The Chin Fabric Trail

Historically, many great travelers have made their way through trade routes made famous by important commodities being traded at that time. There was the Silk Road across the Asian continent, and the ancient Incense Route linking the Eastern world to the Mediterranean.

Today, trade routes have become a relic of the past as countries are more connected to each other than ever. The ease of transportation mean products from all over the world can be  flown around to fill up shopping malls – available for purchase every day from dawn till dusk through every season.

Competing against the variety and availability of mass-produced products, one might not give a second glance at handmade crafts, such as those made by Mang Tha, an organization to empower Chin refugee women from Burma, based in Kuala Lumpur.

A closer look at the craft however reveals tales of bravery, history, heritage, pride, love and suffering – found in the traditional Chin fabrics of Burma.

From Burma to Malaysia

© Goiyoo

The Chin fabrics routinely make its way from Burma to Malaysia, though at an economic scale much more microscopic compared to the other historical trade routes, but no less significant to its market.

My first introduction to the Chin fabric was Mang Tha’s red sling bag – almost passing as a generic souvenir commonly found in any South East Asian country.

“This is our traditional fabric used in all our Chin costume,” Ma Engi explained, who escaped the oppressive and violent Burmese military rule in 2008.

There are several versions of the origins of the fabric’s pattern, described by the women in Mang Tha.

© Benny Manser

One is a story of a man who once fell in love with a beautiful mermaid. The mermaid told him never to tell anyone of their relationship or a tragedy would happen. One day, the man could no longer keep his love for the mermaid to himself anymore, told someone about their love and of how she is the most beautiful creature he has ever seen.

He died right after telling the story. The grieving mermaid came out of the water to see her dead lover that night. Only one person saw the mermaid, it was an old lady. The old lady saw the beautiful mermaid dressed in red fabric which she later weaved a copy of. That fabric is what we now recognize as the traditional Chin fabric.

Another story of the fabric’s origins is that it was inspired by the rainbow.

© Benny Manser

Amongst the red fabric, many other colors and fabric patterns enough to put a fabric collector in seventh heaven – are made into phone pouches, pencil cases and other functional products.

“Every one of the 17 ethnic groups of the Chin people have their specific costume and thus (different) fabric (for each costume)” explained Susan, coordinator of Mang Tha.

© Mang Tha (left) © Khing Su Li (right)

Browsing through the wide selection of scarves, table runners and bags, I was advised to buy whatever I like – because there is no guarantee that the same fabric will be available next time.

UNCHR registration card offers limited protection in Malaysia (© Benny Manser)

This erratic supply of fabric is explained through the travelling that each roll of fabric had to make before reaching the capital city of Malaysia, called the “second country” by the Chin refugees as they await to be resettled through the help of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to their “third country” where most of them hope to make their home.

“Malaysia does not recognise refugees. Our legislation, namely the Immigration Act 1959/1963, does not differentiate between an undocumented migrant and refugees. Hence, refugees here are usually treated as undocumented migrants by the authorities. The government on various occasions expressed that they are reluctant to recognise refugees at it would bring an influx of refugees to the country,” explains Temme Lee, refugee coordinator for Suaram, a human rights organization in Malaysia.

The fabrics are brought to Malaysia by Burmese workers coming to Malaysia to work as labourers in construction sites and restaurants, which are then sold to a middle man. The middle man resells the fabric in Kuala Lumpur at the range of USD 20-100, depending on the complexity and rarity of the pattern.

Chin refugee working in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (© Benny Manser)

“One set (2m) fabric that is hand-woven takes 3 days and more than 5 days if woven with traditional looms” Susan explained.

The value of these fabrics is not only in the hand-crafted element nor the ’shipping’ surcharge – these fabric represents the Chin people’s heritage and culture.

“We can only bring what we wear and one more set of clothes,” Susan explains.

On the move (© Benny Manser)

Their journey by car and boat to get here is difficult, with sometimes up to 30 people cramped into a van. On top of that, they also face the danger of being caught and detained by the Thai authorities.

According to Ngun Thluai who has been a refugee in Malaysia for almost 3 years, many people don’t survive the hazardous journey.

“Refugees continue to come to Malaysia not by choice. In Burma, certain communities are highly oppressed and often are subjected to forced labour. If they do not obey the military, they are subject to persecution. Refugees leave their homes out of fear that their lives might be threatened or even taken,” Temme adds.

Those who managed to make it to Malaysia, struggle to make ends meet as opportunistic employeers take advantage of their vunerable situation by paying them low wages.

“All our income is spent on food for our family and rent. We can’t afford much else,” Ma Engi shared.

Prisoners sentenced to hard labor constructing a road in Chin state (© 2007 Vanlalvura)

Ma Engi is one of the lucky ones to own a piece of traditional Chin fabric, given as a gift from a friend. She uses it as a baby carrier to carry her daughter.

Ma Engi in her rented flat with her children (© Puah Sze Ning)

Mang Tha, making sweet dreams come true

At Mang Tha, which means ’sweet dreams’ in Chin – the women tailor these traditional fabrics into functional products such as handphone pouches, purses and bags, to be sold to generate income for their livelihood.

“Often, these women are too scared to go out of their apartments, and some can spend most of their time between four walls for several years waiting to be resettled. Mang Tha allows them to have an activity while staying in Malaysia, to earn some income and improve the living conditions of their family, to acquire a sense of purpose, self worth and dignity, as well as skills they can continue using when they move to their third country,” said Ariel, a Mang Tha volunteer.

Ciang Thian Wung (left) and Wung Suan Mang knitting at Mang Tha (© Puah Sze Ning)

Apart from helping the Chin refugees in Malaysia, Mang Tha also reaches out to other Chin refugees in other countries such as India, by buying fabric from All Burma Democratic Lushai Women Organisation (ABDLWO) based in Mizoram.

“India is not a signatory country of the Geneva Convention 1951 and the UNHCR has no operations in Mizoram. Chin in Mizoram face security abuses, severe discrimination, religious repression, (they) lack job opportunities, housing and affordable education. They live largely at the mercy of the local population in Mizoram,” explained Elodie Voisin, a volunteer for Mang Tha since 2008.

Mang Tha gets the fabric from refugees in Mizoram coming to Malaysia in hopes of getting recognition by UNCHR. By buying fabric from ABDLWO, the working conditions for the refugees there can be improved.

Looking at a simple purse made by Mang Tha, it feels as if the purse is whispering heroic tales of a weaver braving oppression in her Chin homeland, or a Chin refugee in Mizoram hoping to weave a better future for her children. Or maybe, of a refugee in Mizoram taking the fabric on his or her way to Malaysia where hope resides.

With the iconic twin towers almost at the backyard of over 27,000 Chin refugees residing in and around Kuala Lumpur, I wonder if every one of them managed to get a hold on a piece of fabric unique to their ethnic group. Something to remind them of their heritage, which tells the tale of someone’s brave escape to a safer place, something to hold on to through rough times in a strange land and something which would travel with them in hopes of a brighter future for their next generation.

Notes:

• Mang Tha’s products are available here
• Keep in touch with Mang Tha through Facebook here
• Names of some interviewees are not their real names at their request to protect their identity.

Measuring social impact: one part of the story

Karen refugees walk along a road on the Thai-Myanmar border in Per Nwe Pu village. There are an estimated 42 million uprooted people around the world waiting to return home. Taken from intellasia (Getty)

A community of people are in troubled waters. The Mon community from Myanmar had to make a choice between forced labour or running away as a refugee. An Indigenous community in Malaysia are under threat of resettlement, because they happened to have lived for generations in a place where now the trees, or the river or land is deemed by a company to be of more commercial value.

When we come in, many of these events and choices have been made. What we ask is, to earn a living in a difficult situation, do they now have easy access to jobs or buyers interested in products they offer. If they don’t, can we provide them with access so they can get themselves out of poverty (or at least soften the blows).

If we can show you the impact of our solution for artisans to earn a living, will this influence the decisions you make when scouting for a social investment, or simply to buy a product on our site that is both good and impactful.

In effect, we’re asking, can elevyn work? And what do we really want to achieve.

A year ago, we started with 3 goals. To get 10 communities online, engage 100 artisans and to show that people are interested to buy online, we targeted USD 3,500 in sales (we now work with 14 communities, more than 100 artisans and sales have been more than targeted).

This year we are wondering the amount of effort it took to meet those goals. Like the costs and resources.

And importantly, the outcomes as a result of our goals. For starters:

1. How much of your money spent on buying an item went to the person who made it

2. How much went to longer term programs run by our field partners, like training and health initiatives.

We’re giving you front row seats, as we peel back the blinds and discover our impact together. Here’s a sneak preview.

By auditing where the money goes for each item sold, we know that Senii earned USD 64.60 so far

Our method is to audit the impact of every product on elevyn. We’ve started with 2 communities and will continue to improve how we measure it (I’ll write a post on how we audit soon).

By measuring the effort we’ve put in and inspired by the outcomes we’ve gathered so far, we’ve got a new goal to get 120 communities online.

But that’s another story.

References:

http://www.intellasia.net/news/articles/society/111267712.shtml

Rethinking Consumerism

You want something and you want it RIGHT NOW.  Say today, you are craving for a little piece of good chocolate but you just finished your last bar two days ago. So, you drive to a shopping mall and march straight to the mart.  You have only one ULTIMATE aim and that is to BUY a good bar of chocolate RIGHT AWAY.  You search the shelves for your favourite brand.  After scanning for a few minutes, you don’t find it anywhere.  You ask the sales promoter if there’s any stock left.  The answer unfortunately is no.

So you march out and head for the next mart that you think might stock the chocolate you are deeply craving for.  Lucky for you, a new stock of your favourite brand arrived but wait a minute, it is way more expensive than before.  You debate with your inner conscience for a while before you decide that you might not buy it after all.

As you walk out of the mart dejected, some customers are berating the poor sales promoter why that brand is more expensive than it usually is.

In the end, you might fewer people who are willing to buy that chocolate.  They have opted for a cheaper brand.   The stack of expensive chocolates sits on the shelves and collects dust.  When the chocolates get sent back to its supplier, the supplier is at a dilemma.  To continue producing it but at a smaller number or to bring down the price at the cost of worker wages, benefits and cost of resources.

If the unscrupulous supplier is going to stay in the competition and maintain his profit margin, the price has got to be brought down and everything else slashed.

This one step has a downward spiralling effect.  Because the supplier then switches to a cheaper alternative resources be it cheaper materials, cheaper source of labour, or ignoring the cost of the externalities (cost of processing, cost of environmental pollution, cost of worker’s health and safety, etc).

Now that his workers are paid even lower, their purchasing power is reduced.  They are forced to work day and night, put in more overtimes and neglect their health just to earn that extra dollar to put food on the table.  Some families are also 1) forced to make their children work to help contribute to the family’s income, or 2) tricked by employment agents into giving up their children for better work in the city but the reality is that the children get thrown into slums and are forced to work in unhygienic, low paying manual work. Because their income is so little, they cannot break out from the cycle of poverty/

To find out more about the bitter truth about chocolates, read http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_8583000/8583499.stm

But what happens if we stop this cycle and decide to be more learned about what goes into manufacturing, to plan our purchases properly and pay a fair price for a particular product?

In this scenario, when we we walk into a shopping mall and pick up a bar chocolate, we know exactly who makes it, how the cocoa is sourced, and whether the companies that make the product are socially and environmentally responsible.

We make a stand and choose not to support manufacturers who have dodgy procurement practices and slowly, these manufacturers would be forced to join in the bandwagon of sustainable or fair trade companies to gain consumers’ confidence and trust in their line of products.  Consequently, the demand and supply of the sustainable / fair trade products will balance out and it will be as affordable as before.

And finally, if we pay the fair price, workers ultimately receive better wages and experience more fulfilling life, while helping to lift themselves out of the path of poverty.

The principles of Fair Trade

Fair Trade chocolates that are already in the market

Product review – Cambodia’s shops

Since our trip in April to help set up some spectacular shops from Cambodia – we’ve since done some beta buys from Malaysia just to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Generally, the biggest challange the shops based in Cambodia has is shipping. National postal service which is fairly cheap does not give a receipt or tracking code for items posted through them, unlike the natioal postal services in most developed countries and even here in Malaysia.

The other alternatives are postal services such as  DHL and EMS which gives a tracking code and sends the items increadibly fast. However the cost of shipping through DHL and EMS is significantly higher.

When we started developing Elevyn, were very excited about the prospects of connecting buyers directly with artisans, or at least with the organizations representing the artisans. What we didn’t except were these challanges such as shipping issues in Cambodia – because we took good shipping services by national postal service for granted.

However such is the reality of directly assisting artisans in third world countries where excellent shipping services comes at a hefty price. And such is the reality of providing full transparency on the pricing that the shops do not manipulate the product price in order to make shipping seem cheaper.

Lets put our thinking caps on to figure out a solution to Cambodia’s shipping issues – in the meantime here’s a personal review of the products we ordered from them!

CANDO CRAFTS CENTER

I can’t get enough of CANDO’s scarves made by the Kreung indigenous people. The motives and meaning behind the motives always reminds me of the beauty of self expression in documenating our culture and state of being.

The pattern you see on this scarf which we bought is called Hadrook, which is the very first pattern they ever weaved. It is also normally very expensive because it is very difficult to weave. This pattern can only be used by elderly women in the cultural ceremony which happens every 7 years. One white and one black buffolo will be killed during this ceremony.

Shipping service: National postal service

Shipping time: 5-6 weeks (posted from a small town near the Kreung villages, 12 hours from the city). No tracking code.

Cambodian Handicraft Association for Landmine and Polio Disabled (CHA)

I heard endless high praises for Khmer silk so when we visited Cambodia, I made sure I got myself lots of it. One of my favourite silk item are these baby booties – which make great gifts to friends with newborns. They say baby’s skin is as soft as silk, so who better to give silk to than the little ones.

Shipping service: EMS

Shipping time: 3-7 days (With tracking code).

Daughter’s Cambodia

I’ve been using my little Messanger Bag since the day it arrived.

What makes this little bag more special is that the cloth used is dyed using natural dyes from forest fruits.

Shipping service: EMS

Shipping time: 3-7 days (With tracking code).

Artisan d’Angkor

We got our silk painting within 1 week of placing the order. It now sits on our office wall, giving the place a cosy feel with a cultural and mythical feel.

Shipping service: DHL

Shipping time: 3-7 days (With tracking code).

Duck Duck Helicopter Bomb Bomb

Sze Ning shares her thoughts on poverty, ducks, helicopters and bombs, on a trip to Cambodia to get organizations up online on Elevyn.com. This article also appears on Wild Asia. Photos © Puah Sze Ning.

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“Duck…duck……helicopter….. zero?” I read out. Looks like our indigenous people here in Cambodia are quite modern, I thought to myself as I waded through an array of scarves with traditional motifs, ducks and helicopters.

These villagers had no electricity, no television and are pretty much surrounded by thick forests – why would they weave helicopters? Guessing it was a novelty from a picture or something – I asked to affirm it.

“In memory of the Vietnam war, we were affected by it as our village is so close to the border,” explained Saphork from the Kreung village where these scarves were made.

“Those are bombs dropped from the plane,” he added pointing to the patterns that looked like ‘O’.

I must have looked quite silly looking at him with round eyes going “Wow….”

Spellbound by these hand-loomed textiles, I longed to own every single piece I got my eyes on. They came in all kinds of textures and colours; from rough to soft, from ones coloured with natural dye and those coloured by market dye.

But I was not too sure about those with duck patterns though. I love animals and I made a personal pact not to eat farmed animals simply because of my love for them. But I’m not exactly a fan of ducks.

“What’s with the ducks?” I asked – guessing it must be for children.

“Oh, during the war we had to keep moving. So we couldn’t take our ducks with us and we had to leave them in the forest,” Saphork explained.

After a short pause he added, “We really regret it…”

I decided then that I loved ducks.

Note: Translation from Khmer and Kreung to English by CANDO team members

A two hour plane ride took me from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia to Cambodia. I left a city of skyscrapers to land literally in a cloud of dust.

“This is Cambodia,” as all the expats here like to say whenever the topic of dust, bribery, corruption and poverty arises.

Poverty is something that really isn’t tucked away in Cambodia. It’s in the streets where kids are begging and rummaging through the trash. In fact, poverty is what brought me here – to get organizations with good quality products and causes to set up a shop on Elevyn.com.

Unbelievable Poverty

I was first introduced to the issues of poverty four years ago, in an exposure trip to an indigenous minority village in my homeland, Malaysia. During that trip, my mentor brought out bags of donated secondhand toys as a group of children happily took a toy each.

Noticing my discomfort – he asked, “Have you ever been poor?” He must have thought he had a real dimwit with him as I struggled with a reply.

No, was the answer. But I was dumbfounded because no one had ever asked me that before – and it never occurred to me that I would ever be. So I swallowed my answer and just shook my head as I watched faded Mickey Mouses and armless Barbie dolls get emptied out of the black bag by tiny hands.

I used to feel poor not being able to afford Starbucks everyday, and all these stories on the news of people living under USD1 a day goes over the head like any other story.

Here in Cambodia, the headlines in the newspapers read of 40% of garment factories closing down, prostitutes being gang-raped and child prostitution on the rise. What shocking news and what a story to go home to tell my friends. The Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s that instigated a genocide killing an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians, leaving a scar still strongly felt throughout the country – what truly a shocking tale to tell as well.

The truth is that, it is just unbelievable. Unfortunately, I find myself in the middle of this chaos reminding me of the on-going headlines stating that in this time of economic crisis, the poorest of the poor would be the worst hit. This reality I saw with my very own eyes.

Cambodia’s Social Enterprises

Under high pressure and temperature, the highly prized diamond is formed. And I believe that I’ve met social enterprises here that truly embody that analogy.

I can’t say that I am anywhere closer to understanding what poverty really means and how to end it, but I can say that it is truly an honor being able to work with these people – and in some ways, hope to make a difference in these communities.

These organizations below recently got on Elevyn.com. They have been working with marginalized and vulnerable groups in Cambodia to give them work opportunities within an economy that has sidelined these groups.

CAN-DO manages the Cando Crafts Center (CCC), a social enterprise that adopts socially and environmentally responsible, as well as fair trade principles. They work closely with the indigenous Kreung’s community-based Craft Enterprise to develop and market their unique crafts.

Daughters of Cambodia is a Non Government organization reaching out to victims of sex trafficking in Cambodia. Daughters’ aim is to restore dignity and self-worth, and to help girls find viable alternatives for their lives. One method is to offer them a livelihood through the production and sale of beautiful bags and accessories using 100% cotton and vegetable dyed textiles.

Cambodian Handicraft Association for Landmine and Polio Disabled (CHA) is a local organization, set up since 2000 to assist disabled people. CHA does this by providing disabled people access to training, education, employment opportunities, health care and tailoring and weaving or other services.

Artisans d’Angkor is an Cambodian organization which provides vocational handicraft training and work for young Cambodian people – and at the same time works on the revival of Khmers Arts and Crafts. Silk painting is one of the skill training offered specially to young deaf and mute women.

The Challenge: 125 artisans in 6 months

With Elevyn, we particularly wanted to focus on communities in rural areas, many were impoverished because they did not have access to markets. As a result, traditional skills like natural dyeing were being lost, and motivation was low.

In urban communities, we met artisans who were starting to regain confidence in themselves after life changing events, from the effects of landmines and polio to single mothers trying to relearn new skills.

I felt that with applying business tools to sustain local handicraft projects, innovations in web 2.0 to achieve transparency between the market and the artisan, and a whole new way of approaching social work to help improve human lives, we could enable new generations of self independent artisans, and support the good work that our field partners were already doing.

2 months ago after becoming YSEI fellows, we had an extraordinary vision for ourselves to support 125 artisans within 6 months.

You will be able to track our progress on a daily level on our twitter updates, creating for us at least, an unprecendented accountability but at the same time provide an environment where you can support us, and help us get through those inevitable obstacles.

The challenge will culminate in an annoucement of our results on World Fair Trade day, on 09 May 09, where we hope to have this number of artisans on elevyn.com.

What you can do?

Inspire us, by blogging about it or featuring us. Follow us on twitter or become a fan on Facebook. Register on Elevyn to get our monthly newsletter or buy something.

Want to do more?

Volunteer your time, or look for sponsorship to send our field co-ordinator to villages. Send us suggestions, or just buy us coffee.

Solving the Elephant-Man Conflict Through Shit

Mike and myself, met up recently with Thusita Ranasinghe, an entrepreneur from Sri Lanka, and had an interesting conversation with him. He runs a company called Eco Maximus which prints recycled products made from elephant dung.

Eco Maximus is innovative, in that it`s business model depends on protecting wild elephants that are being killed simply because they interfere with agriculture. As people cleared more land for their use in rural Sri Lanka, the wild elephants reacted with increasing violence.

In this tragic circumstances, Thusita, who had a background in the printing business, remembers reading an article on how elephant dung was used in the old days as writing material due to its fibrous nature when processed. Going through the drama of not having the blessings of his parents and mortgaging his house, he researched into the viability of using elephant dung and came out with a patent at the end of it.

He was only halfway through his project, he then set his company up with only seven employees and started printing greeting cards line made from elephant dung. Once he established a market for his product, he went about working on his vision to improve the socio – economic situation of underpriviledged rural villagers, and to bring them closer together with the wild elephants whose land was in conflict.

He started Project Peace Paper, a process to achieve that vision. This is where self sustaning recycling plants have been set up, villagers themselves are employed to manage and wild elephant dung are used creating an inter – dependent relationship between elephants, land, villagers and the business itself.

Since then Thusita has won awards for entrepreneurship and social work outside of Sri Lanka. My question is, could Thusita has been as successful if he didn`t include the social element in his business model?