Life in the remote villages is very dull and gray. The only
colours that brighten the villager's lives are found in their clothing and
their embroidery. The designs and colours the women use are a traditional part
of their culture and an expression of their love for beauty.
We either work directly with local artisans through the
assistance of a local coordinator or work with a local cooperative that
supports the artisans mainly in:
- South-western China
- Northern Thailand
- Borneo region
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South-western China
The disabled (Deaf)
The majority of
disabled (deaf) young people in villages are unemployed and many turned to
Deaf-led gangs for a sense of belonging. Their means of living comes from petty
theft or worse, from drug trade and prostitution.
We work with a local
cooperative named Hearts And Hands that provide training and employment for
these disabled people by teaching them to sew and produce handicrafts. All the
artisans are ladies with hearing disability, they learn useful life skills in a
friendly and safe working environment.
Some of the artisans are
uneducated but had participated as adults in some programs in Sign Language,
Life Skills and vocational skills within the organisation Project Grace. Many
of them do not have proper education although they have learned basic sewing
skills. At this time there are about 20 over artisans and it is our hope to
continue to support and assist them to expand so that more disable people in
the local community can be trained and employed to be self-sufficiency.
The poor and needy
tribal villagers
Yi minority tribe women - Here are just
some of their stories:
 Lydia is a single mother of two. She had been unable to make ends meet
and her children, aged 8 and 10, were not able to go to school because she
could not afford the fees. Buying her handicrafts helps her put her children
through school and ensure there is food on the table.
Our support has helped her gain some financial independence and a new
hope in life.
She now plans to start her own business and is
saving towards that. She aspires to help others who are in the same condition
as herself.
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Liu lost her right leg due to tumour, after
suffering for about 20 years. A charity funded the amputation and a
prosthesis was fitted on her. Unable to do heavy farm work she was shunned by
her family because she was considered useless. They married her off to a
mentally subnormal man and they now live in a dark small room in a house
belonging to her in laws.
Our support has helped her gain some
financial independence and as a result, her family does not look down on her
anymore.
She now has a dream to build her own house from these handicraft proceeds.
We aim to provide assistance to Liu and
nurture her to reach out to help others in the same plight in her community.
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Xiao Chang and her family are farmers. The crops they plant are enough
just to feed themselves. Their pigs are critical because during the Spring
Festival, they are slaughtered, eaten to celebrate the New Year, and the
remainder salted and kept as food for the whole year. Extras are sold for cash
and used to pay for school fees, buy cooking oil, other essential groceries as
well as manure for the farm.
One year, Xiao Chang's family lost their entire pig brood to an
infectious disease. Our support has assisted her family through a
difficult time and get back onto their feet again.
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Northern
Thailand
The tribal village girls
We support and work with a local
pastor and his wife Sayan Kusavadee and Siriporn that turned their home into
three shelters for 140 underprivileged girls. The project began in 1987 with
the help from some other foreign NGO, it was aim in proving a shelter home for
tribal girls who were being sold or lured into prostitution.
It first started with only one home, which provides full board and
medical care for about 90 girls. They are sent to nearby public schools for
education and are given basic vocational training such as sewing to prepare
them for employment later when they leave the house. Without education and
skills, many of these girls would very likely be sold into prostitution.
After receiving education and
trained with skills, many of these tribal girls are able to go back to their
own village to save more girls, bringing help and hope to the otherwise
helpless villagers living in poverty. This also brings a sense of security and
confidence to these village tribal girls.
Artisans with AIDS, the deaf, and
the elderly in the village
They are trained by local
cooperative to make needlecrafts to generate income to support themselves and
their family.
This project started in 2006 and it has a group of 4 men and 12 women.
They are especially trained to make soft animals and dolls.
Niluborn is a young girl, gifted in needlecrafts, she and her sister,
Worapong as well as her parents have been trained to sew and make handicrafts
particularly in soft animals and dolls.
They were living in poverty and were marginalized as factory workers in
the past until they started making handicrafts where we have been supporting
them to ensure sustainability in economic sufficiency in the long run.
Borneo
Region
Crafts of Hearts n Hands work closely with various local cooperatives
and agencies in Borneo that was set up in promoting Borneo crafts made by the
indigenous people in Borneo region in order to help raise their standards of
living. We operate under the principle of fair trade: the main goal is to pay
the producers the fair price that is just and adequate to meet expenses with
the main goal of improving the livelihood of tribal people in Borneo region.
The handicrafts made by the local artisans
living in various villages are collected regularly by the village leader on a
regular basis. Some of them are still living in remote area of Borneo Dayak
Long House.
The
richness in material, colours and design of the local crafts reflect various
artisans’ tribal tradition and culture. The finished products can take the
forms of weaved textiles, baskets, bead work, wood carvings, and handcrafted
jewelleries and musical instruments.
Borneo
handicraft is largely a traditional practice, handed down from generation to generation.
In the olden days, baskets, jars and wooden chests weaved and carved by the
indigenous women with materials collected from the rich rainforests are
utilitarian – used for the storage of goods.
There
is an increasing shortage of active
skilled crafts people as the current ones are ageing with fewer younger
generation to carry on the tradition, so traditional handmade crafts is an
industry fighting to survive at this time and age.
Various indigenous tribes that are still living in the deep jungle of Borneo island include: Iban, Dayak, Orang Ulu, Kelabit, Punan, and Melanau.
Most of them in the jungle are living in the longhouses. Longhouse is
the traditional dwelling place of the native peoples of Borneo. A longhouse is
like a single floor apartment building on stilts. Each family gets a room and
the whole village shares a longhouse.
Ina grew up in a poor and
dysfunctional family where she had very little educational opportunity. 
She was married to an older man at a very
young age and is now a mother of three young children. She lives in a remote
village of Borneo. She was taught sewing
skill by Francisca (one of my friends who supports fair trade in Borneo) two
years ago to make handicrafts that will enable her to earn a living and support
her family.
Living Waters Village
In the middle of 2010, Crafts of Hearts n Hands began to sponsor ten
children under the project started by Ronny Heyboer & family that rescue abandoned
or neglected children in the remote jungle of west Kalimantan, Borneo.
Most of these children are orphans. Some have been abused and some have
had a loving upbringing but are located in extremely poor living condition. All
of them are originated from tribes that are heavily influenced by witchdoctors
who control and manipulate their people and put great fear into their lives. In
this project, the children are lovingly cared for with food, accomodation and
education. Find out more at www.heyboer.org
