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FairMail: Local perspective on local development

It is becoming harder and harder to believe NGO's, charity's and other organisations who are claiming to be making a difference in the lives of economically poor people in the south when you know they are going for your donating dollar or euro. Fundraising promotion campaigns work on our cultivated image of "the poor" filled with all our prejudices about what's the problem and what's should be the solutions. Wouldn't it be much more fair we ask them what their perspective is on how we are trying to help? With other words to let them tell the story...

With that idea in mind FairMail and the Progreso Network sent two photography trainers to Peru's Inca capital of Cusco. The goal was to train the farmers sons and daughters in photography skills so they could tell the photographic story of the development of their farmers producers market. A unique story of 5000 small scale farmers who have cut out the middleman by selling their fresh products directly to the consumers.

Before the market the farmers sold their milk to the middleman at 0,50 soles who would later sell it to the consumer for 1,50 sol per liter. Now at their producers market they sell the milk for 1,30 sol per liter directly to the consumer. Both the consumer and the producers win.

posted by FairMailPeter on 12/18/2008 12:49 pm | COMMENTS (4)
Comments (4)

The result in regard to the milk is excellent but is not the introduction to photography 'our cultivated image of "the poor" filled with all our prejudices about what's the problem and what's should be the solutions.'? After all, those people are now introduced to modern technology and everything that comes with that! However, I commend the motivation behind the deeds.

posted by IanGardner on 12/19/2008 12:24 am

I am a vegetarian and I do realize that I cannot expect people to eat like I do, especially people who are tyring to survive in a culture where there are no Whole Foods, Health Food Stores or Giant Food Stores for that matter, but to bring up your website and see the picuture of the woman standing in front of the severed heads of five animals, that look like they have been mummified was a real shocker. I tried to read the article to see if perhaps they were not animals that had once been alive, but perhaps carved out of wood or something, but I didn't see anything written or in the video about this woman and the photo. Unfortunetly, I am thinking they are real animal heads.

It would have been nice had you been a little more sensitive to those of us who are vegetarians and I think there are many of us, that read your magazine That people is a horror, as far as I am concerned.

posted by ruebee on 12/20/2008 4:53 pm

Dear Ruebee,

I can understand your reaction to the severed heads and that it shocks you as a vegetarian. I am a vegetarian myself and personally believe it should shock meat lovers more to see a picture like this as their choices in life are the ones that murder animals, not our choices as a vegetarian. I personally believe that if you want to eat meat you should be able to stand seeing a picture like this one. If you can't if would be a wise choice to stop eating meat because otherwise you would be walking away from the truth. I am sorry if I hurt you in any way with my "shocking" methods of getting people to avoid eating meat. I hope you can understand the rational of my choices though.

Greetings, Peter

posted by FairMailPeter on 12/22/2008 4:56 am

Hi Ian,

I am glad you liked the milk example as a real "milk man" :-)

The milk story is one. What the introduction is all about is that peruvian teenagers are telling the milk story instead of western photographers or cameramen. The producers market won an international prize for producers organizations. Part of the prize was a promotional video. In this case though they had the guts to train local actors to become photographers and tell their own story in stead of sending a western photographer of cameraman. That is the other part of the story I mentioned in the introduction. I hope this clarify's it a bit.

Chao, peter

posted by FairMailPeter on 12/22/2008 5:00 am

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