a really nice cup of tea...

Next time you're thinking of brewing up a nice cuppa, why not make it a Traidcraft tea? Traidcraft teas are helping to change the lives of tea workers and their communities in Africa and India.

New classrooms and equipment, local health dispensaries and fresh water are just some of the facilities that the Fairtrade premium on Traidcraft teas is helping to provide in Tanzania.

And individual workers, including tea plucker Adriano Kalili, who features on the new Traidcraft packaging, are also benefiting. The fair wage he receives means he has been able to build a three-bedroom house for his wife, Alizeta, and their three children – and the Fairtrade premium has helped to provide the roof.

“I have built my house using money from tea plucking,” said Adriano, who has worked for Kibena Tea in southern Tanzania since 1996. “It is made from mud bricks. The Kibena Tea Fair Trade Fund have given me iron sheets to roof my house.”

The fair trade fund at Kibena administers the Fairtrade premium and Adriano is just one of many workers whose homes have been improved through the provision of iron sheeting for their roofs.

Working at Kibena means Adriano is able to pay the school fees for his 10-year-old daughter, Adela, and help with the cost of schooling two orphaned relatives too.

“I would like to improve the lives of my children,” he said. “I would like them to go to secondary school and higher education, so they can work in a good position.”

Adriano’s working day is made a little easier as he is the proud owner of a bicycle, which he bought in 1999. Using it to move from field to field can save him up to 25 minutes at a time - helping him to reach his target of six baskets of tea each day. Adriano’s journeys to and from home are also safer, thanks to a local cycle track paid for with the Fairtrade premium.