After we had a great time at the Summer and Fall Open House for the social projects of Lama Tendar in India have collected, we have asked at the Christmas House Fair 2019 again for donations for the work of Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V.
The numerous house fair visitors enjoyed waffles and mulled wine, salad and soups and filled afterwards the donation vases. Altogether in such a way 1308,81 € came together, for which we thank cordially. A very special thank you goes again this year to the team of "Rummage and Give" in Sonthofen - in the store was collected throughout the year for the work of the association and then brought the money to the open house.
In the next few days, we will forward the money to the association - current info on the work of the FTMG e.V. can be found here on the homepage of the association.
March 25, 2019: Fit for Spring!
At the spring house fair, the team around the kitchen fairy Melissa again conjured up delicious dishes on the "Fit-in-the-Spring"-Buffet :
Fresh salads, couscous salad, a spicy chicken soup and much more was consumed in spring-like temperatures indoors as well as outdoors. The four donation pots were filled by our customers with a total of 926,67€ - many thanks for that! We will forward the money in the next few days to the association Faur Trade Minerals & Gems.
P.S.: You can also get the latest info on the work of the association at the annual membership meeting, which will take place on 07.04.2019 with us at Osterholz! The meeting is open to guests; SIe do not need to be a member of the association!
12.11.2018: Thank you!
Out in the front yard of the Mineral Wholesaler, the tents are being cleared and taken down - and inside, the money is being counted!
In keeping with the weather, the Christmas Open House featured a delicious selection of soups and stews. We were happy to invite our customers to these culinary delights and at the same time asked for a donation to the association.
In addition to Gaisburger Marsch, a local specialty, there was vegetarian vegetable soup, fiery goulash soup and a creamy mushroom soup - all homemade by the kitchen team around the kitchen fairy Melissa.
In total, our customers have donated 855.03 € for the work of the association - for this many thanks!
11.11.2018: A nice Christmas gift!
A big thank you! to the team of "Stöbern & Schenken" in Sonthofen - in the store is the whole year a donation box for the Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V. - and to the Christmas house fair brought the dedicated owner proud 120 € past, which their customers have donated. These were passed on to Marco Schreier and we then give this money together with the money collected in our donation pots to the association.
September 21 - 23, 2018: almost a snap number!
At the suggestion of a customer, we created another donation opportunity at the Fall Open House: Already at the entrance there was the possibility to fill the glass donation hat. In the hat as well as at the various tables of the Swabian buffet, money was diligently thrown in. On Monday after the open house we did a cash check: A total of 1111.51 € has been collected for the association.
Many thanks to all donors and especially to the unknown customer with the good idea!
July 2018: opal cooperatives on mineralogist congress
In July 2018, representatives of the cooperative participated in a mineralogist. and geologist congress in Honduras to make new contacts there. Since the reserves of the cooperative for the costs, e.g. the production of a poster banner,
was not sufficient, the association paid a grant for this.
In November 2018, the cooperative wants to participate in an international trade fair in El Salvador to offer their opals there. Through negotiations with the organizer, a significant discount in booth fees could already be achieved. Nevertheless,
the financing of the participation is not yet complete - therefore, we will again ask our customers for donations at the autumn in-house exhibition to enable the Opaleros to have this great opportunity to market their products!
June 30 - July 01, 2018: summer in-house exhibition in Ludwigsburg
At the summer in-house exhibition, our customers had the opportunity to choose from numerous fantastic Honduras opals from the Fair Trade project. In addition to black matrix opals, the veta opals from Honduras also inspired with their colorful play of colors.
As with every in-house exhibition, there are delicacies from the kitchen and from the grill, to which we gladly invite. In return, we look forward aut numerous donations for the Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V.
A total of 858.46 € was donated at the summer open house - a big thank you to all donors!
22. April 2018: association meeting in the Osterholz
On Sunday, the active members of the Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V. met in the Osterholz in Ludwigsburg in sweltering heat. In addition to the formal necessary things, such as the reports of the cash auditors on the properly managed cash, were presented especially projects from around the world, with which the association currently holds or builds contacts. We are excited about the activities of the association and will report in the context of the house fairs.
P.S. The association meeting is also open to non-members - next date: 7. April 2019
March 2018: snow on Sunday :-O
Unfortunately, there was a lot of fresh snow overnight during the open house weekend, so unfortunately fewer visitors than usual came to the open house on Sunday. Therefore, the result of the fundraiser was also lower with 821.43 €.
But at the summer open house (30.06. to 01.07.2018) we will hopefully be spared from such frosty surprises!
November 2017: 4.367,94 €
In 2017, we collected a total of 4367.94 for the association Fair Trade Minerals and Gems e.V. at the in-house exhibitions. On behalf of the association and all members and projects, we thank our customers very much! We were particularly pleased with the visit of Michael Vogt at the in-house exhibition in September 2017, who was able to answer all questions about the project in Honduras to the customers for three days due to his own visits on site.
3. July 2017: Thank you for your donation
Thank you very much to the numerous visitors of the in-house exhibition, who donated a total of 1208.11 € for the Honduras project. We will forward the money in the next few days to the association Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V.. From there, your donation will be passed on to the cooperative in San Antonio Montana. The chairman of the association Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V., Mr. Michael Vogt, is also currently visiting Honduras.
June 2017: it's too dry in Honduras!
The hot, dry summer of 2017 means that the turbine, which uses hydroelectric power to supply electricity for the workshop and grinding shop, can only operate irregularly. The river that powers the turbine carries too little water; instead of the 15 gallons/second needed, less than 12 gallons/second flow most of the time. The cooperative's plan is to sell the old turbine and use the proceeds to buy a new turbine that will work even with less water in the river - because drier summers than before are also expected in the future.
For the purchase of the new turbine are currently still missing money - for this we will collect at the summer open house (30.06. - 02.07.2017). Enjoy delicious food from the grill and the Osterholz special sauce and please donate for the new turbine!
02.04.2017: General meeting in Überlingen
In bright sunshine, the Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V. met for its annual general meeting at Aurhen - Atelier für Schmuck. Since Marco Schreier Mineralienhandlung GmbH has been collecting donations for the cooperatives in Honduras for many years, we were particularly interested in the reports from the projects. There will be more to read and see about this in the course of spring, when Michael Vogt, long-time companion and advisor of the project, has returned from his visit to Honduras.
During the meeting, Michael Vogt (right in the picture) was elected as the new first chairman, the tasks of vice-chairman and treasurer remain in the proven hands of Dr. Uta Ritsert and Herbert Scholpp; Bernhard Bruder (left in the picture) was bid farewell as president. We thank everyone for their commitment and look forward to new, exciting projects!
24 - 26.03.2017: fundraising spring open house in mineral wholesale
We gladly invited our customers to a snack at the seminar and guest house during the spring in-house exhibition: Salads, pasta bake, sausage salad, tzaziki and farmer's bread, goulash soup and much more - fresh from the kitchen - was available for refreshment. In return, we asked for a donation for the Honduras project. Many thanks to all customers who emptied the soup pots and filled the donation pots; a total of 1063.49 € came together, which we forward to the Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V.
11.01.2017: Honduras event in Ludwigsburg
On January 11, 2017, the first Fair Trade Honduras Conference took place in Ludwigsburg at our premises in Ludwigsburg. The occasion was the visit of Antonio Portillo, who is in charge of the Honduras project on site and gave a report on the current status and the progress achieved. The presentation was complemented by numerous other lectures, e.g. on the stone healing of the Honduras opal and by a special show with Honduras opals.
Impressions and information about the Honduras event can be found here.
Mineral Wholesalers Support Fairtrade Project in Honduras
For seven years we have been supporting the Honduras Project of the association Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V.:
At the in-house trade fairs, which are attended four times a year by trade visitors (e.g..For example, jewelers, jewelry designers and providers of gemstone wellness) come from all over Germany and neighboring countries, there is always a delicious buffet with numerous delicacies from the kitchen of the seminar and guest house Im Osterholz. Depending on the season, there are, for example, pumpkin soup, delicious waffles, pasta in numerous variations and fresh farmhouse bread. Speis' und Trank are free for the visitors of the house fair, but we ask for donations for the Honduras project. In this way, over 40,000 € have already been donated by our customers and forwarded to the FTMG by the Schreier company.
What has been achieved so far with your donation for the project "Honduras Opal"
The trip of representatives of Fair Trade Minerals e.V. (FTMG) to Honduras at the end of 2008 was the initial spark for the development of the extremely poor opal region Lempira. Their idea: The organization of opal mining, processing and distribution according to fair trade criteria - by locals under humane working and living conditions as well as ecological criteria. Four villages then founded fair trade opal mining cooperatives. Two of them are still active today.
FTMG used donations to finance a representative in Honduras from 2008 to 2010: Antonio Portillo, a business and marketing specialist from Lempira who was educated in Germany. With his help, the Honduran government and the mining authority DEFOMIN could be won for the project. Through legal assistance, DEFOMIN enabled the cooperatives to register and be recognized as nonprofit small businesses. It had geological surveys conducted and a bill drafted for the National Congress to promote opal mining. In addition, it succeeded in convincing the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the German Development Service (DED) and many other supporters of the project. Since 2009, GIZ has organized training courses for the opal cooperatives and ensured the technical implementation of an ecological power supply and workshop in San Antonio Montaña.
In March 2011, representatives of Fair Trade Minerals & Gems e.V. traveled to Honduras with a film team to document the status of the project and prepare further necessary steps. In this context, with financial support from FTMG, new opal-bearing land was acquired for the cooperative in San Antonio Montaña, as their former mine site was buried by a landslide in early 2011. Since 2009, many donor-funded training courses have been conducted, for example, to improve opal mining and value assessment, grinding & polishing, business administration & marketing. This led to a more environmentally friendly opal mining, better yield and independent processing of opal into jewelry. 
FTMG convinced the Honduran government to purchase high-quality grinding machines. This promoted regional value creation by processing the raw opals in the mining areas themselves. In 2014, the village of San Antonio Montaña was able to commission a donor-funded water turbine for ecological power supply and a fully equipped grinding shop. In addition to economic improvements, the prospectors gained expertise in producing high-quality opals. The successes gave and still give them confidence and courage for future challenges. Future vision and wish of the local people is the construction of a new road (using overburden from the opal mines), further infrastructure measures as well as a better presentation of the cut opals on site.
Your donations have made these successes possible! Help "Honduras Opal" to take the next steps as well with a donation. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
For more on the work of the association and the Honduras Project, visit the association website.