Even while I was a student, I knew I wanted to
make a difference, but I also felt rather powerless in the face of all the
injustice we hear about in the news. I knew that much more remained hidden, but
the demands of my own (admittedly rather sheltered) life made it easy to
forget. How could I, an ordinary westerner from a relatively privileged
background, have any effect?
I had read reports, such of those about the IBG
factory in Jordon where workers were effectively imprisoned, and heard how our
big fashion companies like Gap, Nygard or Walmart, claim these incidents are
isolated. The impression we have is that our lives are separate from those of
people elsewhere, that our everyday actions have few repercussions.
So, I decided to focus my gap year travels on places
where textiles from abroad are produced, and see for myself whether the
pleasant image we have of this was real. A friend who was studying trade law
gave me some help (never be afraid to ask for help, I could not have done this
alone). There are actually web services (e.g. panjiva.com)
which track where imports to big name
brands originate, so I was able to make a list as a starting point. Once I
arrived, I spoke to as many people as I could, in hotels, at airports, at bus
stops, just to find out where local industries were focussed.
The result, my short film about sweatshop
conditions, which I titled The Apparel Truth.
One thing I realised as I explored is that
people are often quite happy to talk, and even though I had little idea exactly
what I was going to do, the more I followed up on little leads, the more things
snowballed. It is important not to be put off by the unknown, as once we begin
to reach out, opportunities we never imagined open up. There were setbacks too,
of course. I was disappointed that after waiting for a large part of the day to
view one facility, security only allowed me to view empty and unused locations.
But that, in itself, was rather telling.
Having done this work, I came away knowing that
we are not disconnected from the rest of the world, except by our ignorance of
it. While others do great work lobbying for labour laws in impoverished
countries and trying to ensure these are enforced, I do believe there is a
place for work such as mine, as a counter to the blanket of cosy misinformation
fashion companies in the West try to maintain.
Perhaps you will think of even more direct
means to redress the imbalance between developing world producers and Western
consumers (it is unbelievable how little of the final asking price goes to
those who perform the most gruelling stages of production). The important thing
is not to feel passive in the face of corporate power. While my video may not
directly improve the lives of mistreated workers, making the world aware of
what is going on will act as a catalyst for change, and prevent these problems
being hidden or ignored. It is my hope you will find the film inspiring, not
simply because these issues are provocative in their own right, but as a way of
showing what is possible for ordinary people such as you and I. You never know
where action will lead, until you begin.
Please feel free to comment, I will do my best
to reply, and if you would like to keep in touch then my Facebook
and Twitter accounts
are open to all. I would love to hear from you.
I'd also like to thank Jamie Wonnacott at New Vision Media for the daunting task of putting together the video. I pretty much threw the raw footage at him and he kindly put together the finished video, Thank You.
