Look good, feel good, do good

Nepal is a country where a lot of talk happens. That talk is not always followed by constructive action and the area of women’s rights and justice for women is certainly an area like this.

Laws to protect women’s rights have been passed but many have not been implemented and the story of one of the woman who recently turned to us for help is sadly typical.

She arrived very early one morning when, ironically, we were working on a chatty, happy blog entry about New Year’s Day. This stopped abruptly when she entered the room bleeding and crying.

Early that morning, her estranged husband had gone to the place where she was staying with her children and attacked her viciously with a heavy bottle. She was knocked unconscious and taken by neighbours to hospital where she had stitches and was kept until she regained consciousness. She approached us for support going to the police.

Kopila accompanied her to the police and the long process ahead of her described. It is not always easy and the process is sometimes made more difficult to perhaps dissuade people. Even at the best of times the process is time consuming and if the police agree to arrest the person, the victim has to contact the police to let them know when and where they will be able to make the arrest. The police do not take the initiative in making the arrest and it may not happen if the victim does not know the accurate whereabouts of the person. For a start.

Then, this woman, in her very vulnerable state, was advised about a “social worker” who, for a hefty fee which she can not afford, would “help” her go through the process. This is yet another form of exploitation and the process should not be so corrupt or difficult that this kind of thing is required. She paid the “social worker” and no doubt things will happen at the pace they would have happened at anyway. Justice may or may not be done.

Samunnat is committed to educating women about their rights and the processes so they are not so vulnerable. We do this via training programs and the media. The radio is a very effective way of doing this and the photo shows Kopila in action in a recent radio interview about women’s access to justice. You can tell it is a problem! There is still a VERY long way to go.

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Samunnat exists to support women who are victims of violence or vulnerable to violence. We are often approached by people with a huge range of problems but can’t always help given our tiny resources.

Maya (not her real name) recently arrived asking for support. While she is not directly experiencing violence, she is in a situation that is far from ideal and we are hoping to provide some support for her while we look for some more appropriate assistance.

Maya is a 23-year-old girl with terrible facial tumours. Surgery to partially remove these took place some time ago thanks to an organisation involved in support for medical procedures. It would appear though that the tumours are returning and there is no longer any medical intervention that would be of use. She has no family that we know of and is somewhat at the mercy of others who have “taken her in”. She is terribly vulnerable.

We wanted to see if there was something she could do at the Samunnat office although we currently have no training running. I walked with Maya to the office and witnessed the battle she goes through simply walking down the street each day. We chatted and she was just so brave and dignified.

One of the ladies began to teach her the scarf fringing and she was obviously struggling. It took me way too long to realise that “simply counting the beads” was beyond her because simply counting was beyond her. She had never been to school. I surreptitiously made a template for her to use but those ladies didn’t miss a trick and after Maya left they all said that it was not enough for her to learn how to do the scarf fringing. They asked what would be the best way to give her letters and numbers so she could feel better and be more independent. They wanted to help her so she could feel like them.

The next day, Kopila and our wonderful apron maker, Mina, spent all day with Maya and in time she was counting to ten. By the end of the day she was getting the fringing right by counting to ten three times and adding four! She cried when she left because it had been such a happy day for her. She felt so proud of herself and said she had loved eating with the ladies in the kitchen when they shared their tiffin for lunch.

Unfortunately, we are not selling a lot of scarves and the fabric we used to use is not available any more so we are looking for another more sustainable place where Maya can get training that will lead to a sustainable income and independence. Until then, she is coming to the office a few days each week and we are doing what we can with saris! Scarves anyone?

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Nepali New Year takes place in Baisakh which is in April.  And now it is the year 2068.  HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The ladies wanted to come in and work but how can you work on New Year’s Day?  And the days before had been very, very busy as we prepared to get things organized and made to send to wonderful folk in US and Australia to market for us.  (See how organized our office didn’t look while that was happening!

We decided to do something fun for OURSELVES!  The ladies were going to make a necklace they would keep.  Over the past few months, they had pored over polymer clay books that had been left in the office and there were two things they particularly wanted to learn.

One was how to make “faux” turquoise and the other was to make the petal mala from Lindly Haunani’s design in different colours, into a necklace THEY COULD WEAR!  And so we did.

It was a crazy, intense day because you had to fit eating special New Year food into the program and there were a few wedding anniversaries and birthdays thrown in there as well.  But we did it!  The ladies went home gorgeously garlanded and earringed and we felt we’d begun the New Year well.  We are still finding “faux” turquoise beads in surprising places-little bags popped aside ready for polishing and assembling

Now, it’s back to work!

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Intrepid travelers

Some of our regular readers will know that last month, a group of hardy Australian travellers, ranging in age from 50-ish to 79-ish, travelled around some less travelled eastern regions of Nepal to observe the many traditional and less traditional handicrafts that are flourishing there.

Among many other things, they delighted in intricate hand painted Maithili murals in Janakpur, saw (and purchased the odd one or five) fabulous traditional dakka weaving in the Himalayan foothills and, in a real highlight, had a polymer clay lesson from the ladies of Samunnat Nepal!  To say this was incredibly, mutually enjoyable would be a huge understatement.

Explaining the process

The travellers were expertly guided and encouraged so that they created their own unique piece of wearable art.  The ladies of Samunnat could ecstatically add “expert teachers” to the Confidence CVs and strong and generous connections were made across cultures, ages and experiences.

The Samunnat ladies had designed and prepared the lesson very thoughtfully and it was well paced and full of laughter and excitement when the travellers realised that they did in fact have some  ”creative bones” in their bodies.

They also gained a new respect for the expertise and commitment to quality that the Samunnat ladies demonstrated. Beads were completed and baked, matched with pote (seed) beads, then strung and proudly worn.

Giving encouragement

The travellers were also feted to within an inch of their lives, fed traditional Nepali fare and profusely thanked for carrying clay supplies from Australia.  And, even though she had spent the day keeping us all in line, Kopila could then whip up a culinary feast that we shared at her home with her family.  What a time we had.  Suffice it to say, on our departure, tears were shed!

Except for Wendy, the travellers will all be back in Australia by the time you read this.  We hope that their experiences has touched their lives in special ways and thank them for bringing such love and encouragement to ours.

Our next few weeks will be very intensive as we have a crash course in a few new designs and techniques and do some marketing in Kathmandu!  After that, the “really hot” weather starts and ouor creative output is somewhat limited.  As they say here, “Jum!” (Let’s go!)

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Bringing harmony to our room

Most of us know that there is nothing like a good “sorting out” when life threatens to get overwhelming and this is no difference here in Birtamod.  We have talked ceaselessly about these cupboards, made countless petals (thank you Lindly) and hoped fervently for good sales and now, to our great joy, our cupboards have been built and installed.  We have paid for two and will get two more as soon as finances allow!

We can’t believe what a huge difference it has made to organisation, stock management, available room and inner peace generally!  You will hear more about our “Cultural trip visitors in the next blog, but they carried lots of clay for us and we rapidly filled the space we had.  For now, look at this wondrous vision!

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This year we had 3 weeks of very cold weather so we have to drink few cups of tea daily in our office and had to buy warm clothes. Now this is February and the climate is not too cold nor hot.We still have to wear our scarf as usual.

We had our two months office time without Wendy didi, we feel a little lonely and had to run the office with confidence.

Some of the ladies wondered what work there would be to do if Wendy didi was not there and thought that the office had no work to give us but, as one lady said, “I was totally wrong. We had many things to do and we have work very hard. We had our continuous meetings. We do not have to stay back at home and put up with harassment.”

Some things were easier than the ladies thought, like maintaining the stock and making list of all the new products. Some felt that solving some problems was hard at first but Samjana thought that having to just get in there and do it was something to learn from.

For a long time we are waiting for our cupboard. We work very hard to buy it. Big thank you to all our friends who have supported us. Now we have our cupboard and we are very busy to keep our beads in order. Kumari has learnt to purchase required material like pote beads and silver from Dharan. She buys Dhaka and other stuff from the market. Soon the ladies hope they will be able to go to Kathmandu and buy our other stuff.

Now we have our display room in the office. Recently some of the local visitors came and order the mala (necklaces).Our ladies are so expert they deal with the buyers and match the polymer bead with the pote and make the matching earring and single strand mala. I (Kopila) am so happy that now they can deal with the buyers and the visitors.

As Pramila says, “We are working together and so close to each other. We respect and love each other.We always have our group discussion first and make our designs.”

January was very cold and schools had one week holiday. We decided to take our kids for the picnic so we took them to Satasi (a lovely spot with a waterfall and temple) and the Samunnat office arranged for it. Once again we missed our Didi but had a wonderful time!

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The last weeks of November and December were times of mixed feelings for everyone at Samunnat.  There were times of great excitement but also times of sadness as our oldest “didi” (the Australian one who loves saris) and our “dai” (her patient and long-suffering husband Malcolm) were heading back to Australia for some time and would be visiting a bit less often.

Before Wendy left, the ladies wanted to learn how to make the nativities and here are some of the things they had to say about that time of learning and farewelling:

“When I was learning to make Nativity sets I was very nervous thinking whether I could do it or not, but I did better than I think.  I have learned to think in a creative way.  Now I got the way to live my life being creative.” Pramila

“It was the day with a mixture of happiness and sadness.  Making Nativity sets was so exciting for us but thinking about didi leaving I felt like being without parents. But now I think we can make Nativity sets.” Gita

Working with the polymer clay has “…given meaning to my life with colour and art in my fingers.  At the last day of learning the Nativity sets, I felt very proud of myself. I love my Nativity sets.” Ambika

“At the end of the item of this year was Nativity I am very happy that I can make it.  I will try my best to make it again and I feel I can. Whenever I make my jewelry and I look at it and feel very happy.” Samjana

Sarmila encouraged us all to feel close in spite of the distance “…the most important thing is we are together with love and ready to help each other and be united. I feel I can be skillful. Now every time when we make jewelry we are all together.”

Kumari also described our new way of being and talked about her enormous excitement when we were featured in Polymer Clay Daily (a wonderful site for lovers of all things polymer that is created by our fairy blog mother Cynthia).

Kumari said, “I am very happy with my skill  and I have learn so many things.  We are encouraged with the ability now we have.  Wendy didi has one foot in Australia and the other is in Samunnat-she is not far from us .  I cannot believe when we saw our Nativity in our blog and the American website-we all were amazed.”

While Meena did not make nativity sets, she made the gorgeous little drawstring pouches where the figures live between Christmases.  She said, “I was busy with my case (sorting out her divorce case so she gets the money she is entitled to for her son) and I feel like I am part of the Nativities even though I was not making it but without my thaili (the drawstring purses) it was not completed. I was so happy to see my thaili with the sets.”

Sita said, “I was very nervous making Nativity sets but you encouraged us that we could do it.  Before, I didn’t know what I could do but now I have learned there are so many good ways and that so many people love us.”

Finally, Mankumari said, “I was very surprised when I made it.  After making the set, I was very proud of myself. Now I can make it.” She also said something which applies so much to all of you who read this blog and give us so much encouragement, “Your love and support has given us meaningful life and happiness.”

I (Wendy) will be back wearing saris and nagging again in April 2011.  In March I will be bringing a group of crafty ladies to Samunnat as part of their trip around some wonderful parts of eastern Nepal seeing some of the wonderful handicrafts of Nepal being made.  One of the highlights of the trip will be our visit to Samunnat I am sure!  We hope all of you have a wonderful year in 2011 and thank you for making 2010 a special year for us.

Naya Barsha subbha kamana!!!

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A lot has happened at Samunnat lately and we promise a good entry to keep everyone up to date. While you are waiting here are some photos of the Nativity sets that the ladies have been working on.

While some basic designs had been trialled, we had lots of fun adding very Nepali touches to the little family and their visitors.  You will of course note Joseph’s khukuri knife, Mary’s tikka, wedding beads and sindur and her expertly draped sari!

The special pouch they come in is made from Nepal’s ekdam number one fabric, dakka, and based on the design of the coin purses that the hill ladies stuff into their clothing.  Meena has worked so hard making these. We only have a VERY limited number of nativity sets available now and these are, we hope, heading to Australia!

Next year, they will be well and truly available internationally so let us know if you are interested. More soon…hope your run up to Christmas is calm and tranquil!

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Tihar - Dog Days

Our observant blog readers will note that it isn’t  long ago that we celebrated another festival. We are coming to the end of a very festivalled season. We had barely recovered from Dashain when Tihar was upon us.

Tihar is spread over several days during which crows, dogs, cows, oxen and finally brothers are celebrated. All but the crows (for obvious reasons) are garlanded with marigolds. Sisters give brothers small gifts and do a special puja for them. In return, brothers give gifts to sisters and the protective bond between them is cemented.

The other big puja during Tihar is Laxmi puja when homes are decorated with marigold garlands and tea lights or strings of electric lights to attract the goddess Laxmi, and her attendant wealth, into people’s homes. It is beautiful to walk the streets at this time which has coincided with beautiful clear, cool weather.

Each week brings new women to Samunnat and we are grateful that so many are hearing about us. Because competent, honest and free legal advice is available, many women are coming even if they have started down other channels. More and more of Kopila’s time is spent helping women through the minefield of the legal system here. Our flexibility is important to us too.

Recently, a woman wanted to pay in some way even though she could not afford it and it wasn’t required. It turned out she had some training we needed so we decided that in return for Samunnat’s legal support, she would come to the office when she could to help Sharmila with some computer aspects and to help some other ladies develop their Photoshop skills. A dignified arrangement that she was very happy with!

Scheduled design meetings

We’re having more regular meetings to give the ladies more and more control over what is happening. They are learning about agendas and keeping records and enjoying having more input. Ours is a very transparent organisation! They are learning how to use our orders and review stock to work out their program without having to wait to be told what to do next. They have great ideas which we will put into place as we can.

We will have monthly “design” days where, free from the pressure of meeting a specific order, we will explore a new technique or experiment with our own ideas. Training in these design aspects is so important. We have some books and we hope next year will bring input from various polymer clay and textile artists.

We’d planned that 2-3 times a year, if we could afford it, one of the ladies would accompany Kopila to Kathmandu to meet with ACP, our suppliers, some women’s support organisations and others so that they became more actively involved in the whole process. Independently, the ladies decided that for the price of one airfare, three of them could travel by bus (a crowded, sometimes arduous 15 hour bus trip) and that this would be better. Their plan is happening, we hope, in December. We will let you know how it goes!

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