Random missed pictures from May 2012

This is the load of boxes arriving in May.  It included 6 machines as shown hereAlso inside one large box was this dress makers model.  The girls don't use it a great deal for fitting, but it always has some new dress displayed on it so i guess it doubles as a mannequin!  Serenity assisted in working out how to put it together.

Sorry these pictures weren't up sooner!

Picking up the pace

 

Well this year has overall been a little slow for Belekria.  We had our staff numbers drop to 2 full time.  We had very few large orders.  

I suppose that in some ways it was just as well for me, as i had 3 months of morning sickness, then about 2-3 months where i felt ok, but now I'm really feeling the extra weight as my bump grows onwards and out!

So anyway a few months ago the accounting was looking a little dismal.  Not much expectation of a profit this year.  But then, we had the $1000 worth of pads to make, and then , a few weeks ago a neighbour of ours asked for some large cushions, and another lady started to ask for some sewing work for products she sells in her shop, and now another couple have asked if we could develop some natural fibre long sleeved/pants children's clothing, and today I had a phone call from Marianne (who works in the neonatal dept of the National hospital). She wants Belekria to hem some terry towelling cloth nappies for the hospital…. So all of a sudden they are quite well occupied, and its just as well we have a part time extra lady working now.

Its a bit difficult as all these larger orders come through me, in English.  So I have to be involved.  In my ideal world I could step further away from the running of Belekria.  But until they either find a sewer who can speak a bit of English, or else get enough business from local Timorese I will still be needed. 

A “feel great!” opportunity

Recently Celeste visited Timor Leste again.  She arranged to visit us and asked if she could  take part in some of the giving of cloth pads which had been purchased from Belekria with money from her fundraising event this year.  I think I mentioned already that the total raised was over $1000, which translates to over 500 cloth pads being distributed.

I had tried for a number of weeks to find details about a womens refuge.  I had heard that it operated but was unable to find anyone who new how to contact it.   I had however been given details about a women's forum type NGO that was educating families about reducing domestic violence and supporting women.  So I rang them and arranged to deliver a box of 100 pads with Celeste.  

   When we arrived 3-4 women staff came and listened interestedly as I explained what we were giving, and where they came from.   They responded very enthusiastically.  Exclaiming what a great product it was, and asking exactly where they were made etc

.

One young woman asked hopefully if she could have 2 for herself!

Of course i said yes.

I then asked if they knew about the refuge house.  After a short discussion in which I learnt they call it a shadow house (shelter house i suppose), they said yes they know it, in fact they run it from this office!  So there you go…. 100 pads donated to Fokuper. 

We then drove over to a small orphanage that Celeste had been staying with earlier. So another 100 pads donated for the sisters and young girls.   All in all a very “feel great” day. 

We still have 3 boxes to distribute so hopefully that will be soon.

Thanks so much to Celeste for having the vision and drive to raise the funds for this purpose!!

More women trained

 

We had some more requests from women who wanted to learn how to sew.  So we took in 3 for about 2-3 weeks. 

They recieved their level 1 certificates in the week we moved to our new premises, and even helped with all the packing and unpacking!

Here is Sinta congratulating Azina and Juli

    

 

 

 

 

 

Both of these women have lovely natures, and I had to tell them I was unable to give them employment as we have not had enough work.  However both of them seemed to enjoy coming each day and have continued to do so.  So we have arranged for them to receive a machine after 2 months of “voluntary” work. 

New Premises!

When I arrived back in Timor earlier this year, the women all mentioned a few stories about people hearing about Bellekria and finding it very difficult to locate.  In fact, truthfully we were based in the worst location possible.  Think “down-the-end-of-a-one-way-street, past where the main suburb is, and then right down the back of the far side.   And add to that the only signage we had was an A4 poster on the door.

So yes, I could easily see that we needed to improve both our location and our signage.

Now I think anywhere it can be difficult moving location.  Finding somewhere that has a good building, good street frontage, good price etc, but here we also had to consider security, and family connections.

We drove around a bit and discussed where would be a good area etc.  It all seemed a bit difficult and started to drag on, as of course its just easier to stay where you are.  Then our landlord started making plans to renovate his home.  It turned out that his plans were more like a rebuilding rather than renovating.  He asked if we could find somewhere else for our sewing room.  Well that motivated us a bit :)  So we renewed our investigations, and found the brother of one of the sewers wanted us to rent part of his house. It was not far from our little village, but on the main road.  The room he showed us was very bright, although needing some love to make it look acceptable.  We asked all the women what they thought, if it was a good place, if it was a safe place.  One concern was that the son of this man had a history of damaging property while under the influence of alcohol.  We asked about a price, thinking that we can only really afford $50/month, and we had a sit down /meeting with him and his family one evening.  He wanted us to name the price, and we very tentatively and apologetically suggested $50.  His reply was that he had decided that day, that whatever we offered he would accept!  A very unusual method of bargaining here in Timor.  We were quite surprised and grateful.  It helped that he was related in someway to all the women in the sewing room. Its a small world here.

  

It took a few weeks to fix the room/s up. A wall moved, a change room built, painting, floor patching, steel mesh over the windows, and new electricity. But finally it was ready so, one Friday afternoon we started packing things into boxes.  It just happened that a cow was being delivered in a truck, and we could fill it up on its way back.  I didn't help with the actual move – the women arranged it all and unpacked everything themselves.

High Hopes & Disappointments

I mentioned earlier about some possible orders from a group called ETWA.  Sinta and the others stitched up some good samples.  The feedback was positive and I gave them some rough quotes for labour.  However, They have been struggling with some issues in their project and have put a hold on making new products.  Sad for them and for us!

And then I was put in touch with another group.  They raise funds to send “school bags” fitted out with stationary into 3rd world countries.  They had recently decided to start in Timor Leste.  What a great idea!  They asked for quotes on 2000, 5000 & 10,000 bags.  My spontaneous response was awesome! We can do that.  Later when I sat down and estimated the time it would take, I started to get a bit more grounded.  We would have 2-3 months, and to just source that much fabric may be difficult!  I would have to employ at least 5-6 full time women, possibly more, and seriously pump them out to make 10,000. 

I wrote to the organisation with some feedback regarding fabric choices and we raced around trying to get a decent quote from a printer.   In the end I sent off a reasonable quote, and was initially contacted by the representative saying our quote was the cheapest and seemed to be the best option.  However a week later, after he returned to the committee in Australia, he regretfully informed me that they had decided to get the bags produced in a different country…. So Timor loses out and we lose work opportunity. Sniff sniff.

An exciting opportunity

 

Wow! Dont you just love an unexpected phone call with good news?

I was contacted by Deb, from ETWA, who has been working in Los Palos for 2 years, supporting a large weaving group.   They have a new range of products to produce using their hand-woven fabric and are looking for a sewing room that can provide a high and constant standard of quality. 

She arranged to visit belekria yesterday, and she left 5 samples/ patterns for us to have a go.  Its a bit of a dream for us.  We LOVE the hand-woven “tais” fabric that women produce here in Timor, but right from the start we were reluctant to make products with it as we didn't want to compete with some of the other great NGOS such as Alola and ETWA.  

But this opportunity would mean we get to work with the tais fabric, and produce beautiful items in partnership with one of these NGO’s.  A perfect mix!

Deb has 2 questions for us…. will the quality be good enough and consistant?  And will our charges be affordable?

If successful, it will mean a relatively constant source of income for Belekria.