Factory Visit

Yesterday I had no school because the 11th class got the day off. All of the Rotary exchange students had been invited to visit a factory for the day.
The factory was owned by a Rotary member who really wanted to show it to us. The grounds and facilities were not your typical poverty advantage taking conditions. The lawns were well manicured and there were locker rooms, bathrooms, a cafeteria, water treatment facility,  and hospital for the workers. There were So many people there working! In the training area alone there were well over a hundred people!
The factory itself was a cotton mill at the base. We saw all the machines that cleaned and carded the cotton and then spun it into really fine thread. Some of this was exported as is and much of it went to producing the factory's other good. They make clothing for Lululemon, Nike, Hanes, and some Indian brands. The room we saw was producing underwear, undershirts, exercise pants, and Canada tourist shirts.
There was also a fair trade and an organic cotton section.
I was amazed by the skill and speed with which the workers produced the goods. I can't remember them now, but the figures of amounts of goods produced were amazing. Then again, it's a 24 hour production and there are around 10,000 workers not including executives and higher positions. That's like 10 time the size of my town at home!
I had to wonder though, what the pay was and the health risks were. The rooms that worked the cotton as a raw material had little bits of it everywhere in the air. We couldn't stay in there long. The workers had face masks on but I wondered about their eyes and skin.
I think the reason the Rotarian was so keen for us to see his factory was that he wanted to show us what a great factory it was in comparison to the ones the exploit workers in other places. That's not to say though that Nike and Hanes don't have other suppliers in other places that exploit their workers.
Over all though it was a cool experience!
We also went to see a Hindi movies in the theaters last night called We Are Family. I was REALLY sad but very good another I want to get to take home!

The factory (making underwear).

The Fair Trade section.

Products ready to be shipped out.

Hannah on the drive between the two facilities of the factory.

Spinning the cotton into thread.