At SHS, students learn about free trade, sustainability

Olowo-n’djo Tchala sells lotion. He also brims with knowledge of fair trade and sustainability, and he’s happy to share and dispense advice.

“Marry a woman who knows everything,” Tchala told Stanwood High School (SHS) sophomores last Wednesday. “That’s what I did.”

Tchala spoke at SHS twice that day, first in Meg Hozak’s English language learners class, and then to the entire sophomore class.

His warm, rich message was simple: You can do something, somewhere, to improve people’s quality of life – and it doesn’t have to be fancy.

“If any community in the world is better, that means all communities are better,” Tchala told students.

Specifically, Tchala is working to improve the quality of life in Togo, West Africa, where he was born and raised.

A tall, straight, commanding presence, Tchala came from a family of eight children. In Togo, he dropped out of school in sixth grade. From then on, he was a farmer of sorts, collecting, among other things, shea nuts, which contributed to his family’s survival.

He lived that life until 1998, never traveling more that 70 miles from the village he was born in.

And then he met the woman who knew everything.

Rose was in Togo with the Peace Corps, and Tchala found her fascinating.

“It seemed like every place in the world that I asked her about, she knew something about,” Tchala said.

When Rose returned to the states, Tchala went with her. He first attended English as a second language classes, then community college, and finally joined the ranks of University of California, Davis, graduates.

In 2003 the couple returned to Togo and founded the Allafia-Agbanga Shea Butter Cooperative, making use of the shea nuts Tchala collected as a child and the indigenous knowledge of his village. The goal was to solve some of the poverty issues and reduce the school dropout rate by promoting sustainable fair trade.

Co-op workers in Togo grind the shea nuts, which are 25 percent oil, into a paste. The paste is whipped by hand in small vats for one to two hours, until the oil separates from the solids.

Once the oil has separated, it’s poured off and shipped here to Washington, where workers churn the oil into shea butter, again by hand. The butter is used in skin-care products, which are sold at Whole Foods markets and other stores in the Northwest.

The money goes back to Togo, but that’s only one facet of the benefits gained through the cooperative.

In a cooperative, Tchala explained to students, people have more rights. It’s similar to a union here in the states.

By working together, the co-op can set a better price, rather than allowing the price to be driven down through competition.

Fair trade, Tchala said, means workers receive a fair wage in the local context. This is important, because it allows workers to support their families. Their children can go to school instead of working.

For girls, this is huge – the dropout rate for girls in Togo is 90 percent.

“Only 10 percent make it to high school,” Tchala said, “and about 1 percent go to university.”

For boys, the dropout rate is 43 percent.

After the workers in Togo are paid, profits are used to buy bicycles, support hospitals and clinics, provide health care, and fund community projects.

“We’re moving the community towards a sustainable future,” Tchala said.

Sustainable, he pointed out, doesn’t mean everyone drives a Prius. It means you’re not running out – of indigenous knowledge, education, or natural resources. You’re living a life that can support itself without draining “the system,” he said.B

asically, Tchala said, the co-op is about creating a model philosophy that can be practiced anywhere and transferred to multiple contexts.

That’s the message Tchala brought to the students.

“Be aware of the materials and resources you consume daily,” Tchala said. “Demand accountability.”

“Follow through – you can make a difference in your own community,” he added.

For more information, visit www.alaffia.com.

Staff Reporter Jeremiah O’Hagan: 629-8066 ext. 125 or ohagan@scnews. com.