LiA CAN! group craft production program development

This thread is discussing development of the Life in Africa Cooperative Artisans Network (LiA CAN!)

More online about this program at http://lifeinafrica.com/can/

[Edited by group owner: Christina Jordan on 27 Nov 2007 03:04 PST: .]

Last comment added: Fri, 02 May 2008 07:05:30 PDT

Comment 1 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Attention all NEDsters, LiA Kireka members and LiA Gulu members

This pre-announcement of a planned ned voting process to select Ugandan community proposed skills training projects that Life in Africa will raise funds for this year is for all of you!

WE CENTERS!!: start registering as many of your community members as you can at ned.com to enable their voting rights in this process.

I've asked Haney to take a look at the following contest description to offer some advice on how it would need to be managed. Before finalizing and announcing the start date for proposal submission I would like other folks' views as well - especially those of you who have participated in previous funding allocation processes, and those of you who might already have ideas for training you want to champion in Uganda.

Can this work? Are there any adjustments you think might be necessary? Or ways we can enhance the process described?

LiA CAN! Skills training workshop proposals (Q1-2008)

Life in Africaâ€™s Cooperative Artisans Network program provides assistance to communities of African craftmakers for skills training, group production opportunities and product promotion.

Life in Africa Foundation is now accepting proposals from LiA partner CBOs in Gulu and Kireka, for LiA CAN! group production skills training workshop ideas. A grand total of 6 proposals for member skills training workshops will be selected through a participative programming process, to receive fundraising assistance through the Life in Africa WE Network for implementation during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2008.

Proposal Submission & Funding Procedure:

1. Online Champions

Every proposal submitted in this Q1 2008 round of participative Life in Africa programming must have an online champion who is a Life in Africa CBO member in Kampala-Kireka or Gulu. No project champion may represent more than 2 projects in this competition. CBOs are encouraged to strategize among your membership to develop a range of proposals that represent skills training that members want.

2. Draft submissions required by 15 Feb

All workshop proposals must be posted online by the project champion in a workspace that links to a corresponding proposal discussion in the LiA-global group at ned.com, by no later than 15 February 2008.

3. Final submissions due by 1 March

Discussion between project champions and the global community at ned.com is encouraged for the purpose of refining the proposals through 1 March and rallying voter support. All proposal workspaces will be locked on 1 March, to enable global and Ugandan members of ned.com to vote during a 1 week online poll for their favorite LiA CAN! workshop ideas.

4. Voting period at ned.com 1-7 March

Every ned.com member who is registered by 1 March 2008 will be entitled to vote for their top 2 favorite skills training workshops until 7 March 2008. Participating CBOs are encouraged to register as many members as possible at ned.com prior to 1 March to enable their online voting rights in this process.

5. LiA fundraising for top 3 voter favorites - mid march through full funding

In March, Life in Africa will launch online fundraising campaigns for the winning 3 skills training workshop ideas voted on by ned.com members. Chip-in fundraising campaigns will be established and promoted at lifeinafrica.com, ned.com, and facebook, for implementation during the 2nd quarter of 2008 (April-May-June) on a schedule of 1 workshop per month, in the order they are fully funded.

Fundraising campaigns for the next 3 winning skills training workshop ideas will be launched through the Life in Africa WE Network in June, for 1 workshop/month implementation in the order they are funded during the 3rd quarter of 2008 (Jul-Aug-Sep).

A new round of participative programming for LiA CAN! production skills development training to take place in 2009 will take place during the 4th quarter of 2008, and will invite additional LiA partner CBOs to submit proposals.

6. Center overhead fees and reporting requirements for winning proposals

In creating fundraising campaigns for the winning proposals, an additional amount will be added to each workshop budget to include a contribution to center overhead costs for hosting the training and independent internet4change event reporting.

In addition to independent reporting organized by Life in Africa Foundation, each project champion will additionally be expected to add post-event comments to the proposal discussion at ned.com that answer the following 5 questions:

What went right with the workshop plan?
What went wrong or could have gone better?
How many people attended & what did they learn?
What was the overall best outcome from the workshop?
What do you think members plan to do with their new skills?

Failure of any project champion to add the answers to these questions within 5 days of a workshop that has been financed through LiA will disqualify that individual from participating in the Q4 2008 participative programming process as a project champion.

7. Competitive voter selection only (no quotas for participating CBOs)

There are no award quotas for either of the participating CBOs â€“ as long as no individual champion submits more than 2 workshop proposals, each CBO membership is invited to submit as many proposals as they can as a group, and to win as many of the 6 fundraising campaigns as they can gain local and global community support for at ned.com. The merit of each proposal will determine which CBO receives LiA fundraising assistance for which skills training workshops in 2008, and on what schedule.

8. Proposal Template & Instructions

Your proposal must include the following information 1. proposed workshop subject 2. leaders, participants & skills involved 3. proposed trainer(s) and training schedule 4. itemized workshop budget 5. member opportunity analysis

Proposals are also welcome to include links, photos and/or video to enhance the proposal workspace presentations.

Find additional tips and instructions in the LiA CAN! training workshop proposal template at Q1_liacan_workshop_template

(haven't made the template yet... awaiting feedback on the contest structure outlined above from all of you)

Comment 2 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Here is a specific questions I'd like some opinions on:

Would we rather discuss all of the proposals in one thread or discuss each proposal in a different discussion thread? If you have a preference, please explain why. I am on the fence.

Comment 3 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Just for the sake f time commitment potentially) I would prefer separate threads. If I am interested in one or two projects and don't have time to sift through a single active thread, I could still provide open support for the projects I was interested in.

Comment 4 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I too think it is better on separate threads because it gives some one time to focus on a specific proposal other than going through many proposals on thread and you end up misplacing the comments.

Comment 5 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

It's more easy to have it on separate threads so that members are not confused to deceide where to go and to see where they are intrested in these proposals.

Comment 6 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

ok that's what I thought too. But now another question. Where would it be best to conduct the proposal process?

In the LiA Global group?

In the NedUganda group?

In a special group set up for LiA community proposal processes?

Comment 7 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

NedUganda seems like the right place to me.

Comment 8 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I also think NedUganda will be okey, may be this will help us keep to the already exsisting threads, since people sometimes tend not to visit all the threads when they have alot to do.

Comment 9 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I just want to comment wthat people they prefer separate threads. project some time is good but at timesi is not good, the reason why am saying that is , if the majority dose not want those particular projec, they may go where they want. so is better to move with people together whenever they want.

Comment 10 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

thanks all for the comments,i would like to know,if there is any kind of help please it will be very grateful. -is it possible to help this community member to improve thier lives positively by buying the crafts that they make like the beads consterntilly? - can some one come up with any kind of product,weather in crafts or any thing that the members can make to rise funds that can bring a big impact to there lives? i asked this because for the type of the community that we have is a community of people how need to see that there is something to do and they will do it for as long as it will change thier lives positively but if you tell them to think for what they can do,it wont be very easy. most of these people from the displaced camp over here cak do well thing to with craf,they do not need things to do with coping notes cause the majority of them dindn`t go to school so it is realy ont easy for the to do things out side craft.

Comment 11 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Ezra am sure there are skilled people like you and many others who are there to help them make plans on what to do, to achieve business skills would not require someone to first go to school, so if all of you sit down with the members and think of what items can be locally sold here for example the soap project which can easily be sold here and maybe candles. These do not require so much level of education if not non at all. Or possible I may not know this very well, Is there a lot of writing in the training for the above mentioned items ? Then let's try and think of those that will not require so much literacy.

Comment 12 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Apart from craft that has less local market, the only thing that the community can produce for local consumption are soap products, candle and tie and dye atleast these can be consumed locally. another thing that the locals can do but not craft is bakery but all these need survey on how it works including primary and secondary factors.

Comment 13 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Good suggestions Peter. I really think we need to get some plans going as soon as possible. Someone there has to take the initiative and write up a simple proposal with a starting budget.

Comment 14 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Here what i can add is that if we have come up with some thing we know that it will work out and no one knows how to do it, we can send some one to be trained than comes back to train the community. I mean the product the will make the community to benefit from it.

Comment 15 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

You guys your giving a very good ideas we have very many things which atleast if we can come up with one or three we can do something wonderful .

like Fruit preservation, like pinaple,pwopow,bananas, mango ,etc and maybe if we can also start the produce the community can benefit out of it. And maybe like motor circle ( boda boda ) the community can benefit.

Comment 16 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Christina is very tired after touring farms and lecturing about 70 people all about you all.

BUT She wanted me to write a note and tell everyone how proud she was to see all the LiA activity on here!

It is late here and we were up talking last night til 2 am and I am beat so headed off to blankets and bed.

Be well and thank you for allowing me this time to share with Christina and Norbert!

Comment 17 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

What fun! glad to know you are together, learning and sharing. I look forward to seeing how this effort plays out.

Comment 18 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

George and Ezra , it would really be nice to see you two taking on the lead to work on the feasibility of all these items that we are talking about. I know the soap had already widely been talked about in the past so it's just a matter of rekindling it.

Comment 19 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Thanks so much madam Grace,on the soap,i think munnu did a big job by giving out all the details concerning soap whwere every one was so excited about it to an extent that he was only waiting for the money/capital for the production to commence so, here now we are,that we have now to take another person for the training to get the skills so that he/she can go forward with the soap project from where munnu stoped. As for the candle,know one knows what is going on,up to now it hasn`t yet started to so,here i had thought about making,presaving of fruiets such as the pinaples,powpow,mangos,bananas and then pack them and then sale them.I choose this because i think it can have both the local and international market.here in uganda-kampala,i know so far afew people doing this kind of bussines otherwise, alot can be said that it can be made but it`s time we did some thing to so the impact ot it to the community and the people in it thanks to you all the discasants and if there is any kind of correction in all that i said plaese fill free to correct or add your views on what i said to build this world a better place to live in chao.

Comment 20 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

We have talked about doing a fruit project before. Are you talking about drying fruit? Or a different method of preserving the fruit.

Put together a description of the program and figure out how much it will cost to get started. Include how many will be involved in the beginning and how much you think you can make.

This is what you have to do to get a project funded or even considered for funding. Go back and look at the soap proposal that is already done. This will give you an idea of how to write it up.

We should do this for all the ideas like candle making and so on. If we hope to get some projects funded and running then we need to step up and get them organized. I am here to help if you need it.

Comment 21 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Hi all I was offline for one and half days due to insuffecient internet but also gave me time to do other offline work. today am back and have come up with a number of proposals ie soap, internet and solar,fruit preserving and tie and dye. we are collecting data and soon the details will be posted for comments. I believe we shall walk the talks.

Comment 22 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Wonderful news. Glad to have you back.

Comment 23 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I don't know if this Web site called Toys from Trash will be too slow loading to look at. It's fun to look if it works. Something that's good to know is the man who made the site, Arvind Gupta, is a great scientist. All the toys are intended to show something about science, so they are fun but also for learning.

This area of craft is something I haven't seen talked about in this thread. Mango Tree is a company in Kampala which has looked at the potential for making educational materials. Their business plan is something to look at. For one thing the plan connect so many dots that international support has been forthcoming.

Even if Gupta's toys don't make a good business, there are ideas there so that children can make and have toys without money.

Sometimes the idea is to sell crafts abroad to make money. But it's real trouble to have to actually ship stuff. So it is possible to encourage money your way simply by sharing ideas on the Internet. Not easy, but possible.

One of the toys I love are Tangrams. It's a simple puzzle where figures are made with the shapes. The number of figures possible is only limited by the imagination.

I'm not claiming this a good idea, but an example of how you might make money from ideas. So the idea is to have a tangram site (blog) where everyday a new figure is presented . The next day the solution for the figure is given and a new figure presented. This site could generate traffic and might get enough traffic to make a bit from ads on it. But it also is a place to develop a community of people who might chip in for fund raising or be interested in other money making ideas.

Comment 24 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I really also like the idea of fruit preservation (mainly Drying) . This may not be too complecated since it's just solar drying , the major problem or most expensive thing maybe the solar system for the drying, but everything will just be without any additives. It will just be natural isn't this really cool !

And briefly here is an outline of what your prosals would possibly look like. Evvy had earlier on given abit more details on it.

Make sure your proposals have the following

1- The Title of the project

2- Background/Description

3- Justification

4- Admin/management

5- Objectives

6- Budget

7- Workplan

Comment 25 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Hi John,

I will check out the other website as soon as I have some time. I actually have met Craig from the Mango Tree http://www.mangotreeuganda.org/c ontent/view/10/29/

I even got to visit his first factory/workshop. He is a really nice guy and was/is doing really interesting things with such things as bottle caps, drinking straws, old worn out flip flops and empty charcoal bags. He is an Ashoka Fellow from the same time as Christina and he has done quite well with his project.

Comment 26 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I'd be curious on others' perspectives on toys in Africa. One thing that really struck me from my time there is that toys are not a part of children's lives in the way that they are here, perhaps elsewhere. Children's imaginations seems to be occupied in very different ways, and play is much more oriented toward active games - football for example. Water games. Even chasing wheels of various kinds with sticks.

But I almost never seem them playing with toys. And when I seen them engaged in toy-making, it is for re-sale to tourists, or a decorative craft. But the idea of children sitting around an imaginary "sand box" and using "action figures" or toy automobiles to occupy their time seems very unusual to me.

Is this anyone else's perception? I wonder whether there are certain kinds of toys that would be more likely to appeal to a domestic market? Its an interesting idea John, and certainly one I'd love to see more of. I wonder whether you'd be willing to re-post a similar item to craftcycle.net?

Comment 27 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Hum, in case you haven't noticed already, I'm full of ideas; but even I will admit most of my ideas aren't very useful. For some reason I think it's worthwhile to put out ideas anyway because maybe among them is one that will be of interest to people.

Lars wondered about toys in Africa. He also wondered if I would write a post for craftcycle.net. Is that your craftcycle blog, Lars? Do you want me to send a post to you via PM? Lars's suggestion brought up several ideas to mind.

One of those ideas is a blog called AfriGadget. It's a blog that reports on examples of African ingenuity. One of the reasons I like the blog very much is that many people read it. Another reason is I like the people who make the blog very much. They also have a Flickr group (pool) so you can add pictures there and a facebook group. Munnu put pictures of candle making there. I think it is a good thing to tell others about your projects because it's possible that the connections made can be happy ones.

I thought of AfriGadet because Lars asked about toys and I remembered an old post about the push toys that I've seen pictures of African children playing with. I like the pictures because I'm still a little boy at heart and like them. Either I couldn't find the right post or he took the pictures he first used down and replaced them with new ones. Here's the post I was thinking of. This Web site has some good pictures in either a PDF or PowerPoint presentation.

AfriGadget is also a good example of a blog an how a blog can be useful for developing a community of support. Generally I think it is best not to have to ship crafts far away, in other words that the crafts which are best are ones useful in your own community. But it's so important to find money. Sharing ideas is one way to provide something of value to others. When things of value are shared, money flows more easily.

Educational crafts have value in your community. The ideas also have value other places so the ideas are easily shared. My main point in my last post was to encourage people to look to educational crafts as a potential venture.

Comment 28 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I was chatting with a friend in Kampala. Recently he called a doctor to his room. The doctor told him that he would not treat my friend until he met certain conditions. Among the conditions was that he get a bednet and that he get a blanket.

My friend's sheets were recently stolen when he hung them to dry. I'm not sure he ever really had a blanket. But he went to look for the price of a bednet and a blanket. He told me that the blanket would cost 70,000 UGX.

I wondered about blankets. So I asked another friend in Iganga if he had a blanket and what it was like. He did have a blanket made of wool. He said that one blanket will last a person's lifetime and sometimes people are even buried with their blanket.

I asked my other friend what the blanket he priced was like. It had flowers on it, he said it looked modern.

The feelings and preferences people have about blankets are different in different places. I also strongly suspected that the blanket my friend was looking at was not made in Uganda.

In the USA is a kind of blanket that is craft made called a quilt. In my family we have some quits we love very much. Some were made by my mother and there is a grand one made by her mother. American quilts are made by piecing small pieces of fabric together to make the whole cloth. So there are many many patterns which can be made from different colors and patterns of cloth.

In America there are people from many cultures. There are many people from all over Europe and other places. There are people who are descendants of Africans who were enslaved. Quilts made by African Americans are among the most celebrated quilts in all of the tradition of this craft.

An American mathematician was looking at pictures of African villages taken from aircraft. He was very interested to see a pattern called fractals. This discovery made him very curious about African ideas about mathematics. In his exploration he discovered a long history of mathematical thinking based on a different approach to geometry than the famous Greek mathematicians pursued. This way of thinking about mathematics and geometry is very modern and useful.

I believe one of the reasons that quilts made by African Americans are of such interest is because they show a different way of thinking about geometry than cultures of European descent are accustomed to thinking. The Quilts of Gee's Bend is a Web site which shows some quilts made by African Americans.

My question is whether Ugandans would value a blanket made in a similar way as quilts?

If it is possible they might, that interests me. The reason is that quilts are often made by communities of people. So there are groups of people all over who would be interested in Ugandan quilt makers. It's a craft that could lead to talking across borders--even if the Uganda quilters don't read or speak English they could communicate with their craft.

Comment 29 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I'm sorry I talk too much! Lars asked about toys, and pretty much anything Lars asks about gets me to thinking. Today I saw a cool project, a skateboard park in Kampala, see Uganda Skateboard Union. One of the reasons I wanted to share the site, was there is a great picture on the link About Our Skaters of Bashiri and a clay sculpture he made. Looking at other pictures I see that Bashiri really is one of the best skateboarders.

But there is something else about the site that makes a point that I think is important. The point is that one of the great things about making crafts, besides being useful, is that craftmaking is something that people can share, we can talk about together. These connections with others interested in the same things you are aren't just good for getting money. Money is only one thing of many that people can share. But it is true that when people come together around a common interest, like in certain crafts, or in the case of the skate park, skateboarding, many possibilities for sharing resources come up.

That's why I think it's a great thing to think about crafts and how you might share craftmaking with others.

Many of my ideas about crafts are crafts which are familiar to me here in the USA. Those crafts may not make much sense to make in Uganda. But I'm still always looking for ideas that can be shared over distances. I do have lots of ideas, but don't want to confuse things by putting too many out. But if you want some ideas, just ask me.

Comment 30 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Beautiful post, John! Thanks for sharing. Sharing craft is good for the hands, heart and mind - period. John, why not find a thread or start one that works for you - I want to learn more...!

Comment 31 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

After all the good suggestions we have been following here, I hope we are now ready for the real proposals , because as we all can see we are long overdue. so please, kampala and Gulu let's now act and pick some leaves from all that we have read here. In the real sense, this should have now been the time for voting . but since nothing has yet been put up, please let's hurry and begin putting up some prosals. I am sure you have gathered enough information that I suggest that let's try and make this week at least a week of activity towards this goal.

Comment 32 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Thanks Grace for that, hopefully we can now

Comment 33 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Is this anyone else's perception? I wonder

whether there are certain kinds of toys that would be more

likely to appeal to a domestic market? Its an interesting

idea John, and certainly one I'd love to see more of. I

wonder whether you'd be willing to re-post a similar item

to craftcycle.net?

hi,

your brilliant ideas have gotten me out of a deep slumber.

thank God for all you in this movement.

lars and john, you guys really inspire me.

fortunately though unfortunately, seems like am a bit

late for this, i think more time is still needed.

through a critical anlysis, given the number of the

lia community, there has to be a chain of products.

it gives me a sense of sustainabilty.

anyways this is what am thinking. even when people

today have developed a positve attitude towards art, and

that they nolonger look at art as a luxury, but instead a

necessity, it remains that some products will always

be seasonal.

its from this perspective that i call for time. we need to

identify products that can suit the different preferences, and not

only that, but those products that can meet both the local and

international demands.

even when am not so good, am thinking about a

12 product chain in ma head, i believe two heads are

better than one, only if we take it slow as we perfect the

beat.

such a product plan, if worked on deligently with apple

focus and hard work, no one will ever remain the same.

this plan will vary from AUTHENTIC - FUNCATIONAL ART.

unfortunately, i have no dictionary, but i would request

lars and john to help clarify on these to big words, such

that at the end of the day we can come up with specific

products that would lay under each category respectively.

Comment 34 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

batiks, tie and die, screen printing, embroidery, neating,patch work, metal fubrication, bead works, and so many others are the many processes one can use to come up with a finished product. it can be either one of them or a number of them on one particular product.

for example, shoping bags made of back cloth. such a product would look nice, and yet if incorparated with maybe bead works, and a bit of metal fubrics it would be more appealing.

actually people need training in all areas of design. tie and die alone is not enough to attract someone's notice, if some learnt tie/die, others sreenprinting, then maybe bead works, what would the finished product look like? e.g a tie and die curtain with batiks and sreenprint.

you see. thats what am talking about, a combination of all would creat an unlimited space of creating so many products.

simple but complicated it seems. well it takes time.

Comment 35 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I love Ndelo Peter's comment:

simple but complicated

He's right that everything requires learning, and that often really great products can be a result of combining different skills learned.

Katonya arnold daniels asked about some words. One of the words is authentic. Word definitions often aren't so simple. Authentic means Worthy of trust; being genuine or having a undisputed origin. Fake is opposite genuine. But the meanings of authentic can get a little far out. One meaning of being authentic I think refers to whether something is a good fit with customers. Customers in Uganda might have different ideas of a good fit than people in the USA do. Where it gets strange is that sometimes people in the USA want something authentic from Africa. What they want is something not intended for the USA but something that fits very well in Africa.

I have never been to Africa, I have never been to Uganda. I often question whether things that I say are a good fit there in Uganda. Well, that's a question people in Uganda have to ask. The important thing to remember is that I'm interested in your answer.

Ndelo Peter mentioned making bags. Bags are something that interest me and in particular string bags. As we know from the bead project, shipping costs make export very much something to consider. String bags are fairly light.

Another thing that interested me about string bags is that the tools to make string from raw cotton are simple and ancient. Carding and spinning fibers by hand are specific skills. A good question is whether such skills are very useful to learn in these modern times?

Going back to the word authentic. In the 20th century there were many anti-colonial movements. Among those was the movement in India. In India Gandhi promoted using non-violent tactics against the British colonials. One of those tactics which was important symbolically was that people should spin fibers. The point of it was to spin their own Indian thread to make their own cloth rather than to buy cloth from Britain which was made from Indian cotton shipped to Britain.

In the USA there were people who struggled for the rights of workers and for black Americans. Some of them adopted and adapted Gandhi's non-violent tactics. Gandhi called his philosophy of non-violence Sayagrapha. That word can be translated into English as Soul Force. But some of that philosophy was rooted in the Hindu religion. Most Americans are Christian, and among black folks here the Christian churches are often central to their lives. So the philosophy had to be adapted and made authentic for Americans. Sayagrapha in America became Soul Power.

Nobody in America took up spinning here as a tactic in their struggle for social justice. But for many Americans as old as me, when we think of Gandhi the picture in our minds is of a man spinning fiber.

A friend of mine is Indian. Her mother has some property. She bought special goats to get a very soft wool. Then her mother taught the women of the village to process and spin the wool. And they dye and weave the threads to make lovely scarves and capes which are sold in the West.

Something that Uganda is famous for is cotton. There are also many other valuable fiber crops which could play a role in the Ugandan economy. But right now fiber crops prices and the whole industry in Uganda is depressed. Some of the attention to this agricultural sector has to do with raising organic cotton. But these schemes have been fraught with difficulty. Part of the reason is that big thinkers generally think of big farms. But mainly I'm not so interested in big farms in Uganda. What I'm interested in is helping small holders to get more incomes from their produce.

One way to make string bags is to buy string and then make the bags. But I was curious if the string itself could be made in Uganda. What I am interested in is whether the simple product of string bag could be a way of introducing the skills and machines for small scale textile manufacture. In other words while I'm interested in string bags, I'm interested in people developing the tools and skills in fiber craft that could lead to other fiber industries.

All my questions tend to confuse people. And they make me a little embarrassed too because I know that I don't know the realities on the ground in Uganda.

That's why I really appreciated Ndelo Peter's observation: "simple but complicated." Part of the complication is finding ways to talk about projects together. There is just so much that I don't know. While I tend to write too long and that makes saying anything me a chore because I'll write too much, I do hope that everyone will understand that I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I do understand that I'm not in Uganda.

Being authentic means having the right origins. Now that we can collaborate across the seas so easily the origin of things aren't as tied to a particular place as they once were. Still for all of us, we have to begin where we are. Some of my ideas may not fit directly to the situation in Uganda. But some ideas can be made to fit nicely with a little translation; for example how Gahdhi's ideas of Satygrapha were translated into the American struggle for human rights.

Comment 36 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

John Powers said:

I love Ndelo Peter's comment:

simple but complicated

He's right that everything requires learning, and that often really great products can be a result of combining different skills learned.

am glad someone is watching. however i regret the era i made when i posted under ndelo peters. actually hav'nt been here for a while, and thats how this ers occured, i mean everything seems to be new, but am perfecting my beat.

will be back in a while, thanks once again Powers. and you will realize that we have so many things in common, u and i, uganda and america.

Comment 37 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

John said,One way to make string bags is to buy string and then make the bags. But I was curious if the string itself could be made in Uganda. What I am interested in is whether the simple product of string bag could be a way of introducing the skills and machines for small scale textile manufacture. In other words while I'm interested in string bags, I'm interested in people developing the tools and skills in fiber craft that could lead to other fiber industries.

Thanks john indeed,like katonya said,people today have developed a positve attitude towards art, and that they nolonger look at art as a luxury, but instead a necessity.

i believe that gone have been the years when art was done/one of the liesure activities and thought it people did put thier storyins in art,paintings ,wriyngs and to others it was in molding/scalptureing.Art really meant alot to them. One thing i have liked with the art and the craft industry is that it hase really improved the lives of the lacal people and others like the war victims,catrina,shool fees,the HIV/AIDS the children like the valnarable among others.

the other thing is that Art and Craft has got the market because it has a big role that it plays in fighting things like poverty,idolism hance providing alot to the world. there fore i really t5hank who ever is trying to come up with what type of craft/art that can be made to make peoples lives a positive in this world that we are in today,thant every one for that strong heart you have,please do not give up. Ah i really fill that if John could help and post some of the pictures of "string bag",may be we can come up with if not the some product because we have the cotton here or even come up with something similer to that otherwise thanks once again to you.

Comment 38 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Thanks john indeed,like katonya said,people today have developed a positve attitude towards art, and that they nolonger look at art as a luxury, but instead a necessity.

I believe that gone have been the years when art was done/one of the liesure activities and thought it people did put thier storyins in art,paintings ,wriyngs and to others it was in molding/scalptureing.Art really meant alot to them.

One thing i have liked with the art and the craft industry is that it hase really improved the lives of the lacal people and others like the war victims,catrina,shool fees,the HIV/AIDS the children like the valnarable among others.

The other thing is that Art and Craft has got the market because it has a big role that it plays in fighting things like poverty,idolism hance providing alot to the world. there fore i really t5hank who ever is trying to come up with what type of craft/art that can be made to make peoples lives a positive in this world that we are in today,thant every one for that strong heart you have,please do not give up.

Ah i really fill that if John could help and post some of the pictures of "string bag",may be we can come up with if not the some product because we have the cotton here or even come up with something similer to that otherwise thanks once again to you.

Comment 39 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

hey gays,this is sad news,Robert Oketa,the children's cordinater Gulu,lost hie father.

Comment 40 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

John Powers said:

All my questions tend to confuse people. And they make me a little embarrassed too because I know that I don't know the realities on the ground in Uganda.

well john, you'll realize its just an organized confusion.

i think you are not a confuser. only that my folks here in Uganda are bit weak when it comes to perspectives, and i don't see you in embarrassment.

there is nothing much on ground as i can see, in fact i don't see much of where we are going in the area of production. if anything could be done, it should be capital in form of tools, i think this would fit well.

in most cases such tools are usually rudimentary tools and relatively cheap. secondly, since nothing much is on ground, i wish we would have a working arrangement that can at least contain a number of tool boxes. what am trying to talk about here, is a workshop where. having a workshop or a workspace helps people think outside the box, and besides, this would boost creativity among members, unlike what has always been the case. don't know how brains work, but at least, every time i pose a task to mine it leads me to something else with originality.

creativity is not something easy. actually i don't know if anyone will agree with me, no product is impossible to make if given the tools, in fact i see it quite hard for people here to think of what to do, not because that they don't know how to think,but because they need apple thinking time, and where to think from. growing around my mom who had sewing machines, i realized i wanted to be a fashion designer, even when i was only eleven, one thing that will strike you most, is how many different products i can make with a sewing machine, in fact sewing machines take most of ma entire thinking time,and its where i think from, which still can be applicable in any ones lifestyle. now this it, i could never have thought about clothes if i had never seen a sewing machine.

apart from a few products like toy cars whose tools are ones fingers, lia needs a workspace that can at least help people think of new products 24-7

in the name of sustainable development, such arrangement to me is best.

Comment 41 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

my thoughts are with robert and his family as they come together. i am saddened by his loss. be well.

Comment 42 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Arnold it's really nice having you back on our discussions and thanks for the great ideas that you have showered in here.

Thanks so much John for your in depth about the Ugandan ways, here John said:

To be very sincere if we are looking at what to produce, it should be items that would suit a market intended for people who are not Ugandans,even if it were to be sold locally. Very few things here that are made in Uganda are usually bought by Ugandans,apart from maybe food products and possibly some household items, like soap or maybe utensils and other such things, but for arts and crafts, this are items that are first of all looked at as luxuries to the middle class, and to the well to do, they normally call them LOCAL not meaning locally made here , but local in that minimizing attitude, which is a very common practice here.You often hear people say "it's so local" meaning it's not befitting , so this makes our selection for what we intend to produce a bit difficult.

This however does not make it impossible for us to do anything at all. I have liked the idea of string bags so much. I know cotton can easily be got , in my district (kitgum) cotton has once again become the main cash crop that everyone has started looking at , so getting it would not be such a big problem. what we need to do maybe is to see what kind of tools or machinery we need to make this happen and so as Katonya has rightly put it here:

in most cases such tools are usually rudimentary tools and relatively cheap. secondly, since nothing much is on ground, i wish we would have a working arrangement that can at least contain a number of tool boxes. what am trying to talk about here, is a workshop where. having a workshop or a workspace helps people think outside the box, and besides, this would boost creativity among members, unlike what has always been the case. don't know how brains work, but at least, every time i pose a task to mine it leads me to something else with originality.

Maybe this will be our starting point.

Comment 43 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Katonya and John you so interesting with your long commemnets, Africans always like things imported from abroad say: America or Europ, there is perception that things from abroad are good. For quilts, I have tried to make them and they realy look nice but so light as its out of second Tshirts.

I will agree with Grace that unless what is produced in Uganda or Africa is ensential, most people may not want to buy.

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Grace Ayaa said:

To be very sincere if we are looking at what to produce, it should be items that would suit a market intended for people who are not Ugandans,even if it were to be sold locally.

well,to any business partner, they would always first want 2 know how a particular product does on the local market, even when i don't think its the case here. what we should look at here, is, how do we create a new trade with our friends of NED.on this platform? yeah, you'll agree with me that America is on another level of development, which kind of favors the producers here, which would limit on producers being exploited.

as i speak, we kind of getting a faint picture of what can be produced,so members in Uganda, i feel we need to come up with the best trends of doing business with people in America. i know, even when they re on another level, at least we all need each other to some extent, only that we need to do the best of our reach on how to penetrate to that market. simple but complicated, it appears, but perfecting ones bit is what it takes, which i call style. whatever we what to produce here can sell anywhere,as longer as we can do our homework with sincerity, take that from me.

all is needed, is know the focus groups in this case, their tastes and preferences, period. i know at least some LIA members have been able to see how a product development process works, nothing changes, apart from the tastes and preferences.

grace thanks very much for that observation, am inspired, and as you said, i think we getting to another level, only that we need to be smooth and sensual in the atmosphere. remember its going to be a business venture which evolves steep competitors.

Comment 45 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Wow people have raised so many important issues. My brain is sort of spinning with all of them. LOL and I'm very easily distracted too.

I wanted to respond to Arnold's point about the need for tools to make a workshop last night but distracted and did not. Tools are very important and I'm interested in what tools are most essential, in other words I'm interested in a bit of tool talk.

Just what makes something a craft seems a rather blurry line. For example is making the tools for a craft itself a craft? I tend to answer "Yes" to that question. So when I think about a workshop with tools, one of the reasons the workshops seems so important is to make tools for craft and industry.

Probably nobody would think of charcoal briquette making as a craft, but really it is a sort of craft. And certainly making machines to make the briquettes is an important craft. That's just one example of a kind of tool to make, but there are so many others that tool making seems high on the list of crafts to explore.

The discussion of what people in Uganda will buy is so interesting. Exporting things is so complicated that it seems to me developing products that Ugandans will want to buy seems so important. But for both types of product making; i.e. products for market in Uganda, and products for export markets, a rather interesting point can be made: With the Internet and online collaboration the design aspect crosses boarders much more easily than the products themselves.

While Ugandans might want made in USA things, because they think them authentic and not fake, people in the USA often want products from Uganda which they perceive as authentically African. So that's an example of how the definition of "authentic" get a bit complicated.

I don't have a link, but will look to see if I can find some links, about how museum shops have tried to help crafts people in other countries develop products to be sold in these shops. It's not just the product designs there is help with, but also the scheduling of products to meet good times for markets abroad. For example many sales are made in the months approaching Christmas, so the products have to be made well in advance and shipped for the Christmas season sales.

Design is something we should look for ways to collaborate on. The interesting thing about designs too is the designs themselves can be a commercial product. Selling designs is quite cool because especially if the designs are sold as an online, product to download, it greatly reduces the complexity of shipping.

Certainly it is worth exploring the export of products, but that is something that takes some time to develop the necessary parts of the enterprise across boundaries. So I believe it is very important never to loose sight of the importance of making products for the Ugandan market. And one type of product made from craft is making tools. I emphasize the point because it is sometimes not first in mind to think of tool making as a kind of craft.

Comment 46 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Robert, my thought are with you as well. Grief is so very hard because it seems to creep up without warning at times. What I know is that grief is not completely sadness, although surely sadness is a big part. Grief is also celebrating the life of your father and life is full of laughter and tears. Those are two of our great medicines. You cannot rush grief, grief will take the time that's needed. Celebrate the life of your father, "No one who is remembered is yet dead."

Comment 47 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

John Powers said:

Robert, my thought are with you as well. Grief is so very hard because it seems to creep up without warning at times. What I know is that grief is not completely sadness, although surely sadness is a big part. Grief is also celebrating the life of your father and life is full of laughter and tears. Those are two of our great medicines. You cannot rush grief, grief will take the time that's needed. Celebrate the life of your father, "No one who is remembered is yet dead."

so sad, for our brother, can't express my feelings in words, but at least i know GOD IS TAKING CARE ABOUT YOUR SITUATION RIGHT NOW brother, it my not really make sense, especially at this time , but i believe HE IS THE ONE WHO PURGES THE BROKEN HEARTS. TAKE HEART BROTHER. LIFE HAS TO GO ON.

Comment 48 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

John Powers said:

Design is something we should look for ways to collaborate on. The interesting thing about designs too is the designs themselves can be a commercial product. Selling designs is quite cool because especially if the designs are sold as an online, product to download, it greatly reduces the complexity of shipping.

wow! sounds terrific! links, brilliant idea john, can't wait having a glance. one striking thing though. ways on how we can collaborate on designs. could you give more light on this, guys here need to get the real picture. am with you, selling designs online as products to download,not only reduces the complexity of shipping, but i think its one of the firs test ways of creating various streams of income, which to me its stress free.

john, i think your smart, you need to give me some tips, perhaps the books you read, otherwise i have always longed for people like you on search platforms.

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Grace Ayaa said:

To be very sincere if we are looking at what to produce, it should be items that would suit a market intended for people who are not Ugandans,even if it were to be sold locally.

hey grace, this one just strike my mind before i went to bed. when most Ugandans claim to like things from America, very few no the difference between an original and fake product. in fact most products here are chine es 3rd - 5th class.

its from this perspective, that Ive brought in this idea, only if it can be bought, its really cheap.

go downtown, buy two T-shirts, different colors, have them dismentaled, rejoin them changing the sleeves,collars and other parts you feel like , basically play around with the pieces.what you are most like to get are;

recycled t-shirts, of which if you add on any other future, like screen printing, you'll be making super normal profits. remember you buy second hand t-shirts @ 2000UGX each, and yet when selling you may sell btn 10000-15000UGX each .

only that, i think Ugandans just don't know what they want. and luck originality.

Comment 50 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

I definitely don't think Ugandans lack originality! All people are creative, but creation sometimes seems such a lonely business. Making things together, collaborating can be a way to make a person feel free to create. One idea can be the missing piece for another, and the way one person puts ideas together can be what brings another person's work together.

One of my favorite ideas for a blog is AfriGadget which celebrates the ingenuity of Africans solving problems with few tools.

In terms of ideas about design, I think it is helpful to think in terms of design traveling in many directions. One direction it's worthwhile to do a little research about is designs from the outside intended for use in Uganda.

I regret that I've not tagged more faithfully. LOL tagging improves search, and social bookmarking sites like delicious can really be useful, especially for someone and forgetful as I am. In any case one idea that has interested me for a long time is Appropriate Technology. Some people interested in development really dislike the idea because they imagine that simple machines and tools are a way of perpetuating poverty. There is something to the criticism. For example cell phones in Africa have really been a way to leapfrog technology. It would have taken too long to wire countries with telephone landlines. But simple doesn't mean backward, even when we can usefully look back at old technologies for ways to meet current problems.

One institution that I've seen many bright ideas on the Appropriate Technology front is University of Nottingham. Several schools and departments there have done good work on appropriate technologies, in particular the School of Mechanical, Materials, Manufacturing Engineering and Management has done some great work. Here is a press release for a bread oven designed for Uganda. Somewhere online I've seen pretty workable plans for the oven and one of these days will track that link down. I wish I had saved it at my delicious bookmarks. But my point today is there are students serious about designs around the world. What being online, say using Ned as a platform, is it allows for ways of collaborating on designs that will make a difference. Communication is so important because so many of the constraints are not well understood.

This is kind of silly, but there is a blog called Paper Forest which is about paper crafts. A product that I hadn't been aware of before seeing that blog is folded paper toys. Apparently they're quite popular. Basically people work out the designs and have them ready to download as an image which then people cut out and assemble. Some of them are free and some are purchased, but usually at a small price. That is an example of an idea for selling designs. Obviously the right sort of person has to make the designs, and doing it on the computer is somewhat technical. But it hardly matters where the person is who makes the design.

Surely there are many other types of designs which could be sold. I have not been there, but in the city is a store run by a woman from Ghana, she makes African style clothing. There is a great deal of interest in African clothing here and I suspect that clothing patterns might gain a market, especially if those patterns could be dowloadable on the Internet. LOL people like full size patterns and that makes it a bit tricky. But it is quite conceivable to make patterns for doll clothing to download.

We are still bouncing ideas around at the Book Project for Uganda threads. The idea of publishing across boarders is something that I think might be part of the revenue stream for that project. In terms of selling designs what we're really talking about is publishing, so the ideas for the project do have some bearing on the idea of selling designs.

Comment 51 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

John Powers said:

I definitely don't think Ugandans lack originality! All people are creative, but creation sometimes seems such a lonely business. Making things together, collaborating can be a way to make a person feel free to create. One idea can be the missing piece for another, and the way one person puts ideas together can be what brings another person's work together.

ha ! thats what i was failing to say maybe. anyways, you brought it in the best way, and i think its going to be a concept for us here.

before i lose this one, you talked about the Ghanian's city store, making African clothing. and you were like, such clothing, are kind of promising, especially if they can be down loadable, is that right? if thats the case, you gat me on the head.only that if we could be more specific on what kind of clothing, yes i know its African, but at times it may be batiks, tie and die, and many more . any way the floor is still yours, gives more, especially if we can concentrate on this .

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now can you have a look at this.there is a range these kind of different products, this can be made for both local and international markets, at least i have not seen this here before, and yet boxers are the in thing of late

Comment 53 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

This might make it a bit easier to get to this page.

Comment 54 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Linda Nowakowski said:

This might make it a bit easier to get to this page.

hi linda,thanks a bunch. this is great.

Comment 55 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

houla everyone out there.

i posted a link which kind of failed at one time. thank God for linda, she brought it back to life. that one link,represents some of the things we have been talking about in the previous weeks. one thing i realize, we needed a number of different things to look at, share ,and digest intensively with other nedsters all over on what can be produced. ezra and george, anything cooking or what? common boil.

Comment 56 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Katonya siad, ezra and george, anything cooking or what? common boil. There are many things to be produced but market always becomes the challenge, one other thing that we thought of producing and selling locally is vanish,but for internationl markets I think Arnold you have better ideas,and Kilama,Ezra

I failed to get the link that Arnold posted though he said that Linda brough back to life!

Comment 57 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

year peter, vanish is a good one, mean while am boiling too, secondly, peter, just clink on lind's post where it says,

(This) might make it a bit easier to get to this page.

Comment 58 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Oh, thanks now i got it

Comment 59 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Begin with the end in mind. Local market versus global market are two very different targets needless to say.

To a certain degree, there is an old saying that goes: "nothing ever happens until someone sells something"

Local market products? New things. New ideas. New services that have worked in other places. Lower prices. Higher quality. Better service.

Global markets? Low weight for cheap shipping. Lower prices for wholesale markets.

What is it people locally need? What do people spend their hard earned money on? Is there a way to do something "on top" of other things people already do? What kind of software for a cell phone would be helpful for people locally? Can a team of people on the ground specialize in the marketing of a group of product/services. What are services that could be provided to existing businesses that another person/group could provide? What are some digital products that could be developed? Words. Music. Sound. Design. Software.

Comment 60 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Mark makes some good points about markets. Selling stuff is really hard work. When we think about marketing crafts as physical objects for export a whole lot of complications come up.

Some of us here were at the Omidyar.net site. That social network closed. I'm not sure of the reasons why, but part of the climate of the old site got pretty argumentative. And arguments about marketing crafts were rife. Some were very critical of Ten Thousand Villages. I think that organization is great, but the opportunities are limited.

I'm sorry not to get back to Arnold's specific ideas about textiles. His idea was sparked by a store I mentioned. Here is a link to the newspaper article I saw--on the fashion page--about the shop.

There are African themed shops across America. Running such shops requires long hours for not much pay. I suspect that most owners of these shops have a tie to Africa which they use for the bulk of their merchandise. Part of the motivation too, I suspect, is being able to charge trips to Africa as a business expense. The basic point is it is quite difficult to market to shops that sell crafts.

But it is even more difficult to achieve a scale of production for mass market products, say to sell products to mass marketers like Wal-Mart. Google.org has made the development of medium sized businesses a priority; this Next Billion post has great links. It's only these sorts of businesses that could participate in production of products for mass markets. And I don't think the focus of this thread is that: We're trying to start enterprises with practically nothing.

On the other hand, production of real goods is very realistic for domestic markets. The problem is to come up with products people are willing to spend their money on.

The barriers to entry for selling digital products across boarders are less than for physical products. So an example I presented was selling doll patterns for African style clothing instead of trying to sell African style clothing in the USA and elsewhere directly. There are many challenges to the creation of digital products in African villages, but I do believe these challenges can be met with solutions.

I do want to point to John Berger's work. Arnold, if you're not familiar with John's comments on threads here, it's worth checking them out. John's work with The Emancipation Network is some of the most advanced in the whole field of marketing crafts for export. It's such a gift that he's right here at Ned.

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It's supper time so I've got to go make it. Before I do I want to link to a post at Timbuktu Chronicles about MakaPads, sanitary napkins made on a cottage industry level in Uganda. This post moved me, because the cost of sanitary napkins is one of those issues that I've been aware of for some time mostly because I'm so interested in ways to make schooling for girls more--more. Dignity Period brought the issue to broader attention. When I saw the post at Timbuktu Chronicles, which I'll point out as essential reading for African entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs, my heart welled up. Not only is this an approach to an unremarked on challenge, but it's one in country on a cottage industry level that will employ people. Wow!

Comment 62 on LiA CAN! group craft production program development

Mark Grimes said:

What is it people locally need? What do people spend their hard earned money on? Is there a way to do something "on top" of other things people already do?

good perspective Mark. services do better than products.and what people spend on their hard earned money lies in,

1) event management, outside catering, advertising/branding, and the latest which is entertainment/production. however such venture here... need a lot of input. however,

2)data entry.: i think is on top of what already exists, or what would seem to be new on the local market and an export product in terms of service.

will chip in a lil bit later.