Tradecraft : New Products
ESWATINI KITCHEN COOKS UP SOMETHING NEW!
Traidcraft are offering a wide range of products from the Eswatini Kitchen – Ruby Grapefruit Marmalade, Lime Marmalade, Peach and Ginger Jam, Mixed Fruit Chutney, Hot Mango Chutney and Curry Sauce (Medium). All these items demonstrate the remarkable quality and depth of flavour of Eswatini's products. It's got a lot to do with the fact that they are made in Swaziland where the fruit and vegetables are grown and ripened. The produce used by Eswatini is grown by smallholder farmers who make sure that the fruit is at its best when it goes to the factory.
And not only does buying Eswatini's products benefit the staff and the 100 or more smallholder farmers who grow the fruit and vegetables, it benefits the many street children and orphans, who are cared for by Manzini Youth Care, the society which set up and oversees Eswatini Kitchen.
For more than 30 years, Manzini Youth Care has provided accommodation, support, care and education for marginalized and homeless young people at risk through poverty. Swaziland has a population of some 1 million and over 100,000 orphans. This is closely connected with the fact that it has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the world.
Father Larry McDonnell, the Salesian priest, who runs Manzini Youth Care, says on a remarkable YouTube film `Manzini Youth Care' - 'The transformation [of the young people who come to them] is such that it's ... miraculous. You see young people coming who have had experiences at home which are pretty terrifying and lost their childhood, their happiness, their soul; and after two or three months, they have normalised. They are laughing, smiling, talking to adults, something they would never have done. Somehow or other they have got back their childhood and the fear has gone.'
The church stall cannot justify holding all these products unless it knows a market exists for them. However, the stall will be holding jars of Mixed Fruit Chutney, so why not come along and try one? – at less than £3 a jar, these products are good value – as well as helping to change the lives of many people less fortunate than ourselves!
Leslie Brown