Grandmother Power in Rural Thailand

We're excited to see the Kokkabok Group featured in the 2012 book by Paola Gianturco, GRANDMOTHER POWER: A Global Phenomenon. Paola contacted us to help her contact this grandmothers' weaving group after reading the article below. We were happy to help facilitate her visit in 2010. TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles works with many artisan groups made up of amazing grandmothers -- working to sustain their traditions, cultures, families and communities.

After Paola's visit, we were interested to see that the empowerment of grandmothers in the small, rural village in Northeast Thailand led to new organizing among the women a decade later. By initially forming themselves into a cotton producing group -- reclaiming their local heritage of cotton growing, spinning and weaving -- they were empowered to take on new challenges to their neighbours' health and local environment.

Paola writes:

The 43 members of the Kokkabok Group of Housewives Spinning Local Cotton, all grandmothers, are determined to stop the gold mining that has poisoned the air, water and earth, and made people sick on the other side of the mountain where they live in Northeastern Thailand. Committed to helping neighboring weavers, they designate a portion of their own income to them, then go to Bangkok to express their concerns to national officials. Local weaver grandmothers tell the whole story in GRANDMOTHER POWER.

Kokkabok Women's Cotton Group:
Organic Cotton Improves Village Life

Story by Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase. Photographs by Ellen Agger.

In 2001, a group of women in Ban Kokkabok, a village in Loei province, began to grow, spin and weave organic cotton. With the help of the Loei Development Foundation (LDF), they formed the Kokkabok Women's Cotton Group. This group shares resources, knowledge and support – and has made a real difference in the lives of its many members.

How do members participate?
Each group member does what she enjoys most. Members of the group:

• grow organic cotton and indigo (a plant whose leaves produce a lovely, natural blue dye, believed to have healing qualities)
• spin cotton fiber into thread
• dye cotton thread with indigo
• weave the cotton thread into towels, handkerchiefs and fabric for shirts and other clothing
• weave especially fine fabric for a line of organic cotton baby clothes produced by Panmai (a women's weaving cooperative in Isaan), marketed by Green Net

Together, members set fair prices for their work, set goals for the group and establish quality control. They sell their processed cotton thread to the group; members also buy thread from the group’s inventory to weave into various products. This is part of quality control, as well as a way for members to avoid tying up their capital. The group also recognized that it needs its own capital, so members have developed a savings plan (equivalent to 1/3 of every month's production) that can be paid in cash, cotton or indigo.

Why establish a cotton group?

The women wanted to improve their lives as well as preserve the quality of life in their village. After a visit to a women's group in Sakhorn Nakhorn, whose members dyed cotton but had no source for cotton yarn, the women in Kokkabok said, "Why don't we grow cotton?" After several years developing their skills at growing and processing cotton into thread, they have successfully revived a dying cotton industry in Loei, growing it in the traditional way without the use of chemicals.

"I am very happy because I can bring back the tradition of my parents and make them alive again. My children and grandchildren can learn about the process and do it as well." ~ Mae 'Oon, a group member
Why go organic?
The group members use traditional seed varieties of short-fiber cotton, in 3 natural colours, because these varieties are:

• easier to grow and spin than the previously popular hybridized varieties
• better suited for dry conditions
• more resistant to pests

The women save seed for the next year's planting to reduce their costs as well as to ensure that they continue to have a supply of traditional varieties. The group works with the village's Organic Farming Group to learn how to enrich the soil using herbal hormones and fertilizers, eliminating the need for chemical pesticides.

"I feel good in my body and spirit about growing and spinning organic cotton because I can wear shirts and clothes that are free of chemicals." ~ Mae Paeng, president of Kokkabok Women's Cotton Group

"By not using chemicals, the river in our village stays clean. There used to be lots of fish in the rivers, but after using chemicals the fish weren't there like before." ~ Mae 'Oon

Has the Kokkabok Women's Cotton Group been successful?

Yes! The group and its members take great satisfaction from their accomplishments:

The Kokkabok Women's Cotton Group is the pride of the annual Loei Cotton Blossom Festival (Dok Fai Ban).The group was the only local cotton-producing group to be part of the annual Loei cotton festival in 2004. It received the support of Loei's governor, who approved funds that helped the group bring cotton seeds to 40 other villages. The group will return to the festival in 2007 for the third time.

The group is growing. The group now includes women from a nearby village and has 44 members. In 2005, members of the group taught their cotton skills to women in 8 other villages and shared seeds. These villages now send their cotton to Kokkabok for weaving.

The market for the group's organic cotton products continues to grow.
Customers in Bangkok buy the organic cotton products from Green Net at the monthly ThaiCraft Fairs or at the Lemon Farm shops. International customers from Japan and elsewhere make large wholesale orders.

They are teaching the younger generation.



"The first and second graders can do all the steps. They competed in spinning. They learned from us and we're very proud. The teachers also praise this work and the students wear organic shirts every Tuesday to school. We're all proud." ~ Mae 'Oon

The members now have money of their own. Most of the group's members are farmers and supplement their income with the cotton work. Each member can earn as much as she has time to produce, giving the women an important source of money of their own. Many members say they are happy that they no longer have to ask their children for money to make offerings to the temple.

The group has built a healthy savings account. With group savings of over 100,000 Baht, the group has money for expenses such as equipment, training and travel expenses to visit other groups so they can continue learning and sharing their knowledge.

The group promises its customers high quality, organic goods. The group recognizes that people who buy their work need to be confident about the organic standards of their products. Although the group has not yet had its products certified organic by a recognized body (an expensive and lengthy process), a committee sets standards to ensure that members produce high quality, organic goods.

The group hosted a successful Organic Cotton Tour in 2006. With the help of Green Net and the LDF, members of the Kokkabok Women's Cotton Group opened their homes and their village to 33 visitors for a weekend of fun and learning in December 2006. They introduced the visitors (mostly from Bangkok) to the work behind the production of their cotton products. They welcomed them into their homes; demonstrated and taught how to pick, spin, dye and weave cotton; and shared their pride in their cotton work.

"I'm proud and happy that people come -- like this tour -- to see the work we're doing." ~ Mae Paeng

What are the challenges ahead?

Making cotton fabric is very labour intensive. It takes 10 days to produce 1 kilo of yarn. 5 kilos of yarn produces about 22 meters of fabric and it takes 12 kilos of yarn to make 40 towels.



The supply does not yet meet the demand.Many urban dwellers are concerned about health problems related to the use of chemicals. This is creating a growing demand for organic cotton products.

"There is more demand that we can meet. We can't produce as many products as ordered. But this isn't a factory -- there are many steps involved." ~ Mae Paeng

The younger generation may not continue the tradition. Most of the group members are in their 60s and 70s. Are their daughters – and granddaughters – interested in carrying on this revived tradition?

"They're interested and when they are free, they help. But they are busy making money selling lottery tickets. The granddaughters help when they can too, but they are busy studying. I want this to continue, but I don't know if the next generation will carry on with this." ~ Mae Paeng



In spite of these challenges, the Kokkabok Women's Cotton Group continues to grow and prosper.

5 Things You Can Do for Garment Workers

Just in time for World Fair Trade Day on May 11, 2013.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By Alleson Kase, co-founder, TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles

1. Learn the difference between what you need and what you want.
   If we all bought fewer things, we would have bigger budgets for essentials.
2. Support local farmers, craftspeople and economies when and where possible.
   A sweater that was knit locally was not produced in a dangerous sweatshop.
3. Bring your reading glasses shopping, if necessary, so you can read labels.
   Develop an awareness of what's in products and where they're made. Look especially for certifications such as "union-made," "fair trade" or "organic."
4. Ask for fairly traded and ethically sourced items from the stores you frequent.
   Independent local retailers can be more responsive than mega-stores like Walmart. If you feel it's necessary to shop at chain stores, take time to write to their CEO to express your concerns for workers' rights and environmental protection.
5. As global consumers, we can also learn more about global labour trends.
   The World Fair Trade Organization spells out 10 principles of fair trade and web sites like cleanclothes.org feature news and links for consumer campaigns.

 

Thai weaver works at her loom on her own schedule

Bangladesh garment factory disaster: wake up call?

Like you, we are following the news of the worst garment building disaster in Bangladesh's history and mourn for the lost lives and injured workers. Continue to ask where your clothes are made and under what working conditions. If they are cheap, there's a reason.

What can you do?

• Listen to CBC Radio One's Q host's essay on the factory disaster (April 26, 2013)
• Listen to CBC's Q interview with with the Wall Street Journals' Zain Mahmood about the factory building collapse in Bangladesh...and what has, or hasn't happened, locally and internationally, to improve the working conditions for those who make "fast fashion" for the West. (Look for the podcast link for April 26, 2013.)
• Read this: How can you tell if your shirt was made in a sweatshop?
• Listen to CBC's Q interview with Lucy Siegle, author of "To Die For." (2011)
• Listen online to a garment factory worker who survived the 8-story building collapse. Learn about the real working conditions and poor wages.
• Bangladesh: Sign this petition demanding Walmart sign onto the independent fire safety inspection program after the recent fire in the Bangladesh garment factory.
• Thailand/Burma: Read this excellent book about Burmese women migrant garment/textile workers in Thailand.
• Cambodia: Sign this petition to send a message to Cambodia’s big buyers H&M, Levis, GAP and Zara right now to tell them they must pay a living wage.

But consider that boycotts are not the answer because people who make our clothes need living wages. And safe, good working conditions.

Other alternatives to consuming fast fashion are:

• Write to and pressure companies that contract and sub-contract to fast fashion makers.
• Buy fairly traded clothing.
• Buy locally made clothing.
• Buy higher quality clothing less frequently.
• Buy used.
• Sew your own.

Canadian designed & sewn jacket using fairly traded fabric from Thailand

Enjoy photos from Thailand, Laos & Burma

Get a taste of our travels through our Facebook Photo Albums (open to all, not just Facebook users):

• Thailand/Laos Trip 2012-13
  Follow Ellen's photo journal of this year's trip.

• Burma/Myanmar 2013
  And explore this newly opening country with us.

• Buddhist Architecture in Burma
  Enjoy a selection of black and white photographs.

• Textile Visits: Thailand, Laos & Myanmar/Burma 2012-2013
  Learn about local weaving groups, lotus silk and fair trade.

Supporting children's literacy in Laos

Another book party sponsored by TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles (thanks to our customers) was held on Jan. 7, 2013 in Ban Naborn, a village in rural Laos. At the end of the party, held at the village school, all the kids got a free book of their own in the Lao language, nearly always the first book they've ever owned. Then the book party team left more books with the school, so they can trade their book for a different one after they've read it. Big Brother Mouse left a total of 221 books.

Here are a few pictures from that day. On the Big Brother Mouse website, there's a fuller description of what happens at each of these events.

From Big Brother Mouse:
"It was an exciting day for all of the children, and we expect many of them will always remember it -- both because they had fun, and for the magic of opening a fun book for the first time, and discovering the new world that opens up. Thank you for making this possible!"

Big Brother Mouse held book parties in more than  900 rural schools in 2012 – up from 544 in 2011. In 2012 alone, more than 270,000 books were donated to children in Laos! If you'd like a PDF copy of the 2012 Annual Report from Big Brother Mouse, truly an inspiration on literacy development, we'd be happy to send you one. Email us with your request.

Sponsor your own book party (or the publication of a new book) and make a difference in the life and future of a child in Laos.

Wildcrafted Fibres From Laos

Muang La, Oudomxai: After 3 days of travel – bus to Chiang Khong, boat to Pak Beng, bus to Oudomxai – we knew we needed at least 2 nights in Oudomxai (also spelled Oudomxay, Udomxai, Udomxay, Muang Xay, Xay Town). However, we're having such a good time in the heart of Northern Laos, that we've already extended our stay here to 4 days.

On Day 2, we rented a Chinese motorbike (a Zongshen Cub, 100 cc semi-automatic 4-speed) and traveled up to Muang La, said to be one the fave places of Joe Cummings (of Lonely Planet fame). It was great riding through an undulating, narrow river valley with lots of agricultural diversity and as many ethnic groups.

We didn't find the recommended Buddha footprint en route but we did find a local handicraft shop specializing in Khmu bark weaving. We've been wondering for years where a particular type of net bag comes from. Now we know!

“Bark” is a bit of a misnomer. There were actually products made from 2 types of wildcrafted fibres that involve lots of processing and we bought some of both, of course.

The first is what Europeans once knew as bast. Long ago there, it was made from the inner bark of the linden tree. It’s likely what ropes on Viking ships were made from. As you might guess, it’s not used much anymore. Except here in Northern Laos there’s apparently lots. Here it’s called yaboi or lavang. (One’s allegedly female, the other male, but we didn’t get into that.)

Anyway, the Khmu people in Laos have long made fibre by processing the inner bark found between the outer bark and the woody core (technically, the nutrient-rich phloem from the dead epidermis and inner xylem) of their chosen tree – a labour-intensive process involving a really sharp knife and much patience.

Stripped Yaboi bark, pounded

This must be dried, pounded, split into very thin strips and then twisted by hand, usually by rubbing it along a Khmu woman’s leg and then twisted again to join it into a continuous “yarn.” This can then be woven into narrow bolts of fabric, generally about 5 metres (or 6 yards) long.  Depending on the season and the tree (remember that gender thing?) the colour will vary from off-white to deep brown.

So, we bought 2 rolls of this fiber, about 32 cm wide and 6 metres long, to make…something unique.

We also found those net bags we’d seen in markets and souvenir shops (without provenance so we've never bought them before).

This time we know where they came from, right down to the village, and how they were made. They’re made from kudzu vine, which the Khmu call kheuapiad.

Harvesting wild Kheupiad vine ("jungle vine")

Rather than the invasive species we consider it in the West, this jungle vine has long been used by Khmu people to make fishing nets and netted bags. Unlike in Japan, where only the root is used for fibre, the upland people in Laos use the inner fiber. Like kudzu, it’s a time-consuming process to strip, dry, split and twist this into a workable fibre. 

Traditionally, the resulting fine twine is netted with a piece of bamboo fashioned into something resembling a crochet hook. Like yaboi, it can be woven on a backstrap loom into narrow fabric. It can also be dyed as yarn before the final product is made.

No surprise that when we headed back to Oudomxai town, the bike was more loaded than when we set off. Before going back, though, we had Lao PDR (please, don’t rush) lunch at a local café that allowed us to sample some the many vegetables we’d seen growing along the route. We also took time to stick our fingers in the local hot spring and, last but not least, stop at the Buddhist temple across the river that locals regard as THE destination for supplicants.

On our way out, Ellen noticed some young women and men dressed in ethnic dress too perfectly matching to be anything but staged. We followed them to the edge of a grassy area overlooking the river below and, sure enough, they were performing traditional Khmu songs and dances being recorded by a professional cameraman...and Ellen, of course.

We have greatly enjoyed our time here in Oudomxai, the heart of Northern Laos, especially our discovery of new, interesting, wildcrafted fibres.

[Thanks to the Productivity and Marketing Center (PMC) for their generous sharing of many of the photos shown here and for much of this information about the making of these products. They support Village Productivity Groups and provide a link to potential customers. We bought some fibre products from the PMC in Oudomxai town and others from the handicraft centre in Muang La. You can contact the PMC directly to enquire about product development and purchasing: pmcmarketing.odx@gmail.com.]

Festival of Traditional Arts in a Kaliang Village

Mai of Junhom Banton has kindly invited us to join her at a unique textile festival at a nearby village of Karen people (known in Thai as Kaliang.) The festival is being sponsored by Ban Lai Kaew Weavers, a long-standing fair trade textile group that creates beautiful, naturally-dyed textiles on backstrap looms.

When we arrive, weaving exhibits have already been mounted in some of the traditional buildings that dot the site. In one, there's an extensive exhibit of Kaliang textiles, dyed with the traditional natural dyes that are being revived here in Doi Tao district. Nearby there’s also a display of jok (elaborate supplementary weft-patterned weaving) for which the neighbouring district of Chom Thong is famous.

A large stage has been constructed in the usual country fashion – a wooden platform resting on steel barrels. The platform is then covered with mats. Today the festival name, crafted out of handspun cotton skeins, hangs above the stage. Children, in traditional Kaliang clothing, gleefully run about the site, blowing off some steam before their dance performance.

We wander to an open area, where women are preparing a dye bath with annatto (kamset in Thai, bikkii in Kaliang). Young women from local schools, here for a cultural learning day, are invited to smash the pods with a large wooden pestle in a hardwood trough. They’re instructed by an older woman to leave it to simmer for 1 hour.

Nearby, a bird-like grandmother has begun to spin cotton on a traditional wheel, smaller than the Lao version we've seen by the Mekong, but otherwise the same. A larger, old woman soon joins her with another wheel. Both wear layers upon layers of black beads around their necks and larger white beads on their wrists. The tiny woman chews betel, the larger smokes a pipe, as many Kaliang women do.

While elaborately patterned on a backstrap loom, the traditional Kaliang clothing is simply constructed, similar to a Mayan huipil and corte. The top is seamed vertically and left open in the middle, while the skirt is seamed horizontally. Colours are now usually made with chemical dyes, although the Kaliang’s natural dye traditions are being revived and, today, are being celebrated.

One of the many young women watching, all wearing their school’s sports day attire, is persuaded to try her hand at spinning. The thread soon breaks and the first grandmother comes to her rescue.

Back at the dye pot, the students learn to strain out the annatto with a tool that looks like a giant wok strainer.

An older woman adds water soaked with yahoo (ash water) for mordant. Then they add the skeins of handspun cotton and simmer over the fire. After another 30 minutes the yarns emerge in the deep orange usually associated with Buddhist monks, although this traditional and natural colour has much more depth and substance than the brighter and thinner orange more commonly seen now.

Two pick-up trucks pass by, filled with more students. They shout to Ellen, who is wearing a traditional dress worn by Kaliang maidens, which she was offered upon our arrival. Ellen accepts their offer and climbs aboard. They drive for about 10 minutes and arrive at a field sparsely populated with cotton plants. The noon-day sun is hot, but Ellen happily picks cotton – both white and brown varieties – side-by-side with urban students from Bangkok and others from Kaliang villages further north. She wonders if any of them will be inspired to continue these traditions.

After Ellen returns from her outing, we return to the display of naturally dyed backstrap weaving. Tucked on a low shelf, we find lovely placemats with designs that are an appealing blend of homespun and abstract-modern. We sort through the pile and choose dozens that will make their way later this year to a table near you.

At the same display, we are pleased to bump into Ajarn Nittaya Mahachaiwong from Fai Gaem Mai of Chiang Mai University. (That’s the Cotton and Silk Project we’ve worked with for years to source Eri silk). Today she’s wearing an extraordinary coat fashioned from Kaliang fabric. She’s here to participate in the technical discussions that are part of the day’s events. However, the talks are intended for the local participants and our ride is about to depart, so we say thank you to our hosts and set out for the bus station with our bags of treasure.