In line with Fairtrade Fortnight, the St Margaret's School students organised a forum last Thursday to highlight the plight of communities being exploited by trade merchants.

World Vision CEO Tim Costello spoke at the forum about the benefits of buying fairtrade.

The idea emerged following a trip to Canberra for a Trek against Trafficking forum, an initiative aimed at ending human trafficking and slavery.

"We gained skills to go into the community and advocate for Don't Trade Lives, a campaign trying to eradicate child trafficking," says Manoshy, one of the organisers at the school forum.

"We came back and we wanted to implement it in our own community with the objective to get people involved."

The forum at St Margaret's attracted about 250 students from schools throughout Casey.

Manoshy says it was rewarding to see so many people wanting to make a difference.

"We got a lot more than expected. Hopefully they will all go back to their own schools and spread the word."

She says hearing Mr Costello speak was inspiring.

"He just walked in without a prepared speech and touched on a lot of topics. The audience would have come out more informed about issues like child trafficking and knowing that there is something they can do in their everyday life to help."

Fellow student Sophie says making the right decision in the supermarket can make a world of difference to struggling communities.

"When things have a fairtrade label it means there has been no slave labour or exploitation of wages or working conditions in making that product.

"So it is very important to buy fairtrade whenever you can.

"Making a difference can be as simple as going to have a coffee and asking them if they know about fairtrade. If these people know there is a demand out there they will meet that demand."

Manoshy says one of the largest problems was the exploitation of cocoa workers.

"That is an easy one for people to identify with because it is used in chocolate. But there are also the clothes from the sweatshops and sporting equipment".

For more information, visit www.donttradelives.com.au or www.vgen.org.au