“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” - Arundhati Roy

At Greater Goods we believe that humanity has the potential to create a world that is free from poverty in all its forms and where people live in harmony with each other and with the natural world. And we think businesses can and must help to fulfill that potential.

So through running our business, we try to do what is right for people and planet, try to empower others to do the same, and work with those who share our passion for a greener and a fairer future. Because we all need to step up, for better business, better lives and a better world.

We know that a little bit of money can go a long way in this world, and that is why we donate 5p for every packet of full length sticks of India Fragrances sold to charities that work with and for the poorest.

On this site, you can recognize the products that come with the 5p donation by the little heart symbol.

This is what we have done so far and and with your help, we will achieve much more!.

2022

- In 2022 all those 5p's plus a bit extra, financed the construction of two brand new wells in the Malinese villages of Kine and Yombol-Daouli. the 11th and 12th well financed with your wonderful support. The donation paid for the technical help and the materials needed to build the wells and the local men have given their time and labour to dig them. The wells will will be finished early 2023, and will provide clean and reliable drinking water to more than 2800 people.

Douro Ouologuem is a housewife in Yombol-Daouli and says: " I was married into Yombol 25 years ago and the water crisis started when I was pregnant with my 3rd child. We have known more than 12 years of suffering, insufficient sleep and poverty. To have water, either you take your cart and jerry cans to fetch water in Sarèdina or Kilègou 15km away, which is 30km round trip. You have to leave around 6am to come back around 4pm or 5pm, then you have to pound the millet to flour and prepare the dinner. We only have time to prepare one meal per day. When we leave to fetch water, each woman takes a bottle of water with millet flour to drink and this serves as breakfast and lunch. It is the same millet flour and water for the children. Our second option is to wait 10 hours around the well to have just 2 jerry cans of water (they are 20 litre cans). We stay beside the well all night from 8pm to 6am to wait for the well to have water. By making the trip to Sarèdina or Kilègou we can bring back 10 cans. All our time is spent fetching water. We are unable to go to markets or health centers. A woman can get pregnant and give birth without ever attending the community health centre for lack of time and money."

The new well will ensure that women do not spend all their time and energy fetching water, that they can take up vegetable growing, run small businesses and even have some time off. Clean and abundant water means an end to skin diseases, Guinea worm infestations, diarrhoea and dysentry and drastically reduces child mortality. It means that mud houses can be restored and compost to fertilize the fields can be made. It means that there is time to cook more than one meal a day. Cattle can be kept closer to home, reducing the chance of it getting stolen in violent raids. It means that children can go to school instead of having to help with the cattle or water chores.

A well truly transforms life in a village! . With your help we'll finance many more!

- In 2022 we funded the planting of around 20000 trees in Mali, through the Joliba Trust (www.jolibatrust.org.uk). Trees in the Sahel grow very quickly and bring many benefits: food, medicine and animal fodder. They improve the soil and the micro climate, and give people the opportunity to start a small business in shea butter, honey or other forest products.

The Joliba Trust has an excelllent track record in tree planting, planting trees that have been grown in local nurseries, which are looked after by the villagers. Their planting schemes have a survival rate of over 80%. These trees are very good at carbon sequestration, and the amount of carbon that is absorbed by these trees dwarfs Greater Goods's emissions, direct and indirect.

- Through Kiva and Milaap we have supported over small businesses all over the world. Like the business of Hellen in Kenya (pictured) who runs a small farm to provide for her loved ones. Her brand new biodigester means that she no longer needs to buy expensive chemical fertilizers.

You can view our Milaap portfolio here, and our Kiva portfolio here.

2021

- In 2021 our donation financed the construction of three brand new wells in the Malinese villages of Dologou, Gouiffal and Sono-Dorodo. It paid for the technical support and the materials needed to build a new well. The local men have given their time and labour to dig the new wells, which were finished in late 2021 or early 2022. The building of these wells was often preceded by terrible hardships, like in the village of Sono-Dorodo that lost 10 of its children, killed by cattle raiders when cattle had to be taken to faraway pastures due to the lack of water in the village.

Ogobara Saye, the village chief of Sono-Dorodo says: "Our village was very rich as the land could support a lot of animals, but because of the lack of water, we sent our animals to the bush of Waradayga. All our animals were stolen and our ten shepherd children were killed. I myself lost a son. We were left with nothing. Thanks to you we have the most precious thing which is water. With the water we will be able to raise livestock again. With the presence of this well we will be able to send our children to school. Since the village has existed no child has attended school. With water we will be able to maintain our houses and build others. Your compassionate gesture of support we dedicate to the memory of our children killed in Waradayga. Their sacrifice was not in vain because at least we have water."

Lea Saye, housewife, adds: "It is with a heart full of joy that we have welcomed the well. We spent all the night dancing when the well was completed. We are very, very happy. You have brought joy and happiness into our lives. A big thank you to you."

The new well in Sono Dorodo is pictured on the left, on the right is a picture of a lady fetching water from the new well in Gouiffal.

- The Steps Foundation / Mountain People works with the very poorest in Nepal and we were pleased to be able to make a contribution to their annual distribution of blankets and warm coats to vulnerable older people in remote rural areas.

- In 2021 we funded the planting of around 22000 trees in Mali, through the Joliba Trust (www.jolibatrust.org.uk). The trees provided the locals with employment, food, medicine, fertilisers and animal fodder.

- Through Kiva and Milaap we have supported over 20 small businesses. Like the business of Kumudini (pictured) who runs a small shop in Manipur, India, to provide for her family. You can view our Milaap portfolio here, and our Kiva portfolio here.

- In December 2021 we donated £300 to the DEC's Afghanistan Crisis Appeal.

2020

- We were very pleased to be able to help finance new wells in the Malian villages of Batourou and Karakamba from the 5p kitty. These are our 6th and 7th wells, working with the Joliba Trust (www.jolibatrust.org.uk).

In the seven years that the village of Batourou was without a functioning well (its traditional well was destroyed by flooding), 10 local women died of snakebite while making the 10km long and ardous journey to neighbouring villages for water. Villager Allahidou Saye, says of the new well: " I am very, very happy because water is life.  Our thirst, our hunger, the long distances to seek water, the snake bites. We threw a party and we contributed a goat for slaughter asking for God’s blessings so that the village never again sees this problem of insufficient water."

The village of Karakamba has had a long term water crisis. Korka Sagara ( left), village councillor and herder in Karakamba says: " Before your help, from February until the first rains we were living in a water crisis.  No-one in our village could rest.  The women and children suffered the most.  The men fetched water for the animals.  The women accompanied by 4 young people for their protection left the village around 5am to return around 12pm. Then they pound the millet and prepare the lunch which was ready around 3 pm (first meal of the day) and just after, they started pounding for dinner, which was ready around 8 pm.  Our women were exhausted.  The lack of water impoverished us.  We ate badly. But today thanks to you, all this has become the story that we will one day tell our children starting with "... once upon a time, a village that was suffering from a water crisis....”.  Today, we have enough water for ourselves and to give to livestock.  The women go to the well around 7am and in less than an hour’s time, the chore of water collection is over.  The women have started activities generating monetary income. I think that this water crisis allowed us to understand more that women are the root of the family.  Today thanks to your funding for the well we are happy in our village."

The new well at Karakamba.

- The Coronavirus crisis has led to enormous problems for the world's poor. With the kind and generous help of our customers, we have been able to send a nice sum of money to two organisations that are working to help some of the poorest through this crisis in Tamil Nadu (India) and Nepal.

- Mountain People / The Steps Foundation does great work with the poorest in Nepal and we were happy to help with some funds for their annual distribution of blankets and coats among the elderly in a remote rural area.

- Since July 2019 we have been paying for a tree to be planted in Mali for every order we receive and to offset all our carbon emissions. We are pleased to have teamed up with the Joliba Trust (www.jolibatrust.org.uk) for this tree planting drive. For the year 2019-2020 we have facilitated the planting of more than 10000 trees. The capacity of these trees to absorb CO2 dwarfs Greater Goods' carbon emissions, and that is just how we like it!

Trees in the Sahel grow remarkably fast and are very good at sequestering carbon. Not only that, they provide food, medicine, animal fodder, improve the soil and the micro climate, and give people the opportunity to start a small business in shea butter, honey or other forest products.

- Through Kiva and Milaap, two peer-to-peer lending platforms, we have part-financed loans to more than 20 small businesses.

2019

- In 2019, all the 5p's that we set aside for each packet of Mother's India Fragrances sold, financed the construction of a brand new well in the village of Neni-Ningueme in Mali. This small village has seen an influx of refugees from elsewhere in the country, and the locals have gracefully shared their resources with the newcomers.

One of the refugees, Yatemelou Perou, said: " I fled from the village of Djimdéma with my family. As soon as we arrived we were made very welcome here and everyone has done their best for us. We have been given grain, some oil, sugar soap, utensils for cooking, and accommodation. Our only problem now is water. The village does not have enough water for its own needs, so things are much worse with us (the people who have been displaced there) and our children. There is hardly any water in the well here and I’m very worried that if the problem continues we will feel obliged to leave the village in order not to aggravate such a lack of water and make things worse. We have been made so welcome here and do not wish to be a burden to our hosts."

Our donation paid for the technical support and the materials needed to build a new well. The local men have given their time and labour to dig the new well, which was finished in early 2020. The President of the Women’s Association in Néni-Ningueme was interviewed after the completion of the well and said: "I am very happy that a cement well has been built in our village. We have suffered from insufficient water which was creating conflicts between us and the displaced people that moved to our village. Their arrival accentuated our water problems. Thanks to Joliba, the misunderstanding rapidly disappeared. [..] Since I was born, I have never known there to be enough water as we have had this year. We have plenty of water now. Today we are living in very good terms with the displaced people and we don’t mind them being here at all. In addition, nearly all the children had diarrhoea and dysentery until this year and the well has eliminated most of these illnesses."

- In March 2019 we donated £300 to the Disaster Emergency Committee for the victims of cyclone Idai, which devastated large parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Cyclone Idai has ravaged parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in what the UN says could be the worst weather-related disaster ever to hit the southern hemisphere.

- Through Kiva and Milaap we supported nearly 100 small businesses, mostly run by women, helping them to access micro finance loans. To the right is a picture of Annapurna from Odhisha, who received a loan to expand her grocery business. Our emphasis is on women, enterprise development and of course, India.

2018

- In 2018, we used the money from our pot of 5p's for the building of wells in three villages in Mali: Eguela Leye, Singama and Dianbourou. All three wells have been finished and have transformed the lives of the people living there. Caroline from the Joliba Trust wrote: " ...there has never been a greater need for well-building. Women need more than ever a safe access to water, and a well provides some means of making a living, growing vegetables and keeping livestock when people's economy has been so badly affected by instability and conflict."

- Through Kiva and Milaap we supported just over 80 small businesses, mostly run by women, helping them to access micro finance loans. To the right is a picture of Maloti from West Bengal, who received a loan to expand her grocery business.

2017

- “Today we thank you for having helped us to build the well and transform our village into a living village, where the meal is on time, where we can buy all that we need, and where there are vegetables at any time.”

These are the words of Noumacoyé Arama, a member of the women’s association in the village of Séhé Koura in Mali.In 2017, the contents of the 5p kitty were sufficient to pay for a new well in the village of Séhé Koura in Mali, which had been without a functioning well for quite a few years. And life in the village has been transformed as a result!

“We were able to build our well thanks to you putting an end to the water crisis in our village. This water crisis made us women poor because the water chore alone took up 5 hours of our time during the day. We had to walk 6km back and forth for the water. When we had no water we could not raise any income for ourselves. […] Today we have enough water in our village thanks to you. Not only are our needs met, but we can grow tomatoes, okra, eggplant, chili and cassava. Before we washed once a week because there was not enough water, and today it is once a day. Before our children could not enjoy the lessons at school because they had to help us in the water chore. Today in less than an hour I have the amount of water I need.”

- Through Kiva and Milaap we supported nearly just over 40 small businesses, mostly run by women, helping them to access micro finance loans. To the right is a picture of Shanti from Odisha who received a loan to expand her tiffin shop.

Before 2017

- In 2016 we made a general contribution to the Joliba Trust. Some of it was used to buy sustainable beehives:

This is Altine from the village of Orowara in Mali. She is the president of the local Women's Beekeepers Association. Altine's wish list featured 10 more beehives for women keen to join her association. The ladies would also like to go on a soapmaking course. And thanks to the 5p donations that we make with every packet of India Fragrances sold, Altine and her friends will get their 10 new beehives, and their soapmaking course. And there is money left over for the Joliba Trust to fund some more of their wonderful projects.

In 2012 and 2014, the 5p donations allowed us to make a sizeable donation to their midwifery scheme. The Joliba Trust has used the money to set up midwifery training in an area where women previously had no access to maternal health services.

- Baby Sarah's is a children's home in Pondicherry that looks after 110 children and young adults with complex mental and physical needs.

We made a donation to them from the 5p kitty in 2011, 2014 and 2016.

They write: "We are very grateful and thankful to you for your service to our home. The service you did to us may not be a big thing for you, but to us it is a big help. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude for your support"

- Mekong Plus promotes community development in poor rural areas of Vietnam and Cambodia. Focus is put on strong participation of everyone and on training.

In 2012 we sent them a donation, which was gratefully received. Bernard from Mekong Plus wrote: "Thank you very much for your donation. This will help our programs a great deal. With this amount we can provide, for example, 2 new microcredits; this program has shown impressive results in reducing extreme poverty".

- Santosha Nanban means "Happy Friends". It is an orphanange run by Belgian Philippe and his Tamil wife Manglorine. The home is a safe haven for street children, rag pickers and runaways. They provide a permanent home to about a dozen children, and a larger number of children are fed, clothed and educated in a safe environment while Santhosha Nanban tries to rehabilitate them and reconciliate them with their families.

Santhosha Nanban used our 2011 donation to buy books for the children.