The Alola Handcraft program is getting bigger and better every week. Dete Da Fonseca is our new Economic Development Manager, who has already initiated a number of new projects. Rui Carvelho, our designer, is in Bandung, West Java, increasing his design skills.
We have also employed Monrique dos Reis to coordinate a new employment program at an IDP camp half an hour East of Dili. To read about the progress of the project click here
Their latest creations include strong and attractive computer bags made from tais (the traditional woven cloth of Timor-Leste) and a very popular range of earrings made from beads and scraps of tais.
The Alola Shop has developed a reputation for stocking traditional tais with natural dies and high quality production and continues to work with weaver groups to increase the marketability of their products.
The more we can sell, the more tais we can buy from women weavers, some of whom live in the most remote, inaccessible parts of Timor-Leste and have virtually no other access to cash.
Look out for selendang (woven scarves) from Alola in Oxfam shops later in the year. Oxfam Shops are very supportive of Alola Handcrafts and we are working hard to supply goods that will be popular in Australia.
The Alola Handcraft program manages theTaibessi Warehouse which employs women to produce items for the maternity packs for our Maternal and Child Health Programs.
The Creative Team, from Left: Helen (shop assistant/designer), Alarico & Natalina (sewers) Rui (Product Designer) and Helena (sewer) model the new Alola Shop Uniforms.
Economic Development
Strategies
•
Create employment
for women
• Develop
handcraft industry
• Provide
family friendly
workplace role model
• Maintain
cultural traditions
in women’s
handcrafts
• Strengthen
support services
for women in enterprise
Alola
Mission Statement: To
empower women to
achieve economic
independence
Women
and Handcrafts in
East Timor
The 24-year Indonesian
occupation of Timor
Leste (East Timor)
and the violence
and destruction
of 1999 resulted
in much social and
economic disruption.
Due to the high
number of orphans,
widows and dislocated
people, households
headed by women
with little economic
and material means
to survive are common.
New economic opportunities
appropriate to women’s
skill and education
levels are essential
to assist in achieving
self-sufficiency.
Craft production
holds out an important
hope for women of
the poorer sections
of society with
limited literacy
and education and
few other work opportunities.
Village handcraft
co-operatives have
been re-established
all over Timor Leste.
In 2002 the first
step in an endeavor
to help foster a
national handcrafts
industry for Timor
Leste was taken
with a national
survey conducted
to provide an overview
of handcraft production
and marketability.
The
overall goal of
the endeavour has
been to assist poor
women in Timor Leste
with the development
of a sustainable
income source for
their families and
selves through handcraft
production. Three
clear pathways have
been identified
to pursue:
the development
of the handcrafts
industry within
Timor Leste driven
and owned by the
producer groups
the exploration
of an international
market for traditional
handcrafts (such
as tais)
and non-traditional
handcraft products
(such as bags
made using tais fabric);
the preservation
and protection
of the cultural
traditions associated
with handcraft
production (in
the areas of traditional
production techniques
and their artistic
and historical
significance).
Oxfam
Community Aid Abroad
Trading, Australia has
offered to assist
with practical product
development methodologies
through provision
of technical support
and advice on marketing
issues in Australia.
East
Timorese President
Xanana Gusmao
has repeatedly
stated that
what his people
need now is
social and
economic development.
It is one
of the poorest
countries
in the world
and unemployment
rates currently
exceed 80%.
During the
Indonesian
occupation
their production
developed
into an industry
supporting
many rural
women. This
industry initially
buoyed by
the UN presence
now requires
an export
market if
it is to survive
and such markets
are being
explored.
We hope this
exhibition
is a way of
working with
the people
of East Timor,
especially
the women
who are the
main producers,
to develop
sustainable
livelihoods
at this crucial
time. Sales
of East Timorese
handicrafts
would be a
great help
to the poorest
of rural women.
Most Tais
are now being
made from
brightly colored
industrial
threads imported
from Indonesia
and some examples
are included
here. The
art of traditionally
made textiles
will soon
disappear
if they are
not celebrated
and promoted.
Chemical dyes
and factory
threads have
already made
great inroads
to the tradition
of spinning
and weaving.
