Imagine working in a sweatshop for 110 hours a week.
Wear the AFWul* t-shirt for 110 hours
April 4 – 10, 2014
*Note: AFWul, not AWFul. AFWul, [af-wəl], adj. Pertaining to or belonging to the AFW, i.e., the All’s Fair Wear-athon.
The All’s Fair Wear-athon …
- … celebrates how shopping wisely can fight poverty and suffering in the global South
- … is wearing one t-shirt – the AFWul t-shirt – for 110 hours in one week
- … raises funds for Free the Children, International Justice Mission Canada and YFC/Youth Unlimited
What’s the BIG IDEA?
The All’s Fair Wear-athon (AFW) is a marathon of wearing the AFWul t-shirt for 110 hours in one week, following the schedule of a particular sweatshop. Gather a team at your school, your church or your workplace, and help us
- raise awareness about sweatshops, while we
- raise funds for Free the Children and International Justice Mission Canada, and
- celebrate Fair Trade and Fair Labour, which allow us to fight poverty and sweatshops by shopping wisely.
Hopefully this raises all kinds of questions. Like, “why 110 hours?” Or, “what’s the point?” Or, “what do you mean by ‘Fair’?” Or, “wouldn’t that be smelly and socially embarrassing?”
Why 110 hours?
According to a report published by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights in April 2010, a factory in Jordan required of its workers over 110 hours a week for less than half the Jordanian minimum wage. Wearing the AFWul t-shirt, we will follow their schedule to discover what 110 hours feels like, and so wrap our imagination and heart around the people forced to work such hours. The schedule is as follows:
- Friday (April 4) – 7:00 a.m. to Saturday 6:00 a.m. (a 23 hour shift)
- Saturday (April 5) – 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- Sunday to Thursday (April 6-10) – 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
As we do this, we will be learning about some of the things that go on in such sweatshops. To help us imagine the sweatshop experience, on each day of the event participants get a brief e-mail about life in such a place.
What’s the point?
Though the focus is on the dark reality of sweatshops, the point is surprisingly bright. It is a fundraiser! It is a celebration! It is an education! It is a community-building event!
The AFW is a fundraiser for three awesome organizations: International Justice Mission Canada, Free the Children, and YFC/Youth Unlimited. The International Justice Mission addresses violent oppression in the global South, often in the form of human trafficking — slavery of adults and children in factories or in the sex trade. Free the Children began with a focus on freeing children from forced labour, and grew to address the broader issues that deprive children of an education and a future in developing nations. YFC/Youth Unlimited works with youth to help them grow holistically so that emotionally, socially and spiritually they are well equipped to have a positive impact on society. The profits from shirt sales go to the charity of your choice.
The AFW is an education and a celebration of Fair Trade and Fair Labour, movements whose progressive strategies are working to improve life for people in the global South. Fair Trade is a network of producers, exporters, importers and shoppers (you!) dedicated to helping producers live well from the work of their hands. Fair Labour organizations help name-brand companies implement international labour standards in factories where their goods are made. For example, the Fair Labor Association is an organization that allows multinational brands to exert a measure of control over the factories where their products are made, ensuring that workplace conditions meet international labour standards. As more and more people care about where stuff comes from and who makes or grows it, and the more we give our business to those companies trying to make a difference, the more other companies will see that treating people well in developing nations is good for business. As we prepare for the event, there are opportunities to learn what clothes, shoes and food are Fair. How do we recognize it? Where do we find it?
The AFW is a community-building event. It is “we are doing this event; will you buy a shirt and do it along with us to celebrate a new way to shop.” It’s about growing a larger community of people who will allow their heart and mind to lead them into being Fair when they shop.
Finally,
about the “smelly and socially embarrassing” part, you are encouraged to wash the AFWul t-shirt so it does not become an AWFUL t-shirt. BUT… just like the people in the sweatshop on which the Wear-athon is based, hygiene is something that waits until after work. So if your shift ends at 11:00 p.m., that is when you can wash it.