Sinusia, twelve years old, has all the reason for being happy: Now that the bridge founded by the Fair Trade premium is finished, the distance are a lot shorter – for walking as well as for cars. Sinusia, her family and about a hundred other families live in Govinna, a remote part of the plantation. No matter where you wanted to go – it was far to walk or expensive, most people only could afford at best a motorcycle taxi for one way. And medical emergencies were a highly dreaded: the ambulant would have to do some 11 km extra.

Due to the new bridge the hospital is only at a 3 km distance and especially with emergencies every minutes counts. And a motorcyle taxi drive has become a affordable luxury: the price to pay now is only a third of the one for the longer way.

But others benefit from the new bridge as well. A nearby village that isn’t part of the plantation was totally cut-off twice a year when the monsun rains flooded the main access road. Thanks to the bridge the 4,000 inhabitants aren’t isolated anymore.

The project means a lot to the local people: the plantation workers have been asking for a bridge for generations, since the 1950s. Due to the Fair Trade premium they finally made it: a short cut makes history.