A HUDDERSFIELD charity has gone into business to help African workers earn a living.
Christian African Relief Trust (Cart), based at Lockwood, answered a call for help from the Saidia Initiative, a charity in Kenyan capital Nairobi which teaches people skills to help them find work.
Cart gave Saidia £2,200 in October to train 20 people to make fishing flies.
Meanwhile, Cart volunteer Graham Wilkinson and his friend Lloyd Sheard set up a marketing firm to sell the flies to Yorkshire retailers.
Mr Wilkinson said: "We have to compete with companies who sell flies cheaply.
"They do this by using cheap hooks and materials and by exploiting third world countries."
Low overheads mean big profits for European and American firms producing flies in Africa, but workers' wages do not reflect this.
Mr Wilkinson says he plans to give the Saidia workers their rightful share of any profits.
Business is still in its early stages. He received the first delivery of 4,000 flies in January and has just ordered 4,400 more.
He said: "Eventually, we hope to import up to 12,000 a month.
"They depend on getting the work from us for their livlihoods.
"We are marketing the flies on the strength of the self-help concept, strict quality control and on fair trade principles. I personally gain satisfaction from knowing our efforts are helping an impoverished community."
