The early morning Northern Laos sky was a brilliant blue as an European, an American and 10 Lao gathered on a point of land at the base of the massive Kuang Si waterfall for a workshop on using nearby forest products to add color to Earth’s Greenest Bag™. After exchanging greetings and sharing fresh organic coffee grown 500 km south in the landlocked Southeast Asian nation, the group moved into the surrounding jungle to find the bark of a special tree that would be the source of the color for the first natural dye. The temperature was comfortable thanks to a thunderstorm an hour earlier. The smell was sweet from a multitude of Lao jungle flowers. As the roar of...
The Netherlands Senior Expert Ineke Poort-Van Eljk, Bag Crafter Pa Sa, Consultant/Volunteer Vandara, Bag Crafter Som confer before a workshop session. For Nature Bag crafters Pa Sa and Som, the 5 day trip to learn about using natural colors in the stain-resistant JungleVine® fiber of their bags was a major life experience. Although the journey from their rural villages to near UNESCO World Heritage Luang Prabang took only a day, neither had ever been so far away from home or away from home for so long. Pa Sa had traveled 80 km (64 mile) to a Khmu village near her provincial capital of Oudomxai 6 years ago to be a bag crafting trainer for a United Nations Industrial...
Each month, we post a different Nature Bag Crafter interview so our readers can see how beneficial the Nature Bag Khmu/Laos Poverty Reduction Project is and learn more about the Khmu crafters of the eco-friendly tote. Ounkahm: How old are you? Pia: I am 48 years old. Ounkahm: How many children do you have Pia: I have 5 children. Ounkahm: How many in your family help you make Earth’s Greenest bag? Pia: Only two, myself and my oldest daughter. Ounkahm: What do you do with the finished bag? Pia: hmm… I sell, trade for clothes, blankets, bed sheets or anything that is needed for my family. Ounkahm: How long have you been creating Nature Bags? Pia: I have...
Volunteer Sack is on a 6 week trip through 3 Lao provinces to identify villages where the skill to make Earth’s Greenest Bag™ still exists. “I am trying to anticipate the need for increased bag production as global demand grows,” said Sack from Houay Xay, on the Lao/Thailand border. “My journey will take me into remote areas ordinarily accessible only to Khmu people,” he said. Already there was enormous pay-off during the first week when Sack located people who had worked with Khmu villages on producing handicrafts nearly 15 years ago. They were able to provide much information about distant villages so that he could plan his itinerary. “The timing of my trip is critical because many villages...
'Teach them to love the insects' When the Dalai Lama was asked the most important thing to teach children, his response was (reportedly) "teach them to love the insects". It's not uncommon to fear or loathe insects and "creepy crawlies". It's not an instinctive thing; rather learned behavior in many cases. Just as beauty among humans is often perceived based on what society dictates rather than the eye of the beholder, so to is it in regard to other creatures on our planet. Our views may also be shaped through limited experiences with a species. I remember seeing an experiment many years ago where a harmless spider was placed in the presence of a mother and very young child....
