After a couple of posts about our learning, we thought it would be interesting for people to hear about our teaching! 
Twice this year, we have taught groups of women who have been touring Eastern Nepal to learn about different handicrafts. We called them paryatak-haru or the trippers. (After their visit we called them didis - sisters!)
We think this is good for them and good for us!! They have a lot of fun learning about polymer clay and they get to meet us and learn a little about our lives. We get paid for our lesson and can improve our teaching, planning and English. They said that the time in Birtamod was a special part of their holiday and that they loved to make beautiful jewellery to remind them about their journey. Some wanted to stay longer with us and they are already planning when they come again to visit us.
It is very special for us to be teachers. We know we have improved a lot and Cynthia didi told us this too. We all worked together to design the project and plan the lesson. We practised teaching the steps and thought what questions people might ask us. We thought how long each part would take and made samples to show what we mean and a kit for each person. Each of us taught one step of the project-Pramila was first and explained about polymer clay. Some of our visitors knew a lot about polymer and others had never used it before. Sita had the longest part of the lesson where she explained the hardest part of the
project and was very encouraging. We hope our new sisters will love to wear their jewellery and remember us whenever they wear it.
Not so many words but some photos of our graduation. We were so lucky that Arcadia, Terry, Wyoming Wendy, Cynthia, Angie, Cathy, Sacha, Louise and Bishnu were there to see our proud time. We are very happy with our certificates and photos!!
The last few days have been so special and we feel very loved. Not only by our sister Cynthia and all our visitors in the group, but also by people a long way away who have been so generous to us and loved us so much. We have been given some wonderful things that will mean we can do things differently and in better ways. We are very grateful to Carolyn for her colour system which will help us when we are all talking about colours and we will all know the same thing. We will spend a long time to make this and will keep it very organised.
Rob and Wilma sent us an extruder which we thought looked like a gun. We didn’t know
how it could be an extruder but now we know and we want to use it to work on some new products. We are so happy that they thought we might like this.
Carol Simmonds and Craig Brodahl are being very very generous to make it possible for us to buy one of their slicing machines in a way we can afford. We don’t have words to say thank you for this. This machine had some big adventures getting here from America and we are glad that things worked out because it could have been not so good but now it is here. Because of what we have learned from Cynthia Didi we have lots of ideas about how we can use this. We will have special people who will use the machine.
And there are people who have made donations or who are asking us about our things. We are learning all the time about how to sell our work better and hope that more people will be able to purchase it. And we are learning so much about how much care there is.
PS We are having problems uploading some photos but will as soon as we can!
Cynthia Tinapple of Polymer Clay Daily spent two days training some of the ladies in a variety of techniques and projects. It was a wonderful time and this is a translation by Kopila of what the ladies said about the training.
We heard so much about Cynthia and we were anxious about what it would be like to
learn from someone who was so well known. First day, when we saw the bangles we were SO excited to make it but wondered if it would be very difficult to make it like her bangles. But we could because she gave us such clear directions.
At first we were confused about
how the squares and triangles would end up being like the bangles but she went person to person and was careful to explain to us. She told us to use a piece of paper to measure and that made it easy for us. Slowly we got the idea what does it look like and why we were making with that paper. We watched so carefully what Cynthia was doing and she was sitting cutting each of the squares and triangles and then we did same. We were near to finishing making bangles and we cut the strips and put them onto the brass forms. Then it was ready and we made one or two bangles each and the special thing was that 
we were able to wear them and could show our friends and family and they all appreciated the bangles and the designs and the work we have done.
Today when Cynthia and I went to buy vegetables the lady selling the vegetables was so surprised to see the bangles and earrings and could hardly believe that we had made them. And I was so proud because generally we wear the bangles that we buy from the market but now we are making our own bangles. 
Even though they are a little big for our wrists, we don’t want to take them off.
Here is some wonderful news for our Australian friends (we hope we can go international next year!). The indefatigueable Kate Rotherham had the fantastic idea of getting some Christmas cards made using our wonderful nativity figures. (I was going to write something here about how the amazing Kate does this while tending to her clan, building a house and writing prize winning short stories but she would really hate me to say that I think. We just hope she knows how very, very grateful we are to her for her energy, drive and enthusiasm and for being a really wonderful friend to Samunnat for a long time!) The cards are lovely and we thank Naomi from Argyle Images for the photo.
Kate’s photo of the cards doesn’t really do them justice (she’s a writer not a photographer) but hints at how gorgeous they are in real life. And, as our output of actual natitivities is low this year (stand by for next year!!!) these cards will be a great substitute.
The cards come with a matching envelope and are blank inside for your personal message. There is some brief info about Sammunat printed on the back of the cards. All proceeds from the sale of these cards will go directly to Sammunat. They cost:
10 cards (with envelopes) for $15.
25 cards (with envelopes) for $30
50 cards (with envelopes) for $50
Cards can be collected from Albury/Wodonga/Yackandandah areas or can be posted elsewhere for an additional cost. For more information or to order cards please email Kate Rotherham at kateandroo@hotmail.com
Some good things have been happening for several of the ladies who attended our training last year. Cases have slowly been resolved with compensation paid and this has enabled some of them to establish some small businesses (little shops, tailoring etc). Others have been abe to purchase some land and others have moved back with family as they are not dependent on them. The women have started a small cooperative that is entirely separate from Samunnat and they make decisions together about microfinancing small loans and supporting others in need. It is really encouraging to see this happening.
A few months ago, in response to water problems that were not being addressed by our landlord, we moved (yet again) and our new office is wonderful. We are on the ground floor of this blue building which is quite a landmark as you can imagine. Most of the rooms are light and airy and there is more space than we had before. We have two taps INSIDE the building and water comes out of both of them. And sometimes we have impromptu dance concerts right outside the door (see the top photo) We are excited that this will be ready for the visitors who will be arriving over the next few weeks. (And won’t there be some breathlessly excited posts then!!!)
The ladies who make the clay jewellery are going from strength to strength and are now working on some of their own designs. Ambhika and Gita were both thinking along similar lines with a bead shape that we all loved and thought might look good repeated in a necklace. Gita taught us how she shaped the beads, learning how to give the instructions clearly enough that we all did the same thing and then we made some prototypes. This was followed by a design team meeting, some discussions about what made the really good beads good and then Gita proudly modelled the results.
On 17th September Monday evening at 6.23 o’clock we were terrified by the earthquake that measured 6.8 on the Richter scale. Its epicenter was in eastern Nepal in the hills of Taplejung and Sikkim (India) so this is where most damage
occurred. o’clock we were terrified by the earthquake that measured 6.8 on the Richter scale. Its epicenter was in eastern Nepal in the hills of Taplejung and Sikkim (India-the photos are of Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim) so this is where most damage occurred.
In Nepal, we have had a disastrous earthquake every 30-50 years. There were geological predictions of a big earth-quake in Nepal any time so we are worried: May be this was the one or still is there another?
This earth quake damaged 100 houses in the hills and around 10 people has lost their life including children and old people who died from the shock of quake and fear. 3 people were crushed by the United Kingdom Embassy high wall in Kathmandu and 2 people in Dharan. The rest were from Sankhuwasabha. There still may be some damage and people may be missing because of land slides in hills from the earthquake and heavy monsoonal rain fall. There is no access for rescue and no information so we think
although what we have found from the news and friends it seems small disaster, the reality is different.
Now we are getting news about the school buildings being damaged and students are studying in the grounds. Many people are homeless. Slowly government is providing basic things. We are so scared for many days – especially kids were so afraid during night time. Even with a big sound of machine we run out of the house. Our news channels and newspapers write articles and interviews about high risk of earthquake in Nepal so it make us so terrified just counting our days to live life.
The ladies feel like they are having a second chance at life and don’t take one day for granted.
It has been quite a whirl since our Exhibition in Sydney which was a great success. People loved our jewelry and the response was almost overwhelming. Robin, the curator of the gallery has kept many pieces to sell and ordered some more so we are very happy!
Another high point this month was when Kopila and Binod Basnet were able to come to Australia and meet some of Samunnat’s Australian supporters. This was an opportunity that we thought may never happen so it was a very special time.
Kopila is our Program Coordinator and she was able to give messages from the ladies back home to people who have encouraged us for such a long time. Already an absolute dynamo, she has returned with renewed inspiration and energy to continue the work.
The really wonderful thing is that she and Binod to ok back to Nepal with them funds, raised by the ladies themselves, to go towards ongoing training and empowerment.
Recently, requests to provide training have had to be postponed due to lack of funds but now these trainings can be provided. So many small communties have heard about Samunnat and are asking Kopila and the ladies to come and share their knowledge and experiences. Now they can!
They say a picture speaks a thousand words so we calculated that a few will get us up to date with blog entries!?
Many of us here were very preoccupied with getting ready for our Sydney Exhibition at Flourish Arts in Birchgrove. It was a fabulous fun occasion.
Many people from all over NSW came to visit us at the launch, including some of the intrepid travellers from the Cultural tour last March.
Robin, the Exhibition curator, was SO encouraging and she was helped in preparation and sales by Petrea and Amanda. They made us feel like very special and valued artists and displayed the pieces so beautifully.
The Samunnat ladies wrote these comments to be read out at the launch.
Sita, a born saleswoman, said “Try our jewellery once. You will love to wear again. We create them with love“.
Mankumari, who has taken continuous quality improvement to heart said, “We had worked very hard for the exhibition so please tell us what you feel about our jewellery so we can do better next time.”
And Ambhika beautifully summed up the general feeling saying, “What we have made is there at the Exhibition. They are not only our jewellery, they are our life, and happiness. There is our hope.”
To which I could only add SPEND UP BABY! Here are some photos, including some of very happy customers wearing Samunnat creations proudly.
For those in Australia, there will be an exhibition of some of the ladies’ work at Flourish Arts Gallery in Birchgrove on two weekends, July 16/17 and July 23/24. Flourish Arts is run by a wonderful lady called Robin Hill. Here are a few pictures of the ladies’ work that will be available there-very special stuff as well as the usual suspects!
There will also be a class that incorporates one of the ladies stranded necklaces in the end product. Participants make beads to wear on the necklaces.
It is very special for us to be teachers. We know we have improved a lot and Cynthia didi told us this too. We all worked together to design the project and plan the lesson. We practised teaching the steps and thought what questions people might ask us. We thought how long each part would take and made samples to show what we mean and a kit for each person. Each of us taught one step of the project-Pramila was first and explained about polymer clay. Some of our visitors knew a lot about polymer and others had never used it before. Sita had the longest part of the lesson where she explained the hardest part of the
project and was very encouraging. We hope our new sisters will love to wear their jewellery and remember us whenever they wear it.
