An interesting perspective on globalization

I just loved reading this so much a few weeks back, I decided to post it here too. This might as well be the story of my family (minus Oxford scholarships) from small Polish potato farm to Polish-Japanese, Polish-Greek, Polish-African and eventually Polish-Cambodian children all over the globe. I'm sure its the story of many readers too...

This is written by Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyer, about himself. Published in The Times of India.

In 1992, I wrote a book titled Towards Globalisation. I did not realise at the time that this was going to be the history of my family.

Last week, we celebrated the wedding of my daughter, Pallavi. A brilliant student, she had won scholarships to Oxford University and the London School of Economics. In London, she met Julio, a young man from Spain. The two decided to take up jobs in Beijing, China. Last week, they came over from Beijing to Delhi to get married. The wedding guests included 70 friends from North America, Europe and China.

That may sound totally global, but arguably my elder son Shekhar has gone further. He too won a scholarship to Oxford University, and then taught for a year at a school in Colombo. Next he went to Toronto, Canada, for higher studies. There he met a German girl, Franziska.

They both got jobs with the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, USA. This meant that they constantly travelled on IMF business to disparate countries. Shekhar advised and went on missions to Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Kyrgyzstan and Laos. Franziska went to Rwanda, Tajikistan, and Russia. They interrupted these perambulations to get married in late 2003.

My younger son, Rustam, is only 15. Presumably he will study in Australia, marry a Nigerian girl, and settle in Peru.

Readers might think that my family was born and bred in a jet plane. The truth is more prosaic. Our ancestral home is Kargudi, a humble, obscure village in Tanjore district, Tamil Nadu. My earliest memories of it are as a house with no toilets, running water, or pukka road.

When we visited, we disembarked from the train at Tanjore, and then travelled 45 minutes by bullock cart to reach the ancestral home. My father was one of six children, all of whom produced many children (I myself had three siblings). So, two generations later, the size of the Kargudi extended family (including spouses) is over 200. Of these, only three still live in the village. The rest have moved across India and across the whole world, from China to Arabia to Europe to America.

This one Kargudi house has already produced 50 American citizens. So, dismiss the mutterings of those who claim that globalisation means westernisation. It looks more like Aiyarisation, viewed from Kargudi.

What does this imply for our sense of identity? I cannot speak for the whole Kargudi clan, which ranges from rigid Tamil Brahmins to beef-eating, pizza-guzzling, hip-hop dancers. But for me, the Aiyarisation of the world does not mean Aiyar domination. Nor does it mean Aiyar submergence in a global sea. It means acquiring multiple identities, and moving closer to the ideal of a brotherhood of all humanity. I remain quite at home sitting on the floor of the Kargudi house on a mat of reeds, eating from a banana leaf with my hands. I feel just as much at home eating noodles in China, steak in Spain, teriyaki in Japan and cous-cous in Morocco. I am a Kargudi villager, a Tamilian, a Delhi-wallah, an Indian, a Washington Redskins fan, and a citizen of the world, all at the same time and with no sense of tension or contradiction.

When I see the Brihadeeswara Temple in Tanjore, my heart swells and I say to myself “This is mine.” I feel exactly the same way when I see the Church of Bom Jesus in Goa, or the Jewish synagogue in Cochin, or the Siddi Sayed mosque in Ahmedabad: these too are mine. I have strolled so often through the Parks at Oxford University and along the canal in Washington, DC, that they feel part of me. As my family multiplies and intermarries, I hope one day to look at the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona and Rhine river in Germany and think, “These too are mine.”

We Aiyars have a taken a step toward the vision of John Lennon. Imagine there's no country, It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too.

My father's generation was the first to leave the village, and loosen its regional shackles. My father became a chartered accountant in Lahore, an uncle became a hotel manager in Karachi, and we had an aunt in Rangoon.

My generation loosened the shackles of religion. My elder brother married a Sikh, my younger brother married a Christian, and I married a Parsi. The next generation has gone a step further, marrying across the globe. Globalisation for me is not just the movement of goods and capital, or even of Aiyars. It is a step towards Lennon's vision of no country.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope one day you'll join us. And the world will be one.

Busy Monika

Sorry for my slackness and not updating more as we head into the first week of training. I really thought that with my thesis out of the way I'd have lots of time, but instead I have been running around all week, catching up on all the things I put off while writing. Finally, some catching up this weekend!

We went to the community on Thursday to hand out information about the training next week and to get a final tally of those interested. The trainers have been doing a great job the few times they have gone there the past few weeks and everyone was eager to show me the swatches they had been working on. There were heaps and heaps!! Some are already onto increasing and decreasing and almost everyone is knitting even, neat rows. A few people had crossed stitches, but still they were even. They're a nice group and my knitters really like working with them and I think everyone is looking forward to having them there, teaching, all week rather than just every few days. Mony especially is really great at forming relationships and making people feel comfortable and relaxed.

I have the final list (although we are quite certain a few people were away on Thursday and might sign up on Monday morning) and will be matching names to knitters this weekend and sending those out to all the sponsors. A big, huge thank you to everyone who offered to sponsor a knitter! We're all full and no longer need any more sponsors for this group. If all goes well, maybe the next training, in another community, will take place next year in February, but nothing certain for now.

Back to running around now. Definitely check in on Monday for news of our first training session and, I hope, our first "Knitter, up-close-and-personal" story ;).

Great news story from India

Just a quick update: I am free from the shackles of academia! I sent in my final dissertation yesterday afternoon and put away all the study material today. What a relief!!

More tomorrow on CK, but for now take some time to read this article about a young man in India who has taken it on himself to educate the poor young children in his neighbourhood: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8299780.stm

Now he's a true hero!!!

Quick Update

Things are hectic as I am trying to get the products ready to go to the shops, organize the training at Toul Sambo and complete my MSc. dissertation which is due next Friday but needs to be sent off by Monday afternoon. Most of my focus is on the last one but I try to squeeze in time with the knitters as they work on new patterns, improve their seeming technique and happily knit away. Here is a lovely photo of Tyna, Mony and Rofi with their latest work.. They love love love making these monsters. You would too (go here for your very own pattern).


In other news, we're up to 24 sponsors! A great, big hug and thanks go out to my brother, Kuan-Neng Foo in Milan who is sponsoring 5 knitters!! You're the best brother a girl could never have. You might wonder how it is that I have a brother with a very obviously Chinese name living in Milan, when I am so obviously Polish and living in Cambodia... well it is a long story about our wonderfully globalizing world. For another time! Also a big thank you to the Trandem clan, sponsoring a knitter each (for a total of 4) and of course everyone else too!

Also, I have secured a factory supply of the safety eyes that we need at extremely good rates. And I didn't need to order a minimum of 100 000 pieces either. The order is placed and now just waiting on some documentation from the Cambodian side to process the shipping. By next week, if all goes well (breath deeply held), we should have them. Next task: yarn from Beijing.

Knitting School

We went back out to the community today to make sure that everyone that is interested has a pair of needles. Quite a few of the people we met on Friday had kept going over the weekend and we saw a few finished pieces of all garter and some stocking stitch! Some of them were amazingly good for beginners. Mony, Tyna and Rofi continued teaching and I asked them to also show the continental style of knitting. Not everyone learns the same, not everyone knits the same and I think that if someone is discouraged with one style, the other might be more suitable for them.

I spent the morning working with a group of women trying to teach/convert them to continental (I confess, I am a continental knitting snob and not only do I prefer it, but generally think it is the superior method... this might offend some of you English style knitters and I am sorry, but whether our knitters choose English style or continental style we will of course support them, but I will try at this early stage to get them on my team ;)). Ooops, long digression there.





Anyway, so knitting school was in full swing today, with about 20 people sitting in small groups giving it their best. I really have to give extra props to the handful of male knitters for joining the training. One of them is learning really fast and could potentially be our best knitter!


In sponsorship news, we have found 14 sponsors so far! I've added a "donate" button onto the right hand panel of the blog to make it easier for interested donors. I can send you a PayPal invoice, but a couple people had trouble responding to it. Or if you are in Canada, direct deposit to RBC is the best way to go other than Interac by email (a new magical thing I only just found out about). Please spread the word and let your friends and family know about the project!

Sponsorship call!

Sponsor a Knitter – Support a livelihood

You could help a struggling community help itself, stitch by stitch! Cambodia Knits is hoping to find sponsors to support knitters-to-be through a three-week basic knitting training period.

Starting October 19, 2009, Cambodia Knits will be training members of the community at Toul Sambo, Cambodia. Once trained, participants will have the skills — and guaranteed employment — to earn an income and support their families. That means your one-time support will launch a livelihood for years to come.

Who you’re sponsoring

Toul Sambo is located 25 kilometres outside of Phnom Penh, where there’s little access to employment opportunities. The families living here were recently relocated from Phnom Penh and due to the high prevalence of HIV infection among the community, it has received the unfortunate nickname of “the AIDS village”. This relocation made international news and was widely condemned. The stigma of living in the green metal sheds that make up the relocation site, further marginalizes the people there. We hope that through training and gainful employment, Toul Sambo community members can overcome these recent struggles and work towards a brighter future. 33 community members are interested in taking part and we don’t want to deny any of them the opportunity.

How it works

Cambodia Knits is offering training in the community to anyone interested in learning how to knit. Participants will receive a small daily fee in lieu of what they might have been able to earn otherwise during training time. They will also get a bonus on successful completion of training. These stipends are where your funds will be used.

Sponsorship cost

You can sponsor a knitter-in-training for only $30US per participant.

Sponsor as many as you like! Every cent you contribute will go directly to the knitters to support them during the training period. We provide all materials, so no part of your sponsorship goes towards production costs.

About Cambodia Knits

Cambodia Knits was started in June 2009 with five knitters and is still in the early stages of its development. Our goal is to become a sustainable social enterprise, enabling women in poor and marginalized communities access to fair, flexible and rewarding employment. CK knitters produce quality hand knit toys, which we distribute for sale throughout Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We believe our model works for everyone involved:

· Knitters receive training before they begin to work for us and get continued support for skill development afterwards

· Knitters do not need to leave home to produce products, can work on their own schedules, and do not need to invest in materials

· Knitters will have a guaranteed market for the goods they produce, as CK will purchase these directly from them at fair rates

· Profits will fund expansion of the training program to more communities

We feel it’s important to pay learning knitters a training incentive to support them through the training period. Though we would love to provide these incentives ourselves, we’re not yet in a financial position to do so.

As we are not a charity or NGO, we’re not able to provide tax receipts for your donation. However, we’d be happy to provide information about the knitter you sponsor, including photos from the training period.

If you’re interested in sponsoring a knitter, or have any questions, please email monika@cambodiaknits.com.

Thank you for your support!

Monika

Happy happy happy

Needles galore and mini-yarn balls for Toul Sambo:




Deep sigh of relief.

This morning on the drive out to Toul Sambo I had many worries floating around in my head. Not having enough needles, not being sure how many people would want to sign up for training, the yarn being too thin for teaching, the village leader not having prepared a list of names, not knowing where in the community to set up the training and so on. Today could be potentially messy, I thought.

The morning couldn't have turned out better (well, except for the lack of needles).

When we arrived, the village leader was nowhere to be seen. Another community member had taken on the responsibility of talking to everyone and making a list of interested people. Great initiative and the list was well prepared. Without it, things would not have gone so smoothly. We told everyone the problem with the knitting needles and not having enough and although they were disappointed, they seemed willing to share with one another until we come back on Monday with more.

We met with every interested person, gave them a pair of knitting needles and small ball of yarn and directed them to Rofi, Tyna and Mony, who were ready to teach them casting on and knit stitch. The official training has not started, but we wanted everyone to have a chance to learn, practice and get the hang of the bare basics. This way, when we start the training in a few weeks, the foundation will already be set.

And this is where it gets exciting and 'happy'. I was really worried about Tyna and Rofi and how comfortable they would be. They are young and shy and they had both, along with Mony, expressed concerns about working with HIV positive people. As you can expect, there are a lot of misconceptions about HIV/AIDS here and a lot of fear. They seemed to understand that the disease could not be transmitted easily, but feared that they might be open to other illnesses. Davy, Yeng and I have been reassuring them that we would not ask them to work in a situation that put them at risk and that if they felt really uncomfortable, we would need to talk about it some more.

So today, I really thought they would be nervous working with the community and I had no idea how training that was so unstructured and informal would go. We didn't have a chance to prepare too much or talk it through, I just asked them to cover the basics. I didn't have a chance to give them any support either as Davy and I were busy going through the list, getting names right, trying to learn the situation in each household.

I only found out when we got back in the car how it all went.

Tyna and Rofi are usually very quite, shy, reticent. They don't ever say much unless asked a question and even then only with some encouragement. When they got back in the car today, though, there was no shutting them up! For most of the ride back it was all excited, happy chatter in the back seat. I could only catch the recurrent sabay sabay sabay (happy in Khmer). Turns out everyone was happy. The community members were happy to be learning and my knitters were happy to be teaching them. They even said they would be happy to go there on their own on a moto (they know the next 10 days I'm busy with finishing my MSc) and continue training.

Yeng, my amazing husband, had said something to the knitters the other day about learning new skills. He said, and I paraphrase, when you learn a new skill of any kind, you should never think its just yours to keep. It can only become truly yours when you pass it onto someone else and help them grasp it as well. I don't know if my knitters got that or really internalized it, but I do think they reveled this morning in being able to teach others. It seemed it was fun, exciting, rewarding for them. And it clearly made them happy. There was no need to worry about location either. Although not ideal, a woven mat in the shade of a banyan tree can make a learning space. It's the teachers and students that make it what it is.

For me, it was an emotional morning. When I started this journey, expedition really, to establish Cambodia Knits, it was moments like these that I had hoped and aimed for. Seeing the Toul Sambo (a community whose misfortunes I had only been following in the news until a month ago) people sitting in small groups, smiling and really happy, eager to learn makes it worth all the stress, doubt, minor debt and worry. Oh, and of course hard work. It's moments like this morning that show that it is possible for these families to improve their lives 'stitch by stitch'.

Future Knitters

I wanted to post this since our visit to the community last week, but didn't have a chance until now.

On Friday Davy and I visited Toul Sambo again to have a short meeting with community members to tell them about Cambodia Knits training, working for CK, training dates and so on. When we arrived, Hope, a health organization (I have tried to look it up, but there are at least a dozen orgs with HOPE somewhere in their names) was there giving basic check-ups, distributing ARVs and holding a short meeting to pass on some health messages.

We introduced CK to everyone there. Some had met us the week before, but most people had been away for Pchum Ben so it was there first time to hear about the training and the possibility of working for us. I showed some of the completed monsters and they were very well received (lots of smiles from the kids). Everyone was very eager to give knitting a try, to see if they could learn how to make the funny creatures.

Surprisingly enough, there are several men who want to try as well! I had presumed that only women would be interested, as knitting is generally considered in the feminine domain (not saying I agree, but really, that is the generalization) perhaps even more so in Cambodia. I had always imagined that the project would be about helping women in these communities, but if men want to join, I can't and won't have any objections. One of the men used to work as a motodup (motorbike taxi driver for those not savvy in the ways of Cambodia) before the relocation. The city is too far for him to travel to from Toul Sambo. He has five children to support on his own and if knitting for CK is going to help him do that, all the power to him!

Some potential points of conflict: another organization, a medium sized international NGO working on various projects around Cambodia, has talked to the community leader and the vice-governor about setting up handicrafts training in the community. Their support, however, will stop at training and not provide any access to markets. Also, the community leader, who encouraged the community members to accept the relocation and who currently lives in PP in an apartment given as thanks for these efforts, is drawing up a proposal to get funding to build a handicrafts center and 20 sewing machines. Ultimately it will be up to the community to decide which is the most advantageous and suitable for them.

That being said, the above two proposals are 'in the air' and no one is certain how or indeed if they will materialize. Its important, however, to be aware of the other things that are in motion in the community and be prepared for any possibility. Again, having the support of Davy, who knows the community well will be invaluable. In the next few weeks, we'll visit the community once a week (myself and three knitters/trainers) to introduce the first steps of knitting, find out who is willing to commit to the training, collect some basic information about each family and start to build relationships. Building relationships based on trust and respect is not something that many businesses aim for with their employees, but for a social enterprise, I don't see how we can have any hope of success without it.

More monsters!

The monsters are here!!!

Not much to say except: YAY! We finally got it all together. Here's just a few but there will be many more in the days to come!!





Again, these wonderful monsters are patterns from the brilliant Rebecca Danger. You can find them here if you want to make your own. Or just go and look at her other wonderful patterns.