A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to have been able to travel to Mali; to visit with friends and African “family”. While short, it was wonderful to simply be with the people who were a big part of my life during my work at Peace Corps.
If I had been in the company of other “toubabs” (white people/foreigners), it would have been necessary to perform the role of interpreter, both linguistic and cultural. To go alone provided the unique opportunity immerse myself in the culture in the most natural way. Everyone (including myself) was surprised that I could still speak Bambara after having been gone so many years. Well, it was rusty but functional.
After Peace Corps I had not wanted to brand myself as Africa focused. It seemed too narrow. However now after being there again, I feel that having been assigned to Mali was indeed a gift. The country is very proud of its history and has maintained its rich culture. And there is enormous potential.
But, best of all, it was great to be with my friend Sarata for the entire time. We laughed, talked, and ate. Our three favorite activities.
During 2011, I spent whatever free moments I had thinking about how I could make 2012 be a year of impact, even in my small endeavors.
The goals of RoukiBeauty have always been to promote the natural and cultural wealth in developing countries by bringing products to market that have been crafted and finished locally; thereby creating employment opportunity, improving local know-how and breaking the legacy of colonialism where raw materials are shipped out for developed countries to refine and add value.
The devil is in the details, and it is no easy feat to accomplish while also caring for small children.
I will continue to present at local markets, but will focus on a few product ideas to develop and sell to a wider public, i.e. retailers. Hopefully then we can start to get some production humming. Stay tuned for posts about product launch!
Happy New Year to one and all. May we all have a positive impact in our environment, not matter how small.
The holidays are fast approaching. I enjoy this time of year because it allows me to interact with people “live”! I love the questions, ideas, feedback, stories, and laughter.
Upcoming events:
December 1, 2011 11 am to 6 pm – Zumikon, Gemeindesaal in Dorfplatz.
Inter-Community School Benefit Market – for Local and International Charities
December 18 (my space to be confirmed) from 6 p.m. on into the night
Nachtmarkt – Fun and funky, I love this market! Mostly handmade, some vintage and thrift items. There is so much variety. Probably the most interesting bunch of people I’ve seen yet in a market. Very talented unpretentious folks.
Have you ever come across a proverb that fits your life situation perfectly? This is the one that has been in my mind for years:
Little by little the bird builds its nest
It took a while to find, not the proverb itself but one that is written with Bambara letters. From this proverb came the idea to ask Sarata to have baskets woven with ngongonili, an aromatic grass in Mali that women put in their drinking water. It smells lovely; natural and fresh. And is perfect to keep in the shower. Now that they’ve arrived the most fitting would be to include the proverb in with each basket or nest of shea soap “eggs”.
The proverb represents what I’m working toward as I imagine many of you out there. Perhaps especially the mompreneurs who are at home much of the time with kids and making small steps to bring another vision to life.
The baskets are an ode to all those, in Mali and elsewhere, who continue to work toward a goal, undeterred, no matter how slow the progress may seem.
A package just arrived from Mali. I’m on a deadline and was glad that a friend was able to bring my items with him from Mali to Europe and send to Switzerland. Lifefair is around the corner, where I’ll be at the Faircustomer exhibit. Getting the word out, preparing products, there’s a lot to do!
I was very happy to see the artistic expression on some of my new eco containers. Let’s see what customers think. I’m obsessed with the possibility of natural and/or recycled material packaging. There are so many options to explore. So far I’ve got calabash, hide, and aromatic grass, but it’s all at the infant stage. Let’s cross our fingers that I’ll be able to go to Mali this year for a few days and work on it some more.
Why am I doing this you may ask? I’ve ranted in previous postings: there’s so much plastic in the world, too much superfluous packaging. I don’t see a future in it. Not one where people, animals and wildlife can prosper. Since living in Mali, I realized that “poor” countries are not poor, they are poorly managed. There are amazing natural resources everywhere. If we’re creative, we can benefit from them and put ourselves on a sustainable path.
Summer is winding down in the norther hemisphere. It is always interesting to observe the rhythm of life and what it is tied to. Around here it is the school calendar. When summer vacation comes along traffic becomes lighter, and the streets a bit emptier as many head off on holiday. My life too is beginning to take on this rhythm with my son now attending preschool.
Life in other places follows the agrarian calendar. While looking into finally returning to Mali to work on more products, I realized that it’s best to not go during the rainy season because most of the people I’d need to visit will be in the fields planting.
Actually the seasons play a role in product development and delivery in my line of business too. Cooperatives spend more time during non-planting season working on other income generating activities. It’s especially important for me to keep this in mind when collaborating with them so that I respect their schedule and avoid disappointments if they cannot deliver on time.
Those in developed countries might not readily think of this because they are no longer closely linked with agriculture and, to be honest, do not live on subsistence level.
There is a lot on YouTube, isn’t there? I am always amazed at the information one can find.
I just came across an episode of the Daily Grommet where they highlight Arghand soaps “Pebbles” variety bag. I appreciate the detail the moderators delve into about the look and feel of the soap. Equally important they succinctly explain the difficulties the cooperative struggles with. So glad it was brought to a larger audience!
As an update from the Thai cooperative, the women are doing well. I spoke to the New Zealand couple, Dave and Kerry, who helped the cooperative create and launch the products. Dave and Kerry had been instrumental in helping the ladies to have an international market as the cooperative members do not speak English.
A few months back though the couple repatriated to New Zealand. I wondered how the cooperative would fare after their departure. Turns out they are all doing great, and business in Thailand is good enough that they can focus mainly on local sales which the women can manage completely.
I learned that although the cooperative has more than 10 members, four women are dedicated to the Yonjai Spa product line, and others handle gift boxes, photo albums, and other products. This explains sometimes why I was told there would be quite a wait during their busy times!
I asked if the cooperative had any plans for expansion, since I see many possibilities for the lovely products. No, they told me, the women do not want to grow. They are satisfied with each person having full-time work.
Then my thoughts returned to the current talk these days of “sustainability”; a term that can mean something different to pretty much anyone who uses it. In this case though the women have struck their perfect balance and are getting along completely independently from the expat couple. And that perhaps, is the best example of sustainability. It can be small, as long as it works for the people who are involved.
Recently someone contacted me about the Thai bath mitts, and said she was very interested in “craft development”. I have to admit that I had no idea what she was talking about.
Then as millions of us do, I took it to google, and lo and behold got lots of information. My take on it is that people work with local artisans and alter their products it in some way to appeal to tastes in the developed world so that the artisans can sell more and thus become self-sufficient.
On the surface this seems super. For example I used to work with a small group of women in Mali to crochet change purses out of used plastic bags. Another take on this I saw a while back was a large beach bag also made out of recycled plastic bags.
However that cynical voice in me asks why we are having them change their style for us and the hopes of mass consumption? Granted, this is a very esoteric and rather whiney question when the reality is that people in developing countries are struggling to survive day to day and simply seek income. I place a high value on authenticity when sharing culture as is reflected in the Africa line, and only make modifications such as the size of my wusulan burner to fit ‘inside living’. Or the aromatic grass basket soap holder to make it easier to place in the shower.
I read an interesting article: http://www.chfinternational.org/files/craftscenter/craftsnews/CraftsNews66_lo-res.pdf
It was fascinating to see the impact on craft development with bogolan (or mudcloth) in Malian culture. There are so many layers to this culture it’s amazing. For example, I just learned that bogolan, like wusulan, is traditionally a women’s activity. I used to pass artists working on large bogolan projects, but never saw women doing it and never knew it was theirs originally. Not to mention the sublime motifs and imagery!
This is when that cynical voice arises – bogolan, unlike recycled plastic bags, is a centuries old tradition passed on between women in Mali. However as the international appetite for all things exotic blossoms, how far should artisans stretch to sell something?
I wonder if artisans can remain true to the authenticity of their cultural motifs and also reach a larger audience. Perhaps by including a story with each item? Shouldn’t we be the ones to accept something that is unusual to our sensibilities yet real and unique?
Recently I’ve been researching expeller press machines for a project Sarata and I are working on. I’ve learned that India is quite the leader in exploiting all kinds of seed oils such as sesame, peanut, mustard, and even cottonseed oil for cooking. They also use the left overs from the process to supplement livestock feed. How cool is that?
It became ever more present to me how many similarities there are between India and Mali: weather conditions (a long hot dry season followed by torrential flooding rains), plants and trees, etc. However India is far ahead in rural development and making appropriate technology accessible to the masses. It reminds me of what Dan Nocera at MIT is promoting as personalized energy, but that is a separate blog entry.
One particular site I visited recently (www.tinytechindia.com) caught my attention not just for the cute name but that they devote an entire section of their website to Gandhi’s teachings on the topics of industrialization, mass production, village versus city, machinery and western civilization.
As I read it I was astonished at the truth of Gandhi’s predictions in today’s world, and wanted to share it with you. I found it sad that we ‘lived up’ to what he saw coming.
Perhaps we can return to some of his views to reconstruct a sustainable society. What do you think? I’m going to read further.
