Not the article on Pebble toys I thought I'd write

We have just returned from a trip to Bangladesh to see the workers co-operative who make the Pebble toys and I have a list of blog articles to write ranging from our trip to the organic cotton factory to the structure of the workers co-operative and how it works.

However this evening I have had a bit of an emotional reaction to the trip. I have been at a very ordinary carol service in a very ordinary church hall. It was just a small collection of people covering a selection of ages, colours and backgrounds singing carols together with one blubbering middle aged woman in their middle.

It struck me that however diverse we were as a group there was not one of us who hadn't eaten well that day, or who didn't have running water and electricity in their home. We all have access to healthcare and to education. Despite the worries of the upcoming cuts none of us were worried about starvation.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh there are millions of people who are not so lucky. Even if you are rich this is a hard place in which to live. The traffic is so intense and constant that it can take you an hour to go even 1 mile. There are very few shops and those there are have very meagre ranges. In the slum areas it is even worse. It has been estimated that in some areas there are 8 people crammed in to each m2 with no running water. The only work available is invariably long and underpaid.

It is very easy to become overwhelmed by all the obvious misery and poverty you can see all around you. When 40% of a population of 160 million people earn under $1 a day its difficult to see how you can do anything to help

That is why Samantha Morshed is such an extra-ordinary woman. Not only has she come up with a viable and sustainable idea to alleviate poverty, she has actually implemented her plan and produced an amazingly gorgeous range of toys

While I blubbed in the carol service as the realisation of exactly how lucky I am, and how good my life is, Samantha had the energy and determination to create long term sustainable employment through the creation of hand made toys. Importantly the toys are gorgeous in their own right. She has created a range of hand made toys which people want to buy at prices they can afford.

It was very clear to us while we were in Bangladesh that our part in the Pebble story was very straight forward. While Samantha has to deal with a huge array of cultural, logistical and creative issues all we have to do is sell her toys.

So forgive our evangelism but it is our intention to spend all available time and energy in 2011 raising the awareness of the Pebble toys in the UK and Ireland.

So a very Happy Christmas to Samantha Morshed and her husband. I hope that this is not inappropriate given that they are Muslim, but I cannot think of 2 people who better sum up the true spirit of Xmas.