A Cause for Christmas

Dear friends,

This Christmas season, we will be organizing a little charity project to support an indigenous community in Kudat, Sabah.

They are the Sinompuru Women’s Group, made up of single mothers and the elderly who are struggling to make ends meet, and with children/parents to support.

Christmas contributions in 2008. Photo by Malina Soning.

If you would like to sponsor some of the items below, or have stuff lying around the house which has not been used for awhile, but are still in good condition and would like to contribute to a cause, here’s a good opportunity. We are looking for the following items:

Pencil boxes are crucial for school!

1. For kids under 5:
Soft toys, crayons, coloring books, etc.

2. For school-going children (ages 6-17):
Stationeries, exercise books, school bags, umbrellas.

3. For the adults & families:
General necessities such as dried noodles, biscuits, clothing, toothbrush, toothpaste, medicines (eg Panadol, ointments, minyak angin, etc).

4. Donations in cash are also accepted,
100% of which will be used for the project.

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Christmas gifts for the Sinompuru children. Photo by Malina Soning.

We did a similar project in 2008, culminating in a small, meaningful Christmas party for the Sinompuru children. See the photos.

The deadline for collection is Thursday, 15 December 2011.

1. Collection point:

No 24, Jalan Sri Hartamas 12,
Sri Hartamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Please contact Mike (012-323 1968 / miketee@elevyn.com) or Devan (012-606 1592) before coming.

2. Monetary contributions can be banked in directly to:

RHB Bank
Account name: Elevyn Sdn Bhd
Account number: 21444 6000 33318

Please drop an email to miketee@elevyn.com, stating the amount alongside the bank-in receipt or confirmation screen.

3. Enquiries:

Please contact Mike (miketee@elevyn.com, 012-323 1968) for details.

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Many thanks for your continued support, and we hope to hear from you soon!

An Innovative Idea to Solve Homelessness

Solving the homeless problem in London. Image via The Economist.

Broadway, a charity organization in London, may have found a simple solution to the problem of homelessness in the city.

Instead of the conventional “forced charity” such as getting the homeless into hostels, Broadway simply asked them “What do you need to change your life?” and proceeded to give them what they asked for. The experiment, although on a very small scale, yielded very strong results:

One asked for a new pair of trainers and a television; another for a caravan on a travellers’ site in Suffolk, which was duly bought for him. Of the 13 people who engaged with the scheme, 11 have moved off the streets. The outlay averaged £794 ($1,277) per person (on top of the project’s staff costs). None wanted their money spent on drink, drugs or bets.

This was only a small-scale pilot project—though its results have been echoed by others elsewhere in Britain—but it underlines the importance of risk-taking in the provision of public services. In this case, although finance directors (and many voters) might balk at buying the homeless caravans, the savings should outweigh the costs. Some estimates suggest the state spends £26,000 annually on each homeless person in health, police and prison bills.

Valentine’s day gift from us!

After spending some time working with Kaoprise Beauty, a social enterprise run by and for the Mon women refugees from Myanmar living in Malaysia, we’ve gotten some special gifts ready for Valentine’s day.

Tanda (right) teaching other members of Kaoprise how to make soap.

Made using traditional beauty secrets from the Mon indigenous community from Myanmar, these soaps are made using the finest ingredients! A lot of the ingredients are homemade, such as the coconut oil and lemon essential oil.

For Valentine’s day, we’ve prepared special gift sets for your loved ones, delivered gift wrapped.

Lemongrass and lavender heart-shaped soaps

Since love is in the air, we would like to spread that love even more by offering FREE shipping for first 10 orders (within Malaysia).

Head over to Kaoprise Beauty HERE to get someone a gift of love today!

Shipping time:

• Within Malaysia – 3 working days (FREE for first 10 buyers)
• Worldwide – 2-3 weeks ($4.90 for first order, $1 for every additional order in one receipt)

Other info:

• Follow Kaoprise on Facebook here
• Gift orders available (option at checkout)
• All soaps will be beautifully gift wrapped in a handmade paper box.
• For shipping within Malaysia, please place your order before 9th February 2011 if you would like your product to reach you or your gift recipients by Valentine’s day (14th February 2011).

Sneak Preview: Elevyn Influence

Happy New Year, everyone!

2010 flew by in a whisk, and the past few months have seen us spending a lot of time behind the scenes brewing the next phase of development for Elevyn.com. We’re glad it’s finally taking shape, a new innovative project we call “INFLUENCE”.

Why Influence? You’ll find out soon. Here’s a small sampling of what’s coming up!

Elevyn Influence - Sneak Preview

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Join us on our Facebook Page to be the first to know when it launches!

Meet the Buyer: Cal, United States

Meet the Buyer: Cal, United States

A  new feature where we get to know more about our buyers – what do they do, where are they from, and their experience buying from Elevyn. For the first interview, we meet Cal, who has made several purchases on different occasions from our shops.

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1. Hi Cal, thanks for agreeing to the feature. Do tell us a little bit about yourself.

I currently live in Florida in the United States. Florida has a great subtropical climate and is great for outdoor activities such as camping, fishing, kayaking, and more.

My job is in agriculture, and I love anything to do with plants. It is very interesting to see how people around the world use plant material in their crafts, and there are plenty examples of this available in the shops on Elevyn.

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2. Have you always been interested in handmade crafts? What’s the scene like in your country?

The creativity of people who make crafts has always amazed me. The crafts available in my country showcase many different talents of extremely talented artisans. However, I feel that they lack something that the crafts available on Elevyn have, which is culture.

The crafts here are just things that people make, without any influence from their culture. Usually they are not talents that have been passed down through generations, except in the case of the Native American crafts. Unfortunately there are not a lot of Native American crafts available except for some souvenir shops in the western part of the country.

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3. How did you find out about Elevyn?

The way that I discovered Elevyn is a perfect example of the culture and history that is present in some of the crafts available. Since I love the outdoors, I was researching ways to make a fire without matches or a lighter. I discovered a video of an Orang Asli, Jamri Jambul, making a fire piston. When I tried to search for more information about him I found that there was one of his fire pistons available in the Gerai OA shop.

I never imagined that I would be able to purchase an authentic fire piston from an artisan who is one of the last people in the world making them using traditional methods.

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4. How was your experience buying from Elevyn? Did the items arrive within a reasonable time, and in good condition?

One of the best things that I discovered about Elevyn is how easy it is to purchase items. Especially since I am ordering them from the other side of the world. Once the fire piston arrived I decided to explore the shops on Elevyn a little closer, and I have since purchased items from four shops: Gerai OA, Tompoq Tompoh, Mang Tha, and Soning Craft.

It has been just as easy to order from these shops in Malaysia as it would be for me to order from a shop in the US, if not easier. Everything that I have ordered arrived in great condition, and very quickly considering the distance they had to travel.

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5. Anything you would like to say to the artisans on Elevyn?

The artisans featured in the shops on Elevyn are a group of very talented individuals. It is obvious that they care a lot about their communities and their culture. The crafts that they make are a great way to support both. I plan to contribute by continuing to purchase their crafts and sharing their stories with others.

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6. Anything extra you would like to add?

Elevyn is a great concept and a well designed website. I like that when a purchase is made the artisans receive fair compensation for their work, and a portion goes to a community cause. Hopefully more and more artisans will discover Elevyn as a way to expand the reach of their crafts.

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7. Thanks again, Cal. We hope to be able to continue serving you better!

Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience and opinion. I’m really looking forward to seeing this on your blog!

Handmade Fans Light Up Wedding

Oliver - Perpetua Wedding. Image via jofannabridal.com.

Back in August, one of our friends Perpetua George tied the knot with Oliver Cumbus in a memorable wedding at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The wedding dinner in particular was a beautiful one, taking place on the soft sandy beaches of ShangRi-La’s Rasa Ria Resort, showered by the golden rays of the evening sunset.

Oliver - Perpetua Wedding. Image via jofannabridal.com.

Although we couldn’t be there personally, “Pep” was kind enough to grace her wedding with these one-of-a-kind handmade fans produced by the Tagbanuang Tandulanon indigenous community from the Philippines. The making of the fans is an on-going craft development project to raise the income of the local women artisans in an environmentally-friendly and sustainably-harvested manner.

Handmade Fans from NATRIPAL Philippines. Photo by Lim Sheng Haw.

All of us at Elevyn would like to wish Pep and Olly all the best in their new life together!

Here’s more photos of the beach wedding by jofannabridal.com.

Save the Environment. Pee in the Shower!

Xixi no banho - Pee in the bath!

I’ve got to agree, and I’m sure you might as well – that too many environmental campaigns border on the annoying – constantly recycling (heh heh) on the tiresome “You SHOULD NOT do this” and “You CANNOT do that” messages.

The unique Brazilian campaign “Xixi no Banho” is a refreshing change – it encourages people to do something (almost) effortless, which saves tons of clean water as well – pee in the shower!

No one admits to it – but we’ve all done it at some point in our lives – be it at home, in the gym, or the hotel shower. Now, the experts are saying that it’s a good thing for the environment, and it’s totally safe and hygienic!

Via Peter Gan

7 Reasons That Keep Us Motived To “Change the World”

Being a start-up and trying to make Elevyn work can have some serious ups and downs. Connecting buyers directly to marginalized communities to purchase craft online has never been done before, so it’s a pretty steep learning curve for the team.

“Downs” include the economic climate and the shrinking of our team as Su Li’s (who was one of our field coordinators) 10 month attachment with us through a special project grant with the support from the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program (NTFP-EP) ended.

But as social enterpreneurs – we welcome these challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. As new challenges approach, I’m taking the opportunity to reflect on all the great things that have recently happened. Here’s what has been happening which has been keeping us motivated everyday.

1. Photographers and models take a shot at Elevyn

The team taking photos in Cheng Huat's garden

Wan Cheng Huat @ Fotogelafer organized his groups of friends - Lycnx Liew, Kian Ming, Loong Yik Hoe @ Loong Photography and Alisa Wong – to help take some product photos.

Next was the ‘modeled’ shots – whom we roped in long time friend Wendy Khoo who got her friends Sharifah Syed Jaafar, Jacqui Chan, Jaycee Koh, Looi Mei Lin (Estelle) and Azlin, to help model the products. Symphony House was kind enough to allow their great looking office to be used as ‘stage’.

Group photo after a long and tiring shoot!

Asther Lau who specializes in newborn and baby photography, is also pitching in her talent for some modeled shoots. Her photoshoot was rather unusual because it rained on the scheduled shoot date. Since the shoot can’t be postponed due to everyone’s busy schedule, Asther bravely shot in the rain! The result was amazing with the gorgeous models Shafinaz Suhaimi, Sharyn Shufiyan and Meera Supramaniam working the wet look.

Making the rain work for us...

Sneak preview of the photos! © Asther Lau

Asther is also taking the products to be photographed with her gorgeous clients during her shoots. What a great way to give back while on the job.

2. New interns join the team.

Mei Ting cooks too!

Good interns are hard to find. We’re lucky that Mei Ting is a fantastic member of the team! Her first field visit was at a Burmese refugee community, as we launched their online shop. This is Mei Ting’s account of the trip.

We recently accepted two interns from Monash University Volunteer Program (MUVP) from Monash University Malaysia – Heng Yee Chin from Malaysia and Wandile Mashoba from South Africa. They will be visiting a partner shop this weekend.

3. Super supporters!

In a recent call out on Facebook for sponsors to help sponsor tables for some of the shops on Elevyn to sell at a local charity bazaar (Gift of Love Charity bazaar), two generous sponsors, Arika Allen and Dawn Boey sponsored 4 shops for the event!

4. Elevyn’s in the running for Asia’s Top 50 Apps.

Don’t forget to vote for us!

5. Aki and Odu, Sinompuru Women’s Group’s oldest members recently celebrated their birthdays!

Photo by Soning Craft

6. We’ll have a video soon!

Elevyn co-founder Devan Singaram being interviewed.

Volunteers from Germany, Robert M. Linder, Felix Schlegel and Federico Jüttner came all the way to help us make a video on how Elevyn works – with a focus on the refugee shops.

7. Mang Tha’s first big open day

It’s great to see how the shops on Elevyn grow as an organization. Mang Tha only had a tiny room when we first met them. Now they have a nice spacious center to organize activities such as sewing classes and other basic skills like English and financial management.

For those based in Kuala Lumpur, they can visit Mang Tha at their special weekend Open Day this coming Saturday.

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To everyone mentioned here (and many not mentioned) – your support and help means a lot to the team at Elevyn as well as the community shops we work with. Many thanks!

Updates from Mang Tha: Open Day, Call for Volunteers and More

Some updates from Mang Tha, a social development project for Myanmar’s Chin women refugees based in Malaysia.

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Mang Tha Open Day, By Myanmar Chin Refugees In Malaysia

Mang Tha will be having its inaugural Open Day on Saturday, 28 August 2010 from 1pm onwards. Expect a fun afternoon with activities like a lucky draw, games, songs and traditional dances.

If instead you prefer to come and see Mang Tha women at work, meet them while they learn and create Mang Tha craft, we invite you to come to “Mang Tha Workshops Open House” every first Friday of the month (starting 1st of October 2010).

Mang Tha needs helping hands, and maybe you also can help! There are plenty of promising opportunities but not enough hands to make everything happen. We are looking for volunteers (to help mend our stalls, to supervise the handicraft making, etc.), but also for opportunities to expose, promote and sell our products! Drop us a line if you are interested to help.

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You can stay updated with the latest news, products and activities happening at Mang Tha through our Facebook page!

Harvesting Energy Out Of Human Waste

Refugee Camps. Image via DW-WORLD.de

Environmental engineers in Germany are designing portable lavatories which can produce energy out of methane produced by human excrement. The energy can then be used to light up the camps at night for better safety and for cooking meals without relying on limited fuel supply or firewood.

Refugee camps typically house thousands of people in a small space of land, where energy shortage and poor sanitation are common problems. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), some 2.4 million people around the world are currently living in about 300 refugee camps. Averaged-sized refugee camps hold about 20,000 people.