LIFESTART FOUNDATION WOMENS WORKSHOP

Craft Workshop & Co-op for Women Living with Disabilities in Vietnam

It is with great excitement that I write this blog. It has been a long held dream of mine and many of the disabled women that Lifestart Foundation helps, to open the first genuine not for profit shop in Hoi An. In December 2008 I was fortunate to be in a position to rent a fabulous shop and work space for the women. The shop is located at VIETTOWN 127 Phan Chu Trinh Street, Hoi An.

With the help of a group of supporters from Melbourne who have kindly offered to pay the first six months rent on the shop the doors are open and we are ready for business. A Melbourne based group of women grow and sell potted plants and home made goodies at local markets in Victoria, Australia. They then donate the proceeds to the Lifestart womens group in Hoi An and this money is paying the rent on the Viettown shop.

The workshop story so far........

A small group of local women living with challenging disabilities in the Hoi An area joined together with Lifestart Foundation to form a special workshop. This workshop focuses on creating a small line of beautiful creative arts and crafts. It is already a huge success with the bonds that have formed through friendship, kindness, support and understanding. We now hope to continue the success financially. The entire proceeds from these products go directly to these special women to help provide them with a sustainable income and sense of independence.

The women initially met for four weeks of training in March 2008 under the direction of Sherry Berger (MEET SHERRY - A DREAM VOLUNTEER ) to develop skills and workshop products with a view to going into a trial production. Since then the women have been meeting two afternoons per week making a range of cards, wine bottle covers and bamboo vases that are for sale. In addition some individual members of the group are producing craft goods at home to be sold alongside the workshop items. These include scarves made by Hanh and shoulder bags by Lieu.

Here is a short entry from one of Sherry's blogs about her initial experience..............

My main assignment here in Hoi An is running a workshop for some of our gals in the disabled group (aka the Sweethearts). Our goal is to make a small product line of arts/crafts to eventually be sold online. Giving them the ability and skills to create a small range of quality crafts, we hope to provide them with a sustainable income, increased self-confidence and independence in their lives. The workshop runs 4 hours a day/5 days a week, but my schedule has been more like 24/7. It's been quite the challenge to say the least. Coordinating translators, seating, wheelchairs, ramps, tracking down supplies, and most difficult, what on earth could I teach them...and what could they master on their own, in one month. The skill levels and physical/mental disabilities vary greatly making it even more challenging. But dozens (and dozens...and dozens!) of iced coffees later, I'm feeling confident that the workshop has been a success. In addition to some handbags and knitted scarves a few of the ladies already make, I have added a mix of handmade notecards and a unique vase designed from chopsticks. I am very proud and grateful for the time and dedication everyone has put into this workshop to make it happen. I am honored to work with such strong and humble women.



Sherry returned to Hoi An and volunteered for another month of training with the women in September 2009. This is a brief outline of the work Sherry covered during this subsequent trip.

Workshop Class: Monday-Thursday,1-5PM
Prep work and goals include:
• Bring extra materials (blades, paper, string, etc.)
• Take stock, inventory, refill (FILE: closet)
• Continue to teach craftsmanship and design
• Encourage more confidence, independence, review goals (business, personal)
• Discuss more about working in a group, importance of everyone doing their part
• Transition to remove any western volunteers to local Vietnamese in order to make the women more independent
• Decide payment details
• Make more detailed job lists/guidelines
• Spreadsheets to track inventory, production and sales
• Design Lifestart Workshop brochure
• Design Chopstick Vase handout
• Design web pages with Lifestart Workshop overview including all products and women’s bios: www.nonameartgroup/latest_products.com
• Design new idea: personalized wine bottle bag design
• Begin promotions with hotels (Nam Hai, Life Resort, Victoria)


In March 2009 when Sherry and I return to Hoi An we hope to slowly expand the product range that the women are producing and to also incorporate a new idea.

For those of you who have travelled to parts of Asia it can become taxing for the weary traveller to be constantly asked to purchase wares from vendors. Instead of having a retail shop and the atmosphere that goes with people trying to sell you something, our idea is this.......

Adjacent to the womens workshop we are going to open a complimentary Tea House, where travellers will be offered a complimentary cup of tea and a seat! A selection of hot or cold tea will be available from the Tea Menu. This space will act more as a relaxing, comfortable information space where travellers and visitors can find out more about Lifestart Foundations work in Vietnam. It will also enable travellers to meet the women at work without feeling intrusive. Purchases can be made of the womens work at a fixed price and a donation box will be available for those who feel inspired to contribute.

An on line business to compliment the workshop in Hoi An is in development and will be launched later this year.

The longer term vision for the group is to support them towards running the workshop as independently as possible with minimum external help. Given that the group has been together less than 12 months we are well on our way to achieving this goal.




The products that the women have made have initally all been taken to Australia and the USA to be sold, however as mentioned the longer term aims include an on-line distribution network and direct sales to tourists from the newly aquired retail outlet in VIETTOWN, Hoi An.



Current product lines include:
● Mosaic cards
● Peace dove cards
● Embroidered cards
● Bamboo vases
● Crotcheted scarves
● Shoulder bags
• Wine Bottle Covers

If you are travelling to Hoi An please be sure to pop in and meet the ladies, the shop is open seven days per week.
If you have friends in the travel industry please be sure to tell them about us. We hope to contact tour companies and tour guides who travel to Hoi An however any other ideas to promote the workshop would be appreciated.
I am sure if we can get a steady stream of travellers visiting the shop it will become self sufficient in no time.
Your feedback on the workshop and complimentary Tea House idea would be welcome.

To fully appreciate the mobility challenges that many people Lifestart Foundation is currently working with, please click here to view a short video.
This very amateur video was originally made by Karen to show health professionals the mobility problems that these people live with.


Many of you will be familiar with most of the women in the workshop group as I have previously written blogs on Hanh, Luong, Trang, Hoa and Nguyen.
Here are their stories if you missed them previously
Hanh: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A THREE WHEEL MOTORBIKE MAKES!
Luong: THE LOVELY MISS LUONG'S STORY
Trang: TRANG - FEARFUL & ALONE NO LONGER
Hoa: HOA - INDEPENDENCE AT LAST
Nguyen: LIVING WITH A BROKEN HEART

There are two pages of photo's in this blog don't forget to have a look at them all.

Lots of Love from Karen.
www.lifestartfoundation.org.au

LIFESTART FOUNDATION WOMENS WORKSHOP
VIETTOWN
127 PHAN CHU TRINH STREET,
HOI AN. VIETANAM



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