Made on Earth (15 page)

However, in order to receive valid documentation that will allow them to stay and work in Spain, they must apply for asylum. They must prove that they are being persecuted in their own countries, otherwise they will not be granted asylum and will be deported. Most of the refugees have left their own countries because of poverty, but poverty is not accepted as official grounds for asylum. For this reason, many refugees dive straight into the underground and instantly become illegal immigrants. They live in dilapidated houses or in self-made shacks in the countryside, and work illegally, without paying taxes or social security, sometimes finding jobs as labourers, kitchen assistants or farm hands in the country. They are much more likely to accept poor wages and working conditions, as any work, at the very least, is better than nothing. They become outlaws – people who have no official documentation to prove who they are.

And what happened to the main protagonist of this book, the red fleece itself? It must have been completely worn out after this ordeal. Perhaps it was once again put in a recycling container to be turned back into raw materials and sent on another trip around the world? More likely, it ended up as landfill or was incinerated. Carbon dioxide, which is very harmful to the environment, would have been released into the atmosphere during the burning process, as the body warmer was made of synthetic, carbon based fibres.

Perhaps Adrame cut off a scrap of the body warmer that helped him to freedom. Maybe he attached it to the old man’s amulet. Maybe I will recognise him by this little red snippet of fabric, next time I’m in Tenerife, or Gran Canaria, in Madrid or Barcelona, in Nepal or Marseille, in Hamburg or Hannover. Perhaps Adrame is getting by as a street seller. Depending on the weather he might be selling sunglasses or umbrellas to locals and tourists alike. Where are the sunglasses from? The Far East. They look stylish, but their lenses have no UV protection. The people buying the sunglasses want to look cool, and it seems that low prices are more important than proper eye protection or decent working conditions for the manufacturers. When it rains Adrame sells umbrellas that come from . . . The Far East, of course. They are simple in design and usually break during the first storm they encounter, but when they only cost five euros, you can always buy another one.

Does the story have to end like this? Do people have to buy cheap and badly made products, produced by people who barely make enough money to survive? No, it
doesn’t
have to be this way. We
can
change things. Our job is to persuade our governments to play fair when it comes to trade policy. If we demand that other countries open up their markets and stick to the trading rules, our countries must do the same.
Even
if this means that certain areas become more competitive and possibly suffer as a result. Life may become more difficult for farmers and fishermen, but on a global scale, things will be fairer as a result.

Just as in sport, the questions we face are ones of fairness, justice and equality. What is the value of a football victory if the opposition only had five players instead of eleven? We need to develop fairer trade regulations in the global marketplace. Globalisation means not pretending that we have nothing to do with problems in other continents. In a globalised world, we are all in it together.

As consumers, we must do our homework. We need to recognise that with every action, and with every purchase, we are shaping the world we live in.

When we decide to buy one thing over another, we are also deciding which firms earn the profits, which countries can export more goods, and what kind of working conditions we think are acceptable for the people that make these products. Many consumers believe that the power to change global trade lies with politicians and businessmen. But this is not the case. Increasingly, consumers hold the power to influence world trade, through the choices we make with our shopping trollies and online baskets.

Take my red fleece for example. I should have asked myself: Where did it come from? How much energy was used to produce it, and how much waste was and will be created because of it? Department stores and chain stores will always supply goods acording to consumer demand. But all too often what the consumers demand are cheap products, which we buy without a thought for the working conditions of the manufacturers or the environment. Could we live without that cool pair of trainers, those fashionable trousers, or that cheep red fleece? We need to ask for products that are socially and ecologically sustainable. If we don’t, nothing will ever change. The rich will get richer, and the poor will get even poorer.

My mind is made up: next time I buy something warm to wear in my office, it
will
be another fleece from Bangladesh. But this time it will
be one that was made in fair working conditions. And this time it won’t be red.

About the Author

Wolfgang Korn studied political science and history and works as a journalist and author in Hannover. He writes for newspapers and magazines (GEO and DIE ZEIT, amongst others). His latest book is
Detectives of the Past: Expeditions into the World of Archaeology
(Bloomsbury Children’s Books and Books for Young People, 2007).

This book was translated into English from German by Jen Calleja, a writer and translator based in London.

Glossary

abbreviation:
short form of a word

advance:
payment given to an author before their book goes on sale

antimony:
toxic natural element used in medicine and metal compounds

artificial fibre:
strand of material created by forcing fibre forming materials through tiny holes

(also see
synthetic fibre
)

Asiatic:
Asian

assembly plant:
factory where individual parts are assembled into a finished product

asylum:
when a government gives a foreigner a safe place to live in their country to protect them from
persecution

baksheesh:
tip or bribe given for a service

ballast tank:
tank in a ship that can be filled with water to stabilise the vessel

Baltic region:
area surrounding the Baltic Sea

behemoth:
large and powerful thing or object

bideshi:
Bangladeshi for ‘foreigners’

biodegradable waste
: also known as
organic waste
, this is waste made of animal or plant matter that can be broken down by bacteria

boisterous:
rough and noisy

bolt (of fabric):
an industry standard length of material that is stored in a roll (length and width varies according to material)

boubou:
a robe worn by West African men and women (both sexes wear boubous in a slightly different manner)

bow:
front of a ship

bridge:
room or platform from which a ship is commanded

bulk (produce in):
to make or produce something in large quantities

canopy:
fabric cover held up by poles

coal:
a natural form of carbon burned for fuel

commercial:
easily made and sold or traded for profit

commodity:
product made for trade or buying and selling

consumer:
person or group who are final users of
products or services

contaminate:
when an unwanted or toxic substance is mixed in with another substance

control room:
room from which a service or process is controlled

convoy:
to travel in a group or line

cost price:
how much it costs to make something

counterfeit:
fake

crude oil:
unrefined oil, also known as
petroleum

deadweight tonnage (DWT):
the maximum weight a ship can safely carry

defenceless:
without any form of protection

deftly:
skilfully and cleverly

densely populated:
a high number of people living in a small area

deported:
to be made to leave a country

desalination:
to remove salt and other minerals from water

designated:
when someone or something is given a particular job

dilapidated:
broken and run-down

dire:
extremely serious or urgent

disembark:
get off a ship

distress (fabric):
to give simulated marks of age or wear

domestic (product):
commodities produced in a person’s home country

dud:
failure

echinoderm: invertebrate
sea creature

ecologically sustainable:
produced in a way that doesn’t damage organisms or their environments

economy:
the financial state of a country (or region)

elasticity:
the ability of an object to return to its original shape after being stretched

ethylene:
gas derived from
crude oil
used to make plastics

evaporate:
to change from a liquid to a gas

export:
products created for trade or sale in other countries

fake goods:
products that are illegal copies of designer brand goods

forty foot equivalent unit (FEU):
40 foot long shipping container

flare stack:
elevated torch on an oil rig that burns off escaping gas while drilling for crude oil

flotsam:
wreckage found floating on water

freight:
goods being transported for money

freighter:
ship that delivers cargo or goods for money

frond:
a large, fine leaf, such as a fern

galley:
kitchen area of a ship or an aeroplane

general strike:
when people stop working in every
industry
in a town or country as a form of protest

globalisation:
the increasingly interlinked nature of the world, in terms of economic relationships, ideas, trade and culture

global warming:
increase in the world’s overall temperature caused by human activity

Green Dot:
a green recycling logo

guthra:
cloth headscarf worn by Arab men

Harmattan:
a cold and dusty wind that blows across West Africa

hull:
the main body of a ship or vessel

imported:
brought in from another country

incentive:
some kind of
reward to encourage a person to do something

inconspicuous:
not easily noticed; does not attract attention

industrialised (more-developed) country:
a comparatively rich country with a highly developed social, industrial and economic structure

industrial unit:
factory or processing plant

illegal immigrant:
person who moves to another country without permission

incinerated:
burnt to ashes