Products for the International Craft Fair

Pam left me with some great ideas for new products.   Most of them designed to have embroidery.  So after she left I trialled the women who had attended her lessons and gave them some more lessons and assistance.  I then started to pay them per piece.  I drew the embroidery designs on the fabric and provided all the threads and needles.

I was really impressed with Laura's work and she kept stitching away each day for me.

I then called upon Sinta (the previous head sewer of Belekria who had to withdraw due to ill health and family issues) and she stitched the samples up very neatly, to produce these lovely bags.

 A simple shoulder bag with embroidered details.

A travel shoe bag, with appliqued/embroidered shoe designs.

Some travel tags. The other side has an acrylic window with a card for address details.

Pam instigates some embroidery...

Thanks Pam!

 While Pam was here we took the opportunity to run a few embroidery classes with a small group of neighbours.  They loved it and tried really hard.

Rosaria (13)

Laura (~19) and 8 months pregnant, proved to be the most dedicated.

Her mother, Martha had some prior experience and tended to want to do it her way instead of trying something new :)  But I think she didnt want to be outdone by her daughter so she kept trying.

 Amira was really excited to learn how to sew, and she was very neat and had a lovely eye for colour.

After Pam returned to Australia I have been giving some embroidery work to 3 of the women, and will show some examples of the finished product in a later post...

Fabric Friends...

Due to the size of the recent Red Cross order, we have had to arrange the purchase of more than 60 meters of PUL fabric (from Green Beans Australia).
I asked around friends  to see if we could find some friendly fabric carriers!
Thankfully, I have been able to send parcels to 4 different travellers, who will all carry it here over the next 3-4 weeks.
One of these travelers is Pam who will be coming to stay with us next Friday.  She is bringing some sample items and some supplies to teach the women at Belekria some new sewing techniques.  This will be very exciting for the women, and as we have started 3 new women we will be able to share the training with all of them.

I have also experimented with a small order to be posted directly to Timor...so we shall wait and see if that option is working.

When I had printed out the 4 separate orders, I added up the meterage and realised I over ordered a little - maybe 10-15m more than i needed.  However i quickly reassured myself that we would use it up sometime....
Well an hour ago (about an hour after i had placed the last 2 orders and noticed the extra meterage) I received a phone call from a lady working at CARE.  She wants to visit Belekria tomorrow morning to discuss pads!  YAY a second NGO prepared to distribute modern cloth pads.

Im wondering if the extra sewers may be working for more than the planned 1 month :)

NEW NEW NEW!

Its been an exciting few weeks.  I have been busy nutting out details of many of the new ideas.

Firstly come April 1^st we will be changing the business structure in a few positive ways

1. Emmy will become manager
2. Salaries will have a partial base rate plus a percentage of profits (A staggered process from me paying all salaries to me paying none.)
3. Bookkeeping will be done weekly by Emmy and Serenity (with me training and assisting)
4. Opening Hours will increase back to 5 days a week, and will be open 8:30-5 – even through lunch. (An unusual concept in Timor) 
5. I will be stepping back even more from sales, marketing etc 
6. I also designed a new simpler logo and am in the process of ordering clothing labels

Secondly we have begun a loyalty card for clothing alterations.  We printed some colourful cards with 10 smiley faces.  We also bought a smiley stamper.  For every 10 alterations, they get one free.  The local customers are loving this concept.

Thirdly and most exciting for me, is that we are commencing a monthly Gift Club.  This will be a subscription service, with club members receiving a surprise gift each month – home delivered! Their fee will also fund a monthly donation of 1 woman’s health pack to a clinic such as Bairo Pite.  Currently this service will only be available to residents of Dili, HOWEVER we are investigating the possibility of offering a mailed gift version to Australian Residents, so keep an eye out over the next few months for more information.

 Heres a look at the brochure:

(If you would like to join, either pop into Belekria shopfront or email: belekria@hotmail.com or you can also ring me on 77265308)

 

 

From iminent closure to sudden growth....hmm is that a normal business strategy?

I am back in the groove after a few months of illness and recovery :)
On returning to Dili, I was surprised and disappointed to hear that Belekria had barely opened during the six weeks I was away....Especially as they had heaps of work they could have been producing with orders from December still unfilled......
My head sewer had been struggling all year with high blood pressure issues, and then in the past few months has had family issues surface as well.  So along with some "re-entry culture shock", I fell into a pit of despair (of sorts) and began to consider closing Belekria.  But what do I do with all the orders needing to be filled?  Perhaps I could sell Belekria?
So began a series of middle of the night thought processes and all-day-on-and-off discussions with whoever could stand being around me....
I produced a small booklet for possible buyers and started putting the word out for a suitable manager/business entrepreneur (preferably a Timorese woman).
Yes, well........... it is Timor.  I guess I still forget sometimes.

SO no-one i know, knows anyone who could take the business on. ???  Its profitable, has heaps of opportunity for growth and comes with lots of support at a bargain price!! Man i think its a great business!

Then 2 days ago my remaining sewer and volunteer arrived for a chat and asked if I could keep it open for another 3 months (the rent is paid 3 months advance and is due in April) and have a go of it with Emmy as manager.   Emmy is the young woman who lives with us, and has some training in business management.
Serenity also stuck her hand up and asked if she could be a part of Belekria.
And i guess going through all the finances and having lots of new ideas for growth, well i guess it has rekindled my hope and energy.

We are yet to make any concrete decision, but it seems likely that I will offer some sort of  base salary for Emmy as manager and 3 sewers (adding the volunteer and another young woman as staff), then any profits will be distributed proportionally to them as well as to Belekria and possibly a bookkeeper.

So I will be reducing my responsibility, and hopefully setting it up gradually for me to step out completely..

Ill update again with some of the new ventures proposed....
Cheers
Cynthia

Our First “franchise” effort…

I just realised I haven't shared this exciting story with you all yet…
Mateus is a young Timorese man we have been assisting a little.  He has been developing a children's education centre in a village called Liquidoe.  He employs 6 people to run an extra curriculum program after school a few times a week.  They also provide a very nutritious meal to the children.  He has been wanting to give his employees extra work, and asked Bellekria if we could train 2 of the young women to sew.
So two very shy women arrived to soak in as much as they could over 3 days.
Sweet Sinta was very excited to host them, and Novi and Anna all pitched in to help them develop “soft feet” as they call it.  Getting the rhythm of the treadle machine.   They worked hard at it, and by the last afternoon were able to create a shoulder bag and a small purse each to take home.  Sinta asked me to print out a certificate, which i did (on pink cardboard of course!)    We had a small semi formal presentation of the certificates (Level 1) with Sinta and Mateus officiating. :)
They left very excited and thankful, and Sinta was stoked that our sewing room was spreading out into the mountain areas.  Which is part of both our dreams.
They may come back some time for another 3 days. 

Sunset market

Last year the department of tourism linked up with the organisers of Darwin’s sunset market, to commence a Timor version.  It started in the dry season, every week, and had stalls of local products, food stalls and entertainment.
The Sunset Fair was designed for tourists and foreigners living here.  It is also held at the “white skin” white sand beach called Christo Rei.  This is on the far side of Dili away from us, and combined with the fact that we didn’t have much spare cash or time we never attended.  I had asked a friend about the possibility of bellekria selling some things there, but she made a few inquiries and it seemed that the sellers needed to be a registered business or NGO, plus a stall space was $50 so we shelved the idea. 
This year as we have been expanding both with staff and product range, I have been seriously re-considering trying to get a stall at the sunset market.  So Sinta rang the organiser and was invited around immediately to sign up! We sent them along with $70 in case the price had increased.  They returned very excited as the organiser was a lovely lady who was  very encouraging about their sewing group.  The $50 fee is a one off cost which lasts the entire market season (till December).  They had to sign a contract and now they wait for their application to be approved and receive some i.d cards.  So next Friday may be our first market stall!  Of course i am racking my brains for other simple products to sell there.   I have found a sweet pattern for a child's fabric ball, as well as hoping to make lots of the cotton dresses, and more cloth books.  Word has been getting around about our books, so I think we may sell a few.

Child labour!

almost….
This past week was the start of school holidays.  Some young girls had been asking if they could start training during this time, so on Monday afternoon when i arrived in the sewing room, i discovered three, very young, (barely teenagers) girls taking turns pumping away on the treadles.  One is Emily, a very sweet girl who Serenity loves hanging out with.  She was a natural, and had the rhythm immediately! much to Sintas surprise (and pride – she is her niece i think!)
Sinta started them without the machine threaded, so that they could get used to making the treadle pump the foot in the forward direction.  Then a few afternoons later they were sewing along pen lines.  Sinta arranged it so that only 2 came at one time, as we only have 2 treadles.  I am hoping to find some tables that we can install the aussie singers to, but so far haven't been able to find any.  What with Anna and Novi on the 2 electric machines, the two girls learning on the treadles, and Sinta overseeing, teaching and using the overlocker, it is very full and busy!     
I showed some surprise at the young age of the girls and she explained that their mothers wanted to learn as well, but it was too hard for them to find time, and as their children complete schooling  with no exposure to any practical skills etc, the mums decided to take matters into their own hands and send them along to us.  So far we haven't charged them for this, and I am hoping to be able to use their new skills to assist with simple products in the future.

Training has begun!

Well i am very happy to announce that 4 women started learning how to sew last Thursday/Friday.  Another may also begin today.  Sinta decided ti was a good time to start so she asked around and a few women were very keen to begin learning.  They started by getting used to the rhythm of the foot pedal – quite tricky if you’ve never tried.  Sinta stood beside them helping to pump the pedal while they rested the hands on the table and tried to match the rhythm with their feet.  One lady picked it up quite quickly, and another really struggled.  Mind you there were lots of jokes going on to stimulate her! Poor girl!  It was pretty funny though. 
Sinta asked my advice about what to do next, so we discussed some ideas about learning to sew a straight line, and having a good knowledge of the machine and its threading etc.
The women will just come when they have time so its very relaxed.