More books for Lao children

Our third "book party" was held in Ban Namkhor, Laos on Jan. 4, 2012. Thanks to the enthusiastic young staff at Big Brother Mouse, who make these school-based events possible, TAMMACHAT donated 260 books to children at the local school.

For each textile piece we sell, we donate a new book to a child in Laos in partnership with Big Brother Mouse, a Lao-owned project that promotes literacy in the Lao language. This now makes 750 books that we've donated in late 2011 and 2012 to help children in rural Laos learn that reading is fun and rewarding; we have 2 more book parties in the works, thanks to our customers' support.

You can sponsor a book party yourself or the publication of a new book. It's a great way to honour someone, celebrate your birthday or just because.

I love the photos of the kids with their very first books -- fun ones too that help them experience the joy of reading!

For more photos of Big Brother Mouse book parties, see our posts from:

• Jan. 4, 2012 (book parties held Oct. 26 and Dec. 6, 2011)
• March 15, 2011 (our photo essay of our 2011 time with Big Brother Mouse in Laos)

Ellen

 

Flood relief: helping women in Thailand

The effects of the worst floods in 50 years continue to be felt throughout Thailand. More than 700 people lost their lives. Hundreds of factories closed; some still are. Prices are higher across the board.

In response to this crisis, we decided in October 2011 to donate 10% of all TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles’ show revenues in November to Thai flood relief.

Flooded worker (photo: HomeNet Thailand)

While the producer groups with whom we work are not in the central areas most severely impacted by the months of floods, our close watch of events made us aware of the millions who were.

When we arrived in Thailand in December, we contacted  HomeNet Thailand to see if our donation could help them in their work. On previous trips we had visited their office in the north of Bangkok (one of the areas hit by the floods) to meet with the Director, Poonsap Tulaphan, who has also been involved for decades with one of the weaving co-operatives with whom we work.

HomeNet (aka: Foundation for Labour and Employment Promotion)  helps women in the informal sector, including home-based workers, temporary labourers, part-time workers and others who are easy prey to the unscrupulous power of the marketplace. In this era of corporations that contract out production and rationalize supply chains for just-in-time deliveries, workers like those that HomeNet supports bear the impact of these so-called “economic efficiencies.”

HomeNet works with about 200 groups in Thailand whose members total more than 7,000. These workers not only suffer the pressure and insecurity that result from payment by the piece; they must also supply their own workplaces and equipment.

We learned that HomeNet is currently working with more than 20 groups on the outskirts of Bangkok whose 400+ members were directly affected by the recent floods. Many of these are handicraft producers, but also include groups whose members do piece-work sewing and sweets-making. The floods not only displaced their families; they also damaged their equipment and supplies.

As a result, HomeNet is providing these groups more than 1 million baht (approx. $33,000 CAD) for microcredit loans to replace equipment damaged or destroyed in the floods. TAMMACHAT’s donation went into this fund to provide loans to women that are essential to restart their work --- without resorting to usurious moneylenders. When members are again producing, they will repay their loans to the group so that other members can also re-capitalize their home-based businesses.

Our contribution is a small step towards helping those facing huge losses. Thanks to TAMMACHAT’s customers for their support.

Alleson and Ellen

Fair trade fibre art and art quilt samplers

While we usually trade with weaving groups directly, we occasionally buy from other organizations that share our values and vision. Sop Moei Arts, with showrooms in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, is a case in point.

Sop Moei Arts is a self-supporting, non-profit organization that grew out of a public health project founded in 1977 and funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). In its first decade, the project focused on maternal and children’s health of Pwo Karen villagers in the remote Sop Moei district of Mae Hong Son province in northern Thailand. During this time there were no other health facilities in the area. Indeed there were no roads and the only access available was by boat, elephant or a trek on foot.

More than 30 years later, the project has grown to provide a fair income for hundreds of Pwo Karen villagers while preserving women’s traditional textile weaving and men’s basketry skills. We've known of this project for years, but have only recently discovered sampler packs of their fabrics to share with art quilters and other fibre artists in our part of the world.

Handwoven textile samplers from Sop Moei Arts

While the Pwo Karen weavers do not use natural dyes, their strong patterns -- re-interpretations of Pwo Karen traditional fabrics -- are perfect for incorporating into art quilts or fibre art projects of all kinds. The packs of six or seven small squares, measuring 5" x 5", combined with three larger squares of 6 3/4" offer palettes in oranges, reds, blues, greens or tans.

These will be available, along with other samplers of hand-reeled, naturally dyed, organic silks, at our booth in the Merchant Mall at Quilt Canada 2012 from May 29 - June 2, 2012 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Check our website for details.

PSST:  Those interested in children's books and education might find interesting this video that documents a bilingual education program for Pwo Karen in Thailand.

Ellen and Alleson