Turning 30

After 14.5 years in China and 15.5 years in Australia, I am truly a product of mixed cultural influences. On the eve of my 30^th birthday, I look back at my achievements and regrets.

Achievements:

Survived a childhood without my mum, who left me for Australia when I was 4.
Safely made a solo return trip from China to Australia when I was 9.
Moved to Australia when I was 14 and survived the first six months of school subject to bully and language barriers.
Graduated from high school with an UAI of 99.3 and became an unlikely dux.
Managed to finish an actuarial degree and an economics degree.
Moved to Canberra alone and made a few good friends.
Got driver’s licence after two years of classes.
Landed a job where my skills can be utilised.
Taught myself how to ride a bike.
Learned to swim.
Learned to camp.
Found love.
Found passion.
Founded a charity.
Lots of travel.
Been to Tibet.
Adopted a rescue dog.

Regrets:

Not taking a gap year.
Chose a career based on UAI and expected future salary.
Gave up piano after just two years.
Being anti-social in university.
Spent my hard earned cash on fast fashion.
Not spending more time with my grandparents before they passed away.

On the eve of turning 30, I am content. I have a good job, nice colleagues, a loving partner, healthy parents, a cute dog, an upcoming European trip, a growing charity and a number of supporters. Most of these were not imaginable three years ago.

My biggest wish for the next decade is to grow Oz Fair Trade and to convince more people to choose fair trade.

How to feed the world’s poorest without growing more food

I was invited to an event held by the ACT Fair Trade Collective last night. The topic was on food sustainability and fair trade. There were four speakers:

Mandy Nearhos, Co-convenor ACT Fair TradeCollective;
Molly Harriss, the newly appointed CEO of Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand;
Debbie Hunt, NSW/ ACT Campaign and Engagement Coordinator, Oxfam Australia; and
Federico Davila, ANU PHD Student specialising in food sustainability

In the past 2 years I have been searching for answers to help the world’s poorest. My search led me to setting up Oz Fair Trade in the hope that I could help some people to improve their living standards through their skills and a fair trading system. At the moment Oz Fair Trade only deals with handicrafts, which many women rely upon for a sustainable income, as land becomes a scarce resource in many developing countries. I was thinking about expanding into food such as coffee and tea, but decided to postpone the plan because there are a few businesses in Australia that are doing a wonderful job in this field (such as Republica).

The night was very educational for me, as my knowledge of fairtrade concentrated on handicrafts not food. You’d think that farmers are the ones closest to food so why are they starving? One answer is that farmers are pressured by global economic systems to grow “cash crops” such as cotton. It’s all good when they get a good return, but the reliance on a single product inevitably makes one vulnerable to price changes. Other answers include their reliance on good weather conditions, unfair prices set by powerful buyers, corruption, land grabs etc.

The problem is not that we are not growing enough food. The problem is that a lot of the food is wasted instead of feeding the people who need it most. The world food system, as part of the global trade system, is broken. Governments have been shown to be powerless in terms of driving changes. NGOs have been doing great jobs such as pushing for Fair Trade. There are many ways to fix the system e.g. fairtrade, microfinance, microinsurance, addressing climate change etc.

As consumers, we have so much power that we don’t realise. Again and again, it has been shown that companies do listen if we are loud enough and care enough. Oxfam recently exposed ANZ’s involvement in a sugar plantation investment in Cambodia which forced hundreds of farmers to leave their farms. This contradicts ANZ’s social responsible policy. As consumers, we can hold them accountable. Be sure to be loud and clear.

So what can you do? You can:

choose fairtrade certified products whenever possible
spread the message of fairtrade among your friends and colleagues
waste less food and start a worm farm
buy locally produced food helps to reduce food miles
sign petitions to stop land grabs and unfair trade
support brands that really respect people and planet
vote for politicians who care about climate and people
write to companies who don’t have a social responsible policy or don’t obey them
make some noise on social media to show that you care
eat more veggie helps to reduce demand for meat which has higher carbon footprints, and veggie is good for you
lend small amounts to the poorest through organisations like Kiva and Good Return. From personal experience, the repayments have been excellent
choose superannuation funds such as Australian Ethical Super that invest only in ethical companies

etc.

Molly pointed out that in UK more than 80% know about fairtrade and more than 50% regularly buy fairtrade. In Australia, 50% know about fairtrade and 15% regularly buy fairtrade. This confirms my feeling that a lot more can be done in Australia.

If you are interested in how to fix the world food system, you can find useful information on Oxfam’s website. If you are interested in fairtrade handicrafts please checkout my not-for-profit social business Oz Fair Trade where customer service is guaranteed!

Point of difference: one woman brand

One week after my previous post about putting my face forward to showcase products, I have delivered! The very amateur photo studio with a wrinkled backdrop sheet delivered relatively satisfactory results. There were lots of running from the front to the back of camera in my small living room, and there was certainly no room for a second person, but the end results justified all the efforts. At least for now, I’m quite happy with the photos 🙂 I hope my efforts will help you to make more informed purchase decisions.

I was thinking very hard about the point of difference that Oz Fair Trade can offer you as a customer. Yes we are a charity, but it is a charity that relies entirely on a sustainable business model. So I have to make it work commercially, and to do that, I have to be able to compete with other businesses, and I must think like a businesswoman. I can offer excellent products and great customer services, and you’ll only deal with one person if there’s any issue. If there’s any problem with delivery address, product availability, etc. I’ll contact you quickly and directly, and aim to fulfill your order asap! I want to make this work, so that I can support more fair trade producers and help push forward the fair trade movement!

My photography studio

Many people have wanted to see how Oz Fair Trade products such as jewellery and scarves would look on real people. I can completely understand that, and have always wanted to do something about it. Since I don’t have models, I have decided to bravely step up to be the face of Oz Fair Trade. But I have to be the photographer as well…hence the home studio set up (in my already crowded living room).

So…in the coming weeks, you’ll start to see some photos of me showcasing Oz Fair Trade products. Eventually, I hope to have such a photo for every product.

A registered charity – a new chapter begins.

When a good friend of mine heard about Global Handmade at about the same time last year, she suggested that I should register with the ACNC (i.e. the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission) where she worked as a lawyer. I remember my response at the time was that ‘it’s in my plan’. One year on, I achieved this goal.

As any new business owner would know, moving from a sole trader to a company structure requires some guts and money. I made the leap in October last year, as part of the re-branding, because I knew how committed I was to running it for the long term. Even though financially it wasn’t the best time to make the transition, I did it anyway because I wanted the organisation to have the credibility it needs and deserves. I can now proudly call Oz Fair Trade a charity and confidently continue the journey forward.

The next big thing is to be endorsed by the Fair Trader of Australia. It is a lengthy process, but I’m sure I’ll get there!

P.S. you can find Oz Fair Trade on ACNC’s online register here: http://www.acnc.gov.au/

1st Year Anniversary

It’s hard to believe that it has been a year since I founded Oz Fair Trade (initially known as Global Handmade). What a year! I still remember coming back to Australia from Southeast Asia with a burning desire to help the kind and talented people who lived in such poverty. The images of bare footed children selling things on streets were popping up in my head over and over again during Christmas, when my own nieces and nephews were spoiled with endless toys. I felt depressed, and I wanted to cry. Nelson Mandala once said that

“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”

I have been donating. I have been volunteering. But I felt that I could do a lot more. How? How can I help these people? I read widely and brainstormed. It didn’t take long before I came to the conclusion that I could help these people to find a market for their products in Australia. I would source from fair trade suppliers and sell their products in Australia via e-commerce.

I’ve always loved Oxfam, and my research has introduced me to a few other fair traders in Australia. However, most of them are quite small, and over the years Oxfam has scaled back its retail operation. In contrast, fair trade has flourished in Europe, America and New Zealand. I strongly believed that Australians are kind hearted and generous. There is no reason why fair trade can’t flourish here! I wanted to introduce fair trade products to people who normally wouldn’t have thought of buying fair trade. I wanted to help to expand the fair trade market in Australia. I believed I could do it.

So there I was, setting up a website and a business with no relevant experience or knowledge whatsoever. The first version of the website was horrible, but at the time, it was a great achievement and I was really excited when I got my first order. Over the next 12 months, I read widely and learned a lot about website development. Then in October I made the move to rebrand and launched a brand new website (www.ozfairtrade.org). I have been working very hard, managing both a start-up and a full time job. I have made mistakes along the way, but I have learned so much. Looking back, I am very proud of what I have achieved in the last 12 months, and I already have great plans for the next 12 months. The best thing that happened in the last 12 months is the number of people who have kindly supported Oz Fair Trade and made me believe in myself. The next 12 months will not be easy, but it will be great!

Thank you all for supporting Oz Fair Trade, and I promise that you will never be let down!