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Wupperthal Rooibos Tea Cooperative
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| Rooibos tea drying in the sun | The red bush plant (rooibos in Afrikaans) is cultivated only in South Africa and the Wupperthal and Heiveld Cooperatives are the only two organizations in the world which produce rooibos tea which is both organic and fair trade certified. The village of Wupperthal was founded by German Moravian missionaries in the late 1800s in the Cedarberg Mountains, a semi-arid landscape of high, rocky plateaus at the southern end of the Kalahari Desert. Although the missionaries have left, the Moravian Church is still the spiritual center of the community. The Khoi-San peoples were indigenous to the area, but were largely killed off by Dutch settlers in the late 1700s. The 170 small farmer members of the Wupperthal Rooibos Tea Cooperative are Afrikaans-speaking descendants of those original tribes and are determined to preserve the culture of their hunter/gatherer ancestors. Rooibos tea, which is non-caffeinated, naturally sweet, and high in anti-oxidants, has been used to calm colicky babies and to treat skin rashes.
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| Now the men help - they support the women. This is a change in the mindset. Now they praise our work; they ask what they can do to help. The basket making brings the family together – the husband, the wife, the children. - R. Mangai - SHARE, India. |
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