Nangi Second Input

It's post monsoon, holidays for the biggest festival of the year... and there is a lot of field work to be done before the dry season.

Nevertheless, my unexpected arrival to check the progress of Kitaab (Book) making, proved satisfying for both parties. I was excited to see their creative initiatives, just as excited to see the quality kept high, and even more excited to see their enthusiasm to start work again after farming work subsides.
I cannot be anything but proud of Nangi village, and learn from their commoradory, independance, and exclusion from some cultural barriers. I am dedicated to the continual support and excited to try a similar model with another village.

I feel as though working with women tends to domino the community projects, with understanding of such priorities as education, sanitation, agriculture and health.

... I could be nothing but comfortable.

Products

It is with pleasure that I present our first season of products...

BORIS;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

This particular notebook is coloured with walnut bark and a local fern.
All are blank inside.
20 gram paper, about 100 pages.
Sizes range from 15x15cm to 18x20cm



More BORIS, printed with ancient fabric block prints.

ACCORDIAN;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Great for traveling, as you can pop it on your wall at the end.
Most have 20 pages of 40 gram paper.
Sizes range from 15x15cm - 22x22cm

just a few examples- more colours, prints and shapes to come.

First Season

Nangi Village - A successful small enterprise which generates income through traditional artistic skills. . . Income that sustains a number of women's families, as well as contributes to the local school of Nangi village..... I have a lot of faith in this school. It is supported by Himanchal Education foundation. - http://www.himanchal.org/ which have tremendously sustainable ideas. Where internet access is their main success.

The hand made journals in this village have come from the abundance of Lokta tree which is located in the jungle on our doorstep. Resources are naturally regenerated, organic, and totally sustainable.

Production of the paper and books is very casual. If women chose to come and work, we welcome them, and they receive a daily wage. We also think it is pretty important that their home environment is not jeopardized. Collecting grasses for animals and general farm maintainability takes up a significant chunk of their day.
One thing to consider here would be to decrease the home labor by producing better grasses and researching some relevant environmental changes.

Pumdi Village

SEPANA (DREAM) NEPAL. 

The contrast in Nangi village to Pumdi village is both inspiring, shocking and motivating. I walk down to a much less physically demanding environment. Where the cultural barriers are far higher for me. There is a different understanding of development here... maybe the result of being close to Pokhara city where tourism is what the city strives on. Whatever it be - I am still learning about it and any such thought I pass here - are MINE and not justified by anything more than my experiences. 

Sapana Nepal works in Pumdi, and do much more than inspiring education. Sepana Nepal looks ahead into keeping things sustainable. I want to help this. I want something long lasting.... and I want somet

hing FUN.... What is fun - time, an experience... A FEELING ... and state of mind. 

So far Sapana has done a good job in developing the creative mind and introducing colour. That in itself for me is incredibly exciting. 

We have played around with some Batik here on possible marketable items in Australia. At this stage I hope to go home with some samples, tests, development and positivity. And I feel in the future there are big possibilities for a womens program here. The biggest feat is gaining trust in what we are selling. I would be ever so happy to work along side these women.

HARVESTING IN THE JUNGLE

For practical reasons, I wasn't going to take a camera into the jungle to harvest... So this is my latter impression of what it was....

My harvesting skills were by no means up to scratch to these women, but I feel it was important to see and understand exactly the work that goes into the Lokta harvesting... It's no easy task. We walk all day and cut for the middle part. The jungle offers a lot more than Lokta- it has an ancient spirit.

First days

THE NEPALI KETI'S HAVE ARRIVED! 

These Nepali women are a pleasure to spend time with. I started out a tad frightened, and now - day 2, have snuck out of the lesson to pour my excitement onto the page. I - once again, feel perfectly comfortable. The only barrier being my stomach and it's cravings for salad and fruit!!! 

Day one was at first a shock to try and understand where we must start from. I felt a communication barrier, and exhausted by the end of it. Labeling it as work, not life.... which I wasn't impressed with.  In redemption, today they have surprised me with little accordian books they've made, and open critisism of their work. Fabulous! Mind you the most important thing was that I felt a relationship growing today. I'm not separate from them, I am with them. 

Today we simply played.. I tried to gauge where each lady wanted to be creatively and who was simply more passionate about boiling the potatoes for lunch. We played with colour, sewing, cutting, folding and drank tea! 

It feels great. Just day two, and who have something to work with... some communication skills growing and feel confident about an income! 

OUR life is bliss! Take a deep breath! 

It's Nangi again - and it's cold. But this time, I don't mind. The cold is something that bothers us when there's no substitute for warmth. I feel cold, when I feel like nothing is happening around me. This can happen anywhere! My point- Nangi is a bustling place of development. There is Muthi working in the community gardens to replant jungles in the region. There are sewing groups by the mothers, there are museums going up, there are yaks nearby to harvest and milk, even maybe make cheese... and ofcourse there is Loktha - the wonder paper which - to my delight, is beautiful to paint on as well as being sustainable, and durable!

My progress here has been solo at this stage, as the women have some serious farming to get on with. Next week, or tomorrow, who knows... there will be some eager women to join me in my painting experiments, printing and just being creative with what fabulous opportunities we have here. It is an absolute pleasure to get my creative mind going, in the foothills of the Annapurna range with good hot tea on tap.

My sewing experience is put to trial here... If anyone has used a peddle sewing machine, it is actually harder than you expect. The rhythm is everything! This is something, as well as straight cutting (all paper is cut by hand- so if anyone comes across a gillertine in Nepal- I pay a good price!!!!!) that the women in Nangi put me to shame on.

Nearby, I am also lucky enough to have a Nettle weaving village. Just typing this makes me excited. A NETTLE WEAVING VILLAGE>>>> supported by UNDP- income generation is what they do! 

http://www.undp.org.np/

I can trust them, and clearly from my expedition today with wise Muthi,

 I could see they are doing humble things with no obligation to commit to anything or anyone. What I want to do- is encourage what more we could do here. There are opportunities to employ more than 8 women I know! This product is beautiful.... natural, unique and multifaceted. Soon you'll be writing in natural books, wearing your nettle garment in some finely embroidered slippers.... all made with love!

I like this place a lot. think I could make it a home... Not a stop over place to learn and move on having "experienced"... I think rather- it is a place to continue coming back to. I would rather be somewhat blended or even unnoticed, than be a "volunteer" to play, and excite people for a few weeks. That stuff annoys me a tad... maybe because I know it's not sustainable - that excitement unfortunately, few people hold forever. Sounds negative, but I don't mean it that way. I just want something more long lasting.... NOT like this cold....