Fair Trade Helps

Ok, first things first. With the holidays fast approaching…  please think fair trade first and support your local fair trade store, of course!  For more ideas visit  www.fairtradefederation.org to discover a world of originally handmade and fair trade gifts…

Considering the need for health reform here in the US and realizing that access to proper health care is a struggle for millions around the world, we though to ask our fair trader friends how they deal with it.  We are curious to know about the challenges they are encountering in the countries they work with, and if anything, what are they able to do to help artists or farmers get access to better health care. Soon, we will present our finds from few countries. And we are starting here with the situation in Peru, where Lucuma Designs works.

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Health Care in Peru 

“With Peru’s amazing bio-diversity from its jungles, coastal valleys and mountains, Peruvians have been lucky and privileged to enjoy the use of medicinal plants and natural medicine for thousands of years.  Herbal doctors, “curanderos” or shamans of all kinds are widely available. And according to our latest survey, we can say that over half of Lucuma Designs’ artists, especially in the rural areas trust and use their services regularly.

[Photo: Peruvian shamman preparing a "despacho" or an offering to Mother Earth] 

The use of natural medicine is so engrained in the Peruvian culture that many of our artisans openly mistrust conventional doctors or medicines.

Regardless, getting proper health care in the conventional or modern way is of course a concern for our artists.

In Peru, the government has a basic health insurance program that covers any children attending a public school. For the artists we work with, this represents about 93% of their children. The rest are either under the school age or are the few able to afford private education. Entire families considered to be in extreme poverty may also qualify for this basic health plan.

[Photo:  a relatively well supplied public health center in Lima, Peru]

Also available to those lucky enough to live near a decent size town, there is a network of public health centers that cover the basics at relatively affordable cost.  About 77% of our artisans report using these health centers where a visit, depending on location, may cost between $1.70 – $2.70. But distribution is inadequate and rural areas lag behind. Some medical posts may not even have a regular doctor but just a nurse.

Are there any other altneratives?

Going one step up in the public system, a social security health program is available for those  “officially employed” (or in the books) which in the mostly informal Peruvian society is a true minority.  This system provides employee health care benefits through clinics and hospitals. Although our artists are not taking advantage of this as they are mostly self-employed working in small groups that are informally structured.  So they rely mostly on private clinics for conditions that can’t be treated with alternative medicine. 

[Photo:  a wide selection of medicinal plants to cure it all can be found at almost any market] 

For us at Lucuma Designs, helping improve health care for our 250+ artists and their families is a challenge in which we know we have work to do. When larger health issues strike, Lucuma Designs has regularly provided loans to cover major procedures. On occasion, we have also taken artists to the doctor, or for eye glasses.

[Photo:  a public medical center in Lima, Peru] 

At Lucuma Designs we now see education as a key area where we hope to make an impact in the lives of our artists. It is often the not knowing what services or programs may be available to them, from perhaps other non-profit organizations, which prevents them from getting better care. It is our goal to help artists improve their living standards in all aspects and we look forward to keep doing it even better. 

Stay tuned to see how other Fair Traders are tackling  the health care debate. Cheers!”  Alessandra Bravo,  President & Designer, Lucuma Designs