Fair trade offers a new link to the people with whom AFSC works. We can reach out to our neighbors overseas with the things we buy as well as the offerings we give. Your Meeting's coffee purchases help support democratic farmer cooperatives in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Listen to the difference fair trade makes:

"We used to live in houses made of corn husks," says Don Miguel Sifontes, president of a coffee cooperative in El Salvador that sells to Equal Exchange. "Now we have better work, better schools, homes of adobe, and a greater brotherhood of decision-makers."

Proceeds from fair trade have helped PRODECOOP, a cooperative federation in Nicaragua, invest in farm improvements, reduce bank debt, improve nutrition, build schools and healthcare centers and provide administrative training for members.

In the Dominican Republic, one of the most economically depressed countries in the Caribbean, Equal Exchange works with the small cocoa farmers of CONACADO. Founded in 1988, this coop helps members increase their standard of living while providing support for quality development and organic production. Farmers grow their cocoa under the canopy of the forest, preserving habitat for wildlife and migratory birds.

In addition, for each pound of coffee, tea and chocolate purchased by Friends Meetings and Quaker organizations through the project, Equal Exchange makes a contribution to AFSC's Latin America Action Program. The program helps hundreds of Latin Americans living in New England understand their immigration status. Leadership training workshops help local Latin American communities to organize and advocate on their own behalf not only on immigration issues but also on issues of education, crime, and home ownership.