Kamphuan Women's Group

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Our focus is to look at various dimensions of the 2 women group’s lives that contribute to their livelihoods and how sustainable they are. If any current practices appear to be unsustainable, our goal is to identify how they detract from the sustainable livelihood ideal and ways in which to rectify these discrepancies. Economy-focused on different income-generating activities. We want to examine various microeconomic aspects of the women’s income sources, so we asked questions such as how they make their money, what they spend it on, and what they save it for. On a larger scale, we sought to understand how these activities are affected by global economic trends as well as vulnerability to environmental and social threats. Institutions-tried to identify all major institutions that structure these women’s lives such as governmental or community structures, the role of the women in their own households, etc. Social Networks- the women’s important connections to their community, foreigners, organizations and NGOs. Environment- assess how much the women take the environment into account when engaging in their income-generating activities and general relationship with their local environment. Religion-to see the role religion plays in there lives such as any benefits or limitations they seem to feel as a result of their faith

OTOP = government initiative Started by Thai prime minister ThaksinShinawatra during 2001-2006 Encourages communities to improve local product quality and marketing, selects one superior product from each sub=district as the star product to be locally and internationally promoted. Demographic information: all women between the ages of 29 and 41 majority have 2 or more children 3 married, 1 divorced, 1 widow

Both groups formed to provide economic and social support (discuss emotional/personal problems with each other).

Historical Timelines- Asked all the women from each of the groups to list the important events in their lives. Our team also did the same and exchanged our timelines. This helped us get to know each other better as well as build a bond in which the women felt comfortable with us. Interviews – For the past 5 days our team asked the women a variety of questions that encompassed the 5 categories of sustainability. Charts- To better quantify each women’s financial details, such as group/ individual expenses and income distribution, we had each of the women fill out a “cake” chart that portioned their spendings, savings, as well as profits and production costs Daily activity clocks-to understand what a typical day for each women was like, we asked them to explain as well as draw out a “clock”-each hour would detail what they did that day, allowing us to see how much time they spent on each activity -get an idea of Tree timeline-a timeline about the role the community plays in the women’s businesses, revealing the networks they feel help run their business

Strongest connection is to the woman in local govt. Ja Hap works as assistant for village head.

Although they listed less networks, most sig is local govt because leader is married to official, which linked them to the Princess’s

Most locals are more selective in buying batiks and tie dye products, so they (both) mostly depend on tourists’ sales. As mentioned before, once the foreign volunteers left, they were lacking a foreign customer base. Despite this common problem, the tie-dye group still has local customers year-round by switching to sewing normal everyday clothing and school uniforms.

Both groups cited their children’s education (Batik 30% and Tie-Dye 50%), which shows how much they value investing for the future. Many also have children who study at universities in Bangkok. The tie-dye group especially highlights education as one of its priorities through its scholarship programs that gives out money to disadvantaged children in the community. The tie-dye group’s second highest savings category is funneled into a depository for future travel to Mecca, a clear sign of the group’s devotion to their religion and its prevalence in their everyday lives. The 1% donation to HIV/AIDS patients is also driven by their faith because the alms-giving is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Batik group identified health as the main category in which they allocated 50% of their savings. They saved 20% to put towards a retirement fund.

JaRiya listed tie-dye as her main source of income at 40%, with income from her husband coming in second at 30%, her garden at 20%, and other seasonal jobs at 10%. Ja Hap, though she has a husband, did not list him as an income source at all. Rather, her food stand provides her with 30% of her income, her position as assistant to the village head another 20%, Batik another 20%, and her garden as well as other seasonal jobs with 15% each. Other group members also have multiple jobs or sources of income. For example, working at the pier cleaning fish nets, renting out rooms in their houses, running clothing shops, sewing, etc. In terms of resilience, the fact that they diversify the types of jobs they have will help to stabilize them in case of sudden environmental or economic changes. If one sector of society is under threat, another may not be and at least one of their livelihood activities will still be intact. Though it may appear from a Western perspective that working multiple jobs is an indicator of instability or the inability to make ends meet, but that is not the case in these women’s situations. Rather, they consider these roles as a way to make the most efficient use of all their resources and time. Specifically, during the wet season when batiking is down, Ja Hap will resort to other jobs.

Life’s driving force: one woman said that “praying is like eating food,” so it’s an essential component of their lives and never poses any constraints. The tsunami inflicted immediate panic and enduring sorrow, but such distress was soothed by prayer. Muslims considered the natural disaster as a test from god that they rationally had to cope with. Hence, rather than wade in depression, they found new methods of earning a living. They believed that by overcoming such challenges, Allah would give them more support and strength. Community ties: Islam also motivates people to help one another even during the most dire circumstances, so losing all material resources (such as boats, houses, motorbikes) did not prevent people from reaching out to each other.

The waste water eventually evaporates in the well. Originally natural dye was utilized but the poor quality was the factor that caused the group to switch to chemical dye.

Mangroves

TIE-DYE VALUES: Religion- 9; their religion promotes environmental education in schools, alms-giving in the community, confidence and strength of mind in economic pursuits but society appears to be inequitable (man needs to be behind a woman, scholarship ceremony) Social networks- 7; they have stronger and more powerful connections especially through woman’s husband but don’t know enough people or have enough resources to find a new market Economic- 8- high because they are pretty successful and well-known in the community; they have enough money to donate back into their community to promote educational and environmental initiatives, and is a year round activity because of sewing, diversified income sources; but low because it isn’t entirely stable because the business depends on foreigners Institutions- 9- strong connections with government programs that promote handicrafts, also have strong ties with local and regional governing bodies; the group itself is organized and can make collective decisions; but low because it cannot organize more people outside of themselves and also have a weaker voice within these institutions Environment- 7- teach environmental education in schools but do not apply practices in real life; but their livelihoods themselves are low impact; we don’t even know the extent of what they teach the children about the environment BATIK VALUES: Social Networks- 7 Environment- They seem to be more aware of environmental issues, for example they contributed time for mangrove restoration. From our interview

Tie-Dye group has a higher value for human well-being than the batik group because religion and economy plays a stronger role in maintaining sustainability. The batik group has a greater value for environmental well-being than that of the tie-dye group since batik group was more concerned about environmental issues and reused a lot of their scrap materials.

Too personal questions When asking too personal questions (such as those related to HIV/AIDS or what precipitated the death of a husband), the women might have felt disinclined to fully divulge their stories. We couldn’t establish the most intimate rapport within only 5 days, so probing too deeply was potentially inappropriate. Also, telling all the details might have stirred up painful memories that the women didn’t want to face again. Too complex/poorly formulated questions Sometimes our complex questions had to be rephrased so our translator could understand. This simplification might have reduced the substance/meaning behind the original question. Pee Ta also posed the same question in different ways to the two groups, so their responses might have been altered. Of course, the women occasionally didn’t understand what we sought and hence gave irrelevant responses. Gaps in technological knowledge & financial resources We expected the tie-dye women to have adequate computer skills – or be in frequent contact with someone who did – to manage an eBay store that would give them international market access. However, we realized during mid-registration that up-keep wouldn’t be feasible. Most women didn’t even have bank accounts required to finish registration. Lack of motorized transportation – exacerbated by weather We had to bike and walk everywhere, and sometimes we were late to appointments because we couldn’t travel in heavy storms. This wouldn’t have been a problem if we had a car. Availability Not all women were present during daily interactions. It was inconvenient for them to alter their schedules to cater to us (for example, they sacrificed their usual Call to Prayer times).

The Batik group revealed to us that they would like to like to make a new design for the local government’s batik uniform. Because they are from Ranong province, which is known for their legendary “Golden Mountain” story, they asked our research group for input. After attaining strong batik-ing skills, the women asked us to propose to them a drawing that reflected the story about their local area. The Golden Mountain legend states that a ship containing jewelry sunk and somehow the jewelry was brought to the mountain. To this day, the story still stands, however, the government has closed the mountain. To continue to support the groups while we head back to the States, our group decided to purchase some of the tie-dyes products (t-shirts, handbags, and keychains) to bring back to UCLA. We want others to hear the batik and tie-dyes stories, as well as educate them about their will and strength. By selling through Net Impact Undergrad, an environmental club Terri participates in, we hope to see if more people are drawn to their products. If this proves true, we plan to potentially order more products from their group to continue our support towards their efforts.

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Kamphuan Women's Group - Presentation Transcript

Pressures
-Lack of a foreign market -Most of profit from foreigners -Not affected by current global economy Batik Tie Dye/Sewing -Income varies a little with season -Income varies a lot with season More self-sustaining -No debt
Tie-Dye Batik
JaRiya Ja Hap
- Sustainability Indicators:
Tie-Dye Group Batik Group Religion 9 6 Social Networks 7 7 Institution 9 9 Economy 8 6 Human Well-being Average 8.25 7 Environment Well-being 7 8
Environmental Well-being Human Well-being