Weddings are expensive, no matter where you get married. Tha’ts why the Fair Trade committee on the Sapumalkande rubber estate decided to buy some of the equipment needed for festive gatherings like weddings or funerals and to establish a renting system. A sound system costs 750 Rss a day (a little more than 5 €), huge cooking pots start at 50 Rs (0,35 €). Other items in the range are large frying pans, laddles, pavilions and special banners needed for funerals. The committee chose the best quality available. However, the rates are only about a quarter of the usual market prices.

A festive gathering you might easily have to cater for 300 to 500 guests, this amounts to quite an amount to pay for the hosting family. The low renting feesand to the little red envelops containing money that the guests hand over by custom helps to cover a bigger part of the wedding costs. And the hosts are happy about the financial discharge as well.