Naturata fundraising campaign in Luxembourg: chocolate goes to school

Enjoy eating chocolate? Then, this can help working children in Peru get an education: The Zotter chocolate “Chocolate Banana – Chocolate goes to school” is currently available in all Naturata branches in Luxembourg – 50 cents from every bar sold goes to the Kindernothilfe project.

The campaign was launched jointly by the Zotter chocolate manufacturer and Kindernothilfe Austria. The chocolate creation: a banana filling with a layer of raspberry chocolate helps working children in northern Peru.

50 cents from every bar of chocolate sold goes to a Kindernothilfe project in Cajamarca. Girls and boys, who have to work in brickworks and quarries, even when they are of primary school age, are given the opportunity to go to school.

“Education is the most effective way out of poverty and exploitation. I hope we can enable as many children as possible to take advantage of this opportunity,” is how chocolate maker Josef Zotter explains the motivation for his commitment. “Just like crime, child labour is also engendered by hardship. People have to struggle to get enough to eat and keep alive until tomorrow. Fair trade is the key to breaking this cycle of poverty. If farmers can live off their harvest and keep their families fed, then there will be no more child labour,” says Zotter.

Peter Altmayer, Managing Director of Naturata, explains why the organic supermarket chain supports the campaign in Luxembourg: “Peru has experienced an enormous economic boom in recent years, but only to the benefit of a minority of the population. Huge numbers of children receive only a rudimentary education, leaving school at an early age to help their families. Without education, children have very little chance of breaking out of the cycle of poverty. That’s why we are delighted to be able to support Kindernothilfe in this project.”

The Kindernothilfe project:

The Santa Barbara district in Cajamarca is the second poorest region in Peru. Parents’ incomes are often insufficient to pay for food, medical care and schooling. Even at primary school age, children in Santa Barbara are forced to work in one of around 50 clay pits and brickworks that have sprouted up here in the hilly region. The hard work leaves many of the children, who are already seriously undernourished, suffering from respiratory, skin and stomach illnesses.

Kindernothilfe and its local partner, IINCAP (Instituto de INvestigación y CApacitación y Promoción “Jorge Basadre”) support the working children, showing them how to escape exploitation. The mothers are offered training, given loans to start up a small business or find work, for example, in the IINCAP-run bakery. This reduces the need for children to continue working in the brickworks. The project finances children’s schoolbooks and uniforms, facilitates schooling support centre set up for these purposes, pays examination fees and provides free tutoring. Those who are a little older receive support in the form of occupational training.

Zotter chocolate is available in all Naturata branches in Luxembourg and online at www.zotter.at