A network of sewing cooperatives in SouthAfrican communities creates fair- trade conference bags—and better lives for the women who make them.
WhenNicole-Marie Iresch,anexecutive for Air France, visitedCapeTown,SouthAfrica,onvacation twodecades ago, shewasapproachedbyagroupof womenwhoasked her not formoney but for work. Later Iresch visited the women’s shanties in
Khayelitsha Township, and while she couldn’t help butmakenote of their poverty, whatmadethe deepest impressiononherwasthe color, beauty, and vitality of their homes, said Christophe Labesse, Iresch’s husband. The women had basic sewing skills, and Irescheventually helpedasmall group of themcreate theirownself-governed sewing coop- erative, calledTownship, in 1997. Themodel spread fromone townshiptoanoth- er, and now approximately 60 women (and one
women earn 25 to 50 percent more than they would doing similar work at a local factory. The cooperatives also offer training programs; new members develop skills by sewing simple bags for a large local grocery chain beforemoving on to the conference bags. “The spirit inside those little companies is very different fromthe textilecompa- nies,” Labesse said, “where loudspeakers prevent the women from talking with one another.” In 2005, the cooperatives produced 12,500
conference bags for the International Diabetes Foundation, which was meeting in CapeTown— a contract that helped put the organization on the map as a reliable and professional supplier of quality products. “In 2009,weprovided 5,000 cus-
In 2005, the cooperatives produced 12,500 conference bags for the International Diabetes Foundation meeting in Cape Town.
man)work in cooperatives in seven townships, cre- ating products such as handmade conference bags from natural fabrics, including cotton and jute. This year, their production of conference bags alone is expected to top 75,000, said Labesse,nowCEOof Township Patterns, which markets the women’s products. The cooperatives not only empower theirmem-
bers, Labesse said, they strengthen the social fabric in the townships where they operate. Even if the seamstresses could find work in area textile facto- ries—whichisn’t likely, given that local unemploy- ment is 30 to 40 percent—they would have to commute for hours by train to their jobs, leaving their children and communities behind. Township is certified by theWorld Fair Trade Association, and, depending on their skills, the
tom-made bags for the 2009 International AIDS Society [IAS] conference held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre,” Labesse said. “The bags were designedupon very precise require- ments from IAS and were extremely well received by all delegates.” AlthoughTownship’s goal is to help economi-
cally disadvantaged women become empowered, the organization is run like a business as well as a nonprofit, according to Labesse,whowas an exec- utive at Xerox for two decades before he began working for Township. Thus, while Township promotes the sustainability of its materials and the social impact of its product, it also works to keep its prices competitive. Labesse said:“Youcreate jobs when you create viable products and a sustainable business structure.”
ON_THE_WEB: For more information aboutTownship conference bags, visit www.township.co.za. To watch the video “Ethical Textiles,” which exposes conditions of workers in Bangladesh, one of the world’s largest textiles manufacturers, visit http://bit.ly/ethical-textiles.
38 pcma convene December 2011 ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT HANSON
One Bag Does Not Fit All Township Patterns has begun marketing its sustainable confer- ence bags in North America—but they’re not something that can be ordered at the last minute. It takes about a month just for the bags to be shipped from Cape Town, said CEO Christophe Labesse. Nor are the hand-
made bags always economically feasible for groups of fewer than 500. Instead, Township Patterns usually focuses on big orders—suchas the 10,000 bags the cooperatives are sewing for the World Heart Federation meeting in Dubai next April—“where we can plan in advance,” Labesse said, “and the timing is not so much of an issue.”
Barbara Palmer is a senior editor of Convene.
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