This website is aimed at social media managers, bloggers and any other people and organizations interested in purchasing professional images for their work or private use. Nearly 10,000 fair trade images can now be downloaded directly from our website in low resolution* and clear of the FairMail watermark.
The advantages of FairMail’s stock photos are:
• The images are easy to find with nearly 900 key words, in 5 different languages each.
• Several filter options (like horizontal/vertical, coloured/black & white, newest, most voted)
• The world’s only stock site with 100% fair trade images.
• Payment, image download and invoice directly in your inbox with just a few clicks.
• Fixed low price of 19,95 euro per image.
• 50% of the profit FairMail makes goes directly into the education fund of the teenager who took the purchased image.
• Including back ground information about teenager who took the photograph.
Besides as low resolution photos the FairMail images are also available as high resolution photos for printing in brochures, flyers, greeting cards, magazines etc. Please request a quote by clicking here.
We would like to thank Vevida for providing FairMail with free server space to store our images online.
Vevida
* Low Resolution means the image size is 600 x 400 pixels at 72 dpi (dot’s per inch)
We are very proud that 26 yoga pictures by Peruvian and Indian FairMail teenagers made it to this year’s semi-finals of the “Children’s Yoga Photography Competition”.
Together with selected images by photographers from all over the world they are competing to make it to the final selection for this year’s Devayani Yoga’s Children’s Charity Calendar.
During one month the images are posted on Devayani’s Facebook page. Only the 12 images with the most likes by the end of July make it to the calendar. 100% of the profit made from the sale of the calendar will be distributed amongst 12 different children’s charities, amongst which the education funds of the different participating FairMail teenagers. That is why they need your votes now!
Since the beginning of June a selection of FairMail cards is available in 3 different Dutch supermarket chains.
Plus, Spar and Albert Heijn supermarket chains have decided to include FairMail cards in the card spinners of some of their supermarket outlets. We are very proud that these major players recognize the quality of our teenager’s photography and their commercial potential.
And we are very happy about the opportunity to increase sales and thus FairMail’s impact on the lives of at risk teenagers. Increasing sales will allow us to select 6 new teenagers for photography training in our social enterprises in Peru and India this year. Increasing FairMail’s impact with 12%! Find a FairMail selling point close to you here!
Soon we hope to have more good news about new markets for FairMail cards in the UK and USA after FairMail founders Peter and Janneke’s visit to the New York’s National Stationary Show in May.
This year it is easier than ever before to show your mother how much you love her on Mother’s day.
On the Greetz website you can choose from 11 Mother’s day pictures taken by the FairMail teenagers. Online you can personalize your card, add your text and the postal address. We take care of the printing and delivery in time for Mother’s day on the 11th of May.
You can now even add fair trade chocolate or flowers to go with your card!
FairMail’s goal is to impact teenager’s lives through the art of photography. Never before though did just one photograph have such a big impact on the life of a teenager as with this photo taken by FairMail Peru photographer Yomira (17). In November her photo was selected by a big Dutch college for their corporate Christmas cards. Five months later the full impact on Yomira’s life becomes clear. She is now on her way to be the first in her family to go to university.
Problems at home
Until November Yomira’s perspectives weren’t very bright. Although she had managed to finish her high school with the help of her FairMail earnings she was running short to be able to finance her dream of studying business administration. Also she had serious problems at home and with her boyfriend. We were quite worried about Yomira’s situation and if she would be strong enough to stay on the right path.
Record earnings
Yomira in front of her pre-university institute
Things changed when FairMail’s profit results for the 4th quarter were announced. She had earned the record amount of 4.500 soles (1.200 euro), mainly due to the sale of her picture on ROC Aventus College’s corporate Christmas card. Suddenly she had enough money to prepare herself for the university admission exam at one of the best private training institutes. Preparing for university admission in a private institute is essential in Peru as the level of public high school education is not sufficient. Plus the entry exams are very competitive with only 5% of the applicants being admitted for some courses.
From dream to reality
Yomira seems to be quite happy studying at the institute. It is a totally different world than Peru’s public schools as the teachers use better teaching methods, are more patient and are able to explain more about the subjects, according to Yomira. But it is also quite exciting as now, after talking and dreaming about it for years, she is at the point of taking action to make her dream turn into reality. But what a great opportunity it is to become the first in her family to continue studying after finishing high school. Not many teenagers in her surrounding have that opportunity!
Still it is a big challenge for Yomira. She was a bit scared about how difficult and competitive it would be. She is expected to study 45 hours per week at the institute and has about 4 hours of homework per day! It is also difficult for her that she doesn’t know anybody as none of her high school friends were able to go with her. She says she still doesn’t have much new friends but she enjoys learning new things and achieve her goals this way.
A chance of 1 in 13
Yomira studying at her new institute
Preparing herself for the university admission exam costs about 2.000 soles (about 550 euro). In September she hopes to be ready for the entry exam for the UNT (National University of Trujillo) to study accountancy. The battle will be tough though with about 400 candidates for only 30 seats. Even if she doesn’t make it in the first go she is determined to keep trying and give it a second shot if necessary.
Yomira wishes to thank all the people who bought her pictures and cards. And adds that if anyone has any tips or suggestions about the kind of photos they would like to see on FairMail cards,to please let her know.
The picture that changed her life is also available on a normal FairMail card and a best seller in Germany. Want to stock up on your Christmas cards early this year, then order here?
FairMail teenager Elmer taking Christmas pictures for a tailor made order
Although summer hasn’t even started yet, FairMail is already preparing for the busiest time of the year: Christmas.
To help more teenagers help themselves we are looking for new companies, schools, churches and other organizations interested in sending a fair trade Christmas card to their relations this year. Besides printed cards we also offer e-cards (including a video message of our teenagers) and tailor made gifts for employees and relations. As big organizations start planning things before the summer holiday we launched our new digital flyer about FairMail’s offering.
If you want your employer to choose for FairMail we need your help! Either by forwarding our new flyer or by sending us the contact details of the person in charge so we can present FairMail’s offering directly.
The FairMail India team just returned from a wonderful 10 day photography trip to the “Temples and Beaches of Orissa”.
This video shows how the teenage photographers, travelling with foreign tourists, got inspired by local fishing villages, ancient Hindu temples and touching the sea for the first time. Taking great new pictures for FairMail’s new card collection coming soon!
Watch the cheerful 4 minute video here:
To learn more here about your opportunity to join on one of the next photography trips to any of these five destinations in Peru and India, click here.
Despite the success stories FairMail is still desperately looking for new customers so that more motivated teenagers can fund their future plans. That is why in two weeks FairMail founders Peter and Janneke will be attending the New York Stationary Show, looking for new international publishers for FairMail.
Besides attending the huge Trade Fair they also planned in a few extra days to present FairMail to other interested organizations.
Do you have any suggestions who Peter & Janneke should visit while in New York? Then let us know here.
FairMail was set up in 2006 to bring photos with an original perspective into the market but – more importantly – to accomplish our social mission:
“to give at-risk teenagers the opportunity to create a better future for themselves”.
But how much impact did we create in our seven years of operation? And what did the teenagers accomplish with their earnings?
“Earning while learning”
In 2013 the 50 teenage photographers earned 20.530 euro to invest in their own education, their families’ housing and medical care. The top earners in Peru and India were Yomira and Sandhya with 1.419 and 1.801 euro respectively. Yeah girl power! In second place came Elmer and Dhiraj with 1.226 and 1.306 euro each.
FairMail dropout rate is much lower than national average
Anshu in school uniform
These earnings are crucial for the teenagers to be able to fulfill their dreamed future plans. But money alone is no guarantee as success also depends on their perseverance, family situation and motivation for FairMail.
Due to a mix of these reasons, 20% of the teenagers who started FairMail did not make it to the retirement age of 19 years old. These 10 teenagers either lost motivation along the way, were drawn back into problems by “old friends” or faced such big personal problems that they could not continue with FairMail.
86% of all the kids that started FairMail either finished or are still in secondary school. Not bad considering the background of the teenagers FairMail works with. Also if you compare the percentage to the national average of 52% of all Indian teenagers that makes it to tenth grade (or 65% of all children in Peru finishing high school).
87% of FairMail teenagers continue learning after finishing high school
Yuli in front of her university
Of those FairMail teenagers who finished high school during their time with FairMail 40% has continued on to (pre-) university. 47% of them have continued with a vocational training.
Only 13% decided not to continue studying at all after finishing high school. This either due to not finishing high school in the first place or because they didn’t have enough earnings in their funds after finishing FairMail.
78% of “retired” FairMail teenagers have broken the chain of poverty
Akaash invested his earnings in his bike repair shop
At this moment 68% of the FairMail teenagers are still studying something. Of those not studying anymore 55% has a decent job (varying from tourism to construction to sales). 23% has his or her own business or is self-employed (varying from producing soccer balls to photography to mechanic). This way they have broken the chain of poverty and can start building a family that will provide much better opportunities for their children then the families where they grew up in. (8% of the ex-FairMail teenagers already have kids of their own!)
Not all is success though. Still 22% is either unemployed or has a marginalized or an unstable job (varying from carrying groceries on the market to being in jail). 4 out of 5 teenagers who are in this situation happen to be teenagers that didn’t finish the FairMail program until the age of 19. This only shows the importance of FairMail’s long term approach and guidance.
FairMail India photographer Sandhya preparing for her exams
The Indian FairMail teenagers are currently in the most important weeks of their school year: exam time. Especially for those in 10th grade the exams are very important as their scores are decisive for being admitted into the university of their choice after 12th grade. To an outsider the university admission system in India seems nearly impossible due to factors like the caste system, the amount of students and the pressure to succeed.
A chance of 1 in 1.000 to get in
In a country of 1.27 billion inhabitants (!) where more than half of the population is under 25 years old, just imagine the amount of students trying to get into university each year. Actually there are 20 million higher education enrolments per year in India. There simply aren’t enough seats to meet the educational demand. For one certain medical university there are more than 80.000 candidates for only 70 vacancies.
The lower your caste, the less intelligent you need to be to get in
Even though the caste system is officially abolished in India a significant number of seats are reserved for students from lower castes. Sometimes up to 50%. This entails that in the case that two FairMail teenagers (coming from similarly poor families) apply to enter medical school the FairMail teenager from higher caste needs to get higher marks to get in than his or her colleague from a lower caste.
Three of the FairMail teenagers with their tutor
Private tuition is the norm, even if you go to an expensive private school
Even though the oldest FairMail teenagers can now afford a more expensive private school they still need to spend time and money on private tuition after classes. Private tuition is the norm, even if you go to the most expensive private schools.
Pressure to succeed leads to high suicide rate
All the factors above lead, amongst others, to suicide being the second-leading cause of death in the 15-29 age group in India. One Indian sociologist explains that “A civilisation which was not very familiar with symbols of wealth and celebrated simplicity in lifestyle became, in the course of a generation, obsessed with upward mobility. This led to the cult of success which puts big pressure on Indian students wanting to get ahead in life.” That is why we discuss plan B with our students in case their dreams turn out too high fetched.
FairMail India photographer Kaushal preparing for his exams
Do yo have any good wishes for the teenagers during their exams?
Please leave them here below and we will be sure to pass them on to them in time!
