Fair trade

Indienhilfe was founded in 1980 as a non-profit association located at Herrschingen (Germany). Since 1998 it has been included in the list of recommended charities of the German institute for social affairs (DZI).

The organization's targets are to tackle poverty in India through different projects, to promote fair trade, to establish partnerships between German and Indian communities and schools as well as to promote education and global learning. Indienhilfe offers:

• a one-world media center which provides books, topic lists, slides, movies, teaching materials about India and many other countries, as well as about global learning, world religions, the Agenda 21 and fair trade (consultation and rental service at arranged times);
• consultation and assistance to organize projects in schools and kindergartens;
• search for partner schools in West Bengal and assistance in the relations between German and Bengalese partners. At the moment four Bavarian schools are cooperating with Indian ones, helped by the Indienhilfe team in Germany and an Indian team in Calcutta, who try to solve their problems of mutual understanding so that they can meet each other's expectations and communicate successfully;
• help in the organization of travel to West Bengal. Meetings with Bengalese counterparts are very important for maintaining successful partnerships. Indienhilfe can assist interested schools on the basis of its extensive experience in managing group travels as well as the necessary preparations.

With these initiatives, Indienhilfe aims at making people aware of different local and global realities and making them feel closer to distant communities. A further objective is to promote a greater sense of responsibility for social matters and to promote solidarity. Opening up our minds, meeting people from other countries and establishing relations with them are preconditions for the mutual understanding between different cultures, for eliminating prejudices and reflecting on our own lifestyle.