藤原愛：Close challenge makes distant future

FUJIWARA Ai

Love’s Gallery代表。子供の頃、テレビで活躍するスーパーヒーローの姿に憧れた。高校卒業後、語学留学のためにカナダへ。帰国後は、世界で買い付けた雑貨を販売する雑貨店を神戸で経営していた。そのころ、東日本大震災が起こる。雑貨店を休業してまで東北でボランティア活動を続けたが、自身の生活が立ち行かなくなり活動の継続を断念した。そして、偶然見つかる病気のために入院を迫られた結果、雑貨店を閉店することになった。その後、インドネシアで通訳として働いていたとき、偶然薦められたココナッツオイルに出会う。気候が合わずに発症していたアトピーが改善し、その品質と効能に惚れた。オイルがどのような場所で作られているのか知ろうと向かった「カポポサン島」。そこで島民が生活を維持するために、環境破壊が行われてきたことを知る。島民の暮らしと環境を守りたい想いから、ココナッツオイルの一定量の仕入れを約束し、島民と一緒に製造から輸出までの準備を行った。現在は、カポポサン島のバージンココナッツオイルを日本で販売し、フェアトレードで現地の生活改善に携わる。

FUJIWARA Ai, the representative of Love’s Gallery. When she was a child, she respected superheroes on TV. After graduating high school, she went to Canada to study English. When she came back, she started a variety shop in Kobe for selling goods from all over the world. While she was doing her business the Great East Japan Earthquake happened. She suspended her business to join volunteer activity in Tohoku but it was difficult to make her own living so she stopped her activity. Then unexpectedly discovered onset of her disorder symptom forced her to close her shop. Subsequently, she started to work in Indonesia as an interpreter. There she happened to recommended her coconut oil to treat her atopy she was suffering from due to the change of climate. Thanks to the coconut oil, her situations were greatly improved. She fell in love with its quality and efficacy. She went to Kapoposang Island to see where the oil was produced. Then she knew that the people there had been paying environmental price to survive. She wished to save the environment and, at the same time, to secure the steady income for the residents. Therefore, promising to buy certain amount of coconut oil from them, she worked together with the residents to produce and export their productions. Now she is selling Kapososang Island’s virgin coconut oil in Japan. She is engaging in fair trade to improve their lives.