A project beginning

One of my new projects is to try and create a supplemental livelihood for fisherfolk families, the idea being to increase their income first, and to also try and reduce pressure on the fishery by having less people dependent on it as a livelihood (which can lead to overfishing - although, really, commercial fishers are the major problem in that regard). Having been inspired at a training I went to, my counterpart and I developed a plan to introduce this supplemental livelihood project based on creating goods out of recycled materials - out of used juice patches, for one, but also out of ironed plastic bags, a new idea which is starting to catch on, but hasn't really been done yet in my area. [Curious about ironing? Check out this website.] After a few introductory meetings with local officials to build support, I met with some fisherfolk one afternoon that had conveniently already been organized by a provincial employee, and showed them some sample products and a video on the technique. When I came back the next week to give more information and do an actual demonstration, I was floored to see that one of the girls had already taken the idea and ran with it, far surpassing anything I hoped to demonstrate, producing the most creative bags and prints I had ever seen with this technique. I borrowed them for a week to show off. These are all created from plastic bags ironed together:

Orcas frolicking under the sun

An orca in a colorful sea

A small handbag

An orca handbag

... A week went by and we returned for a third meeting, and I was again floored by what had been produced, this time in only 4 days:

These bags are basically market-ready, in my opinion, and the enthusiasm that's been shown so far makes me feel like even if a large amount of people don't take to the project, at least a small group of people can really make something of it. We're meeting on Friday to talk business plans and group names, and then the plan is to develop some more sample, initial products for sale. I'm going to help market the goods locally, regionally, and possibly even internationally, if some of my North American readers dig it. Bags will probably be the starting point, but I'm hoping that a wide range of things can be made - sails, kites, umbrellas, rain jackets, whatever would benefit from a free, durable Tyvex-like material.

Here's a picture of the community organizer, Daisy, on the left, who's my main counterpart for this project, and some of the most enthusiastic members so far. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!