Savonlinna Development Cooperation Association Savonlinna Development Cooperation Association was founded and registered in 1989 and currently has about 30 registered members in the small town of Savonlinna. A board of 5-6 members + a chairperson is elected every year. The association aims at spreading information about the problems and potentials of developing countries as well as promoting tolerance, understanding and responsible consumption in the local community. Activities focus on a world shop (Savonlinnan kehitysmaakauppa) which is a member of the union of world shops in Finland and partly run by volunteers. "World Shops are shops that specialize in Fair Trade goods. They trade fairly with producer groups from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their goal is not only to pay a fair price to the producers and improve their working conditions, but also to change the structure of world trade so as to make Fair Trade the norm." (www.maailmankaupat.fi) Besides running the shop and summer market, the association organises functions and concerts etc to promote its goals locally and raise money for development cooperation projects. Numerous projects in developing countries have received financial support over the years, including * the village of San Juan in Nicaragua * Green Belt Movement * Fair trade ship s/v Estelle * Mokattam community in Cairo, Egypt * a non-timber forestation project in Botswana with VPRD * a henhouse for ACAMO in Mozambique * children's home Sunshine in Kathmandu, Nepal * supporting the education of underprivileged children in Salarpur, India