is so much they'd like to say about the refugee crisis, they got rather tongue tied trying to put it together. The fact that they tried to explain a complicated issue in their own way is really commendable though. They want to help and we're very proud of them for that.

This afternoon Amelie was explaining things to us in her own way, she still gets a little bit flustered and worried on camera but she always says to us "I'm just not a news reporter!" We are very proud of you for keeping on trying Amelie because we know it is hard for you when you are bursting to say so much and don't know how to make it all fit in. You and your sister are doing a great job. Here is a wee summary of some of the things she was saying.....

The thing I don't understand is why people feel so angry at the refugees for trying to come to their countries. It is just our luck that we were born here, in a safe country. We didn't do anything to deserve having all these advantages, but lots of people don't seem to want to help other people who aren't as lucky as them.

They aren't coming to Europe because they want to steal our things, they are coming because it is life and death. They will die if they stay in Syria or they might be forced to change their religion and lots of people tried to stay but they were starving. I think it would take a lot of courage to have to leave everything behind. They are risking dying in the oceans to come here and they must be terrified.

When they come to Europe, they have nothing and from what I've seen in videos, it doesn't look like they have a lot of help to start a new life. Some places put up fences to stop them getting in and in other places the camps look really dirty and crowded. I wouldn't want to be a child growing up like that.

We want to help these people because they have nothing. They need our help and I hope if we all work together we will make a difference to their lives and show that the world can be a better place.

Come back to part 2 of the blog tomorrow, to find out about some things we can do to help.

Thanks for listening / reading - Amelie and Erin xxxx

Valentine's Day - It's all about LOVE

Day 4 - Valentine's Day

It's all about LOVE

Hello everyone - today is Valentine's Day - Bleughhhh...................

Valentine's Day is all about ' Romantic Love'..........bleughhhh............Disgusting!!!!! Except that we get to eat all the chocolates that Daddy bought for Mum!!!! Yay!!!

But we are doing this blog for Lent, which is about thinking about the lessons Jesus taught us. That's quite a hard thing to do when you are little but it's easy to understand what Jesus meant when he told us to love one another.

You don't need to believe in Jesus to agree that being loving to one another is not a bad idea.

Me and my sister fight all the time....I sometimes say that we are 'Mortal Enemies!!!' Ha Ha Ha. But we always make up, say sorry and try to help each other. Sometimes it is hard to get on with people and we all want our own way. But if we try very hard to compromise and love each other like Jesus said, that is probably the most important thing we can do to make the world a better place.

It isn't easy when you really want your own way but Mum says compromise takes lots and lots of practise.

Basically our blog message today is - be kind and loving to each other.


It might not solve all the world's problems but it's a good place to start.

Thanks for reading......Amelie (and my mortal enemy Erin) xxxxxxx