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St Katherine's welcomes Nicaraguan farmer during Fairtrade Fortnight

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St Katherine’s was thrilled to welcome Urania Liseth Hernandez from Nicaragua as part of her visit to the south west during Fairtrade Fortnight organised by  Bristol Link with Nicaragua (BLINC).

36 year old Urania is from the La Perla community and has been a member of her co-operative since 2002.   Supported by a project that enables women to access and farm land she initially grew coffee on a hectare of land and the profits have allowed her to buy another 1.5 hectares where she now also grows cocoa.

Urania spent the day at St Katherine’s and her presence prompted some interesting discussions as aspects of Fairtrade were taught and debated in lessons.   After a Fairtrade breakfast in The Leaf,  Urania took part in a Year 7 Geography lesson that reviewed the problems of the global banana trade and how Fairtrade is making it a fairer business for growers.  She talked about starting a business with Year 10 business students before discussing Fairtrade as a strategy for Human Rights Intervention with Year 13 geography students.  A Fairtrade lunch at The Leaf served by hospitality students rounded off Urania’s visit.

The visit was very successful and thought-provoking. With Mrs Maringo translating, students learnt how buying Fairtrade products can help change the lives of local growers like Urania and their communities.  The money has helped Urania’s community build a new school and church, it now has decent toilets and local children received free school items to help their study and education.
The visit also prompted some Year 7 students to start an environmental group that will meet fortnightly with Mr Humphreys and Ms Ball.
Special thanks to Sue Tuckwell from Fairtrade Pill and Bob Langton from Carbon Gordano/Fairtrade for organising Urania’s visit.
Mrs G Maringo
Head of Modern Foreign Languages