Candace Jeffcoat on Injustice.

Candace Jeffcoat (http://www.iamonlyonebutiamone.blogspot.com/) is by far my oldest friend and an incredible person. God has been doing some pretty radical things in her life lately, and the passionate revolution that has begun in her has quickly influenced me. She's done a lot of research on fair trade and the injustice of sweatshops and this is what she's found:



In the last few weeks I have become very aware of where my clothes/food come from, and the more I have looked into it the more I want to change it. Most of the stuff we buy is made in sweatshops. The truth is sweatshop workers are incredibly exploited; they don’t earn a living wage, or receive any benefits. They have very poor, unhealthy working conditions often working 60-80 hours per week (with no overtime) and receiving verbal and physical abuse. Most sweatshops employ children. I know most of the people reading this are probably appalled to hear this, and most people have no clue what is going on, but 85 percent of the following stores’ items are made overseas, often in Third World sweatshops:

Nike
Disney
The Gap
Old Navy
Reebok
Wal-Mart
And Kohl’s

These are just a few stores/companies that mainly use sweatshops. After finding all this out I was on a mission to find stores that do not use sweatshops; it is A LOT harder than you would think. After hours of googling I have only found a few online stores,

www.fairindigo.com
http://worldofgood.ebay.com/
http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/
www.fairtradecertified.org and

are pretty much the only sites I’ve found so far. Pretty sad? I know! And a few days ago I found out the Chaco shoes were made in the USA but have now been moved to a sweatshop in China because it is cheaper for the company. This problem is getting bigger, and bigger. Sweatshops are everywhere China, Nicaragua, Mexico, Asia and many more places.
I know I’m just beginning to understand the injustices involved in the creation of many of the things I use and buy. It makes want to do something about it.

“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.” – Edward Everett Hale"