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This programme
connects all the previous ones, and can also be viewed alone. Why
is most environmental damage being done in poor
countries?
We meet a 10 year old orphan boy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who carries
luggage at the railway station. He lives in the station and sees no
other future.
In a UK school, students equate Bill Gates's income (£775 per
second) with that of 13 African countries containing 137 million
people. Third World debt, and its implications for local farmers
and producers in poor countries, is explained. They owe more than
they can ever pay back.
In Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, whole villages
of people have lost their sight through 'river blindness' or
trachoma. The disease is preventable but most people cannot afford
the medicines for it. The same applies to tuberculosis and
leprosy.
'Microloans' - loans to individuals to develop their businesses -
can double their income, and are always repaid, helping to break
the debt cycle.
'Fair Trade' guarantees farmers a price for their crop for a number
of years, freeing them from the vagaries of the market. In Belize,
cocoa growers get a fair and dependable price for their crop
through a Fair Trade arrangement. They grow it sustainably and
organically, and use the profits to bus the village children to
school.
What can you do? Students find out which goods they buy are
Fair-Traded. They visit a local supermarket, aiming to get it to
increase its range of Fair-Trade goods. |
