Sustainable Projects?

We grew it, we ate from it and now ...
    it's a thing of beauty supporting the next crop.

by Jackie

April 2015

We've been in Cambodia over two years now. Something has been bothering me but I didn't quite know what it was.

Foreigners come and start up projects for local people to learn some craft or other as a means of creating a livelihood for the very poor in this city and country. Some products get sold locally but most fill orders from abroad.

How many more purses does the Western world actually need?

 

Aluminum can tabs imported by the ton to make clutches, purses and placemats?
How much cheap beaded jewelry can Westerners buy and stockpile?

The above illustrated products are from a project called WOW. This project has GREATLY improved the lives of a whole community and is expanding to another community. Children are being fed, educated, health issues dealt with and they are being shown care and love. Their Mothers and GrandMothers are now self-employed and growing in maturity and self-confidence. It is wonderful to behold the difference a few years and a lot of love can make.

- I am not questioning the importance of such projects.

Quality goods (quilts, clothing, soap, jewelry) I can see meeting a Western, or even a local, need. The cheap stuff which most Western Preschoolers and Elementary Sunday School kids happily produce and take home to put on the fridge; Do we really need to teach them this? I suppose you need to start teaching the basics before you can teach quality goods production. Hopefully you let the people know that is what you are doing and not lead them into thinking this small skill will bring big bucks!

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So here I was, sick with a cold, slow brained and tired, puttering away at stuff in my garden. I wanted to make something with the Wing Bean vines I was about to pull off the trellis on our fence.

Mature Wing Beans on their trellis. Time's Up! Now what do I do with you? 

I really don't like to see anything go to waste around my home.  A half hour of perusing the internet and I was inspired to make an OBELISK.

I had some Coconut Palm spines standing in a corner waiting to become useful. The leaves had been chopped off and chopped up for mulch in the garden.

I tied 5 long straight spines together at the top. I carefully pulled Wing Bean vines off their trellis and wove them around the coconut spines. Some were too dry and crumbled to pieces. I learnt that if I soaked them for about 2-3 hours they became much more pliable and easy to weave. I used up all the Wing Bean vines. 

My obelisk is finished. I set it aside to dry beside the woven panel I finished last week. That one took over a year to make and contains at least four different kinds of vining plants.

Several people have shown an interest in having an obelisk of their own. I was excited to see what I would grow on my new obelisk and pleased at my creative genius! :-}

We grew it;

We ate from it;

We harvested it;

... and now it's a thing of beauty which will soon support the next crop.

 ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

How do we Westerners teach sustainability as opposed to dependency?  All those beads must be imported. The jewelry components must be imported. The fabric is imported. What can we teach that can be sustainably produced locally? How can we teach sustainable living at all?

IDEAS of biomass products:

obelisks, shelters, baskets, figurines and statues, fencing,

woven coconut palm branches - toys, fans, baskets, (like in Hawaii)

coconut coir sandals and shoes, coir mats,

planters from felled palm tree trunks,

compost.

All made from local materials which are currently being burned on every street in this city.

- The raw materials could easily be obtained or grown anywhere in the city!

It's not that a local craft person would sell these to foreign markets, but would there not be a local market for such items?

- Siem Reap now has a Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings.

- Shinta Mani Hotel hosts its "Made in Cambodia" Market every weekend now.

- Surely a local entrepreneur could find a street corner to sell his artwork?

- Or a plant nursery could partner to feature and market local artisan work?

People around the world grow and process and create products and artwork unique to their own countries.

- Is it because of the horror of the recent past that Cambodians have few such products?

- How do we help them redevelop their past rich heritage or develop a new, sustainable one?

- Artisans d'Angkor seem to be doing it right. Why are there not more like them?

See:  http://www.artisansdangkor.com

How do we facilitate local people to become self-reliant and self-sustainable in a local economy and eventually world-wide?

So now I've put into words what has been on my mind.

- Is there anything more I, or anyone else, can do?

- Are we on a roller coaster ride of dependency and patronage?

- Is it too late to get off?

What do you think?

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I have planted more Wing Beans in the same spot. What shall my next project be?