Green Sinterklaas?

Did you see the images of green Sinterklaas and wonder what is it about? Here is the explanation.
The international charity Oxfam began a Dutch campaign to boost fair trade gifts for Sinterklaas in 2006. The Green Sint is a special Sinterklaas helper because he helps people in poor countries. He doesn't send money, but encourages people to buy products that give producers a fair price, enabling them, for example, to send their children to school.

Green Sint appears in the ads and I hope you have seen him. In 2007, 2008, 2009 the campaign targeted chocolate letters, a traditional gift for "Pakjesavond". Traditional chocolate production has exploited children's labor, including child trafficing. In the Ivory Coast alone, 150,000 children, 12,000 of whom have been trafficked, work in cocoa production under horrific conditions. So, Oxfam Novib, the Dutch branch of Oxfam International, used De Groene Sint to draw attention to this situation.

This year green Sinterklaas tells us that the right chocolate letters we can buy in Lidl and Jamin

Many big supermarkets such as: Hema, Aldi, Kruidvat, V&D en Albert Heijn don't contribute to this action and sell chocolate letters that were produced under terrible working conditions.

You can help in two ways: first don't buy "bitter" chocolate letters in Hema, Aldi, Kruidvat, V&D en Albert Heijn, go to Lidl or Jamin instead, second use this website http://www.groenesint.nl/?utm_source=on_office to confirm your support for green Sinterklaas.