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The fairtrade company Township Patterns was created in 1997
to provide sustainable jobs to the women of the townships of Cape Town.
The women are organized in self-owned cooperatives and gain independance step by step.
For the model to be sustainable, the township group adopted unique operations:
the non-profit organization Township Manufacturing
is in charge of training the cooperatives
and production management,
while the commercial company Township Patterns
ensures a continuuous stream of orders to keep the ladies' revenue stable.
The cooperatives are based in the townships, close to where the ladies live.
This helps to save time and money on transportation,
while the community benefits from their activity.
They mainly produce bags for the conference and the retail industries.
The bags that are being made through this video are destinated to the World Conference of Nephrology, which will take place in May 2013 in Hong Kong, China.
It is the first time
the ladies are doing bags for China,
as Chinese companies are very competitive in their pricing.
It shows how persistence pays off,
and how the appeal for fairtrade products spreads,
even to China!