By Margarita Artoglou
Aside from the usual late nights spent with a cup of everyone’s favorite stimulant, Helen Keating also works the late night shift at Rodrigues coffee house. If you are a Gabelli student, you have likely seen Helen selling coffee, among other goods, at the Fair Trade cart in Hughes Hall.
Of all the things in which Helen is involved, Fair Trade is the most important to her. She spent a week of her winter vacation traveling to New Delhi, India with her Spirituality and Fair Trade class in order to meet the people who make fair trade products, help them learn how to grow their business and even assist in developing new products.
The experience was eye-opening for the Westfield, New Jersey native. “I come from a suburb, so I have never in my life seen poverty to that extreme,” she said.
Helen was familiar with the concept of Fair Trade before the class, but not extremely passionate about it. Now, Helen says she is a proponent of Fair Trade because it “transforms the lives of those involved. Financial independence is an attainable goal.”
Fair trade isn’t about just throwing money at the problem. Instead, it creates a partnership where people can make an honest wage and get them out of the slums,” she said.
Despite bringing Helen into the center of devastating poverty, the trip inspired her. She says that in New Delhi, she “didn’t see people who were desperate and without hope. A lot of them were eager to work and earn a wage. So it wasn’t sad, because they were all optimistic about their future.”
The best part of the trip and of being involved in Fair Trade was meeting all the workers who manufacture the goods that she helped to sell. “They were some of the nicest people I have ever met,” she said. “Despite being poor, they would give you the shirt off their backs if you asked.”
While she is undecided when it comes to her major, she is leaning towards business administration and is considering minoring in English or philosophy. Helen Keating, late night barista at Rodrigue’s coffee house, is committed to responsibly enjoying her favorite cafinated beverage. Helen would like to continue to work for fair trade causes once she gets out of school. Her short-term goals are similar in that they involve volunteering and helping people on a smaller scale. “I really want to do more volunteer work on campus and in the Bronx,” she said. However, she does not want to limit herself to her immediate surroundings and also hopes to go on a Global Outreach trip this upcoming summer.
Helen is only a freshman and has plenty of time to get more involved on and off campus. In the short period of time she has been a Fordham student, she has already accomplished so much. Aside from working at Rodrigues and working at the Fair Trade cart, she also participates in Smart Woman Securities. This coming semester, she hopes to balance her existing extracurricular activities while trying new things. “I wouldn’t have known about my passion for fair trade had I not taken a chance on that class,” she said. “Who knows what else I’ll discover at Fordham?”
