Correspondent: Sr Anne Brittain

The Sisters came to the Philippines in 1990 and the aim of the immersion and presence in Asia was to work together with the poor, particularly women, in the rural areas. We are presently 3 sisters (two Australians and myself, British). I joined the others in 1995.

Having been involved in teaching, (P .E. & then Religious Studies), spiritual accompaniment and latterly inter-faith dialogue work in Birmingham, living again in a rural area in a different culture, took me back to 1977-79 when I lived in Kenya as a VMM volunteer and worked in a harambee (self-help) school.

Nothing but 'on the job' listening and responding has prepared me for my present role in the women's cooperative! Regular, salaried employment is very hard to find, particularly in the more remote areas of the country and this was expressed by many families when we first came to live in a small village on the Pacific Coast (Eastern Board) of Luzon Island, Philippines. People survive day-to-day from small fish catches, occasional work in the local construction industry, copra & other farming and/or small-scale, illegal logging. Since we live in a monsoon climate, fishing and alternatives are not always possible.

We are part of an international group, with sisters in around 20 countries, it seemed possible to initially use this network for marketing any local product that might be made. Card-making and subsequently handmade paper-making were initially chosen as possible income-generating activities because people expressed an interest in skills-training and also the renewable raw materials (cogon grass, banana trunk), were available locally. We availed of a series of trainings from DTI (Gov. Dept), based in Manila and were fortunate to receive the donation of a pulping machine and large cooking vat in 1998 and this equipment is still being used to date.

Gradually the project has grown and diversified along with the developing skills of the women and the help of a trainer from BESO (UK based). Other overseas funding has enabled us to erect a purpose-built workplace and we are hoping gradually to fabricate more women-friendly equipment.

From an initial 9 women I am now working alongside 47 (of whom 22 are share-holder members of the cooperative which was registered in 2001). The main product is still handmade paper which is then converted into cards, stationery items (notebooks, note lets etc) but we also produce soap for the local market. We would like to develop this further into different types and packaging, possibly using handmade paper. More recently we have begun experimenting with some woven baskets to compliment the stationery & hopefully allow the newer women to earn a regular wage and thus become full members of the cooperative. All the women but 4 live in the same village as us -many are our neighbours.

My role from the first has been:

• To establish market links for the handmade paper products and network with other NGOs and like-minded groups (particularly women)
• To work with a team in planning training sessions and socials
• To oversee the financial aspects and to submit yearly audited accounts to CDA (Cooperative Development Agency)
• To buy the secondary resource materials in Manila

Last year we were fortunate enough to receive our largest order of Christmas cards from GORTA in Dublin and this has been repeated in 2003. This has been an enormous help to us and we are hoping to develop some links with Fairtrade Shops in Austria and Holland. If the Cooperative is to grow it needs to sell more widely than the Sisters' networks.

Handmade paper making is very labour intensive but the group shares all the tasks in rotation (chopping, cooking the fibre, washing etc) and the aspect of creativity in the design papers stops the work from becoming routine although it is hard. A different group of women make the cards in their own time at home; a weekly meeting draws everyone together for planning, sharing news and salaries.

This year we have welcomed quite a lot of overseas visitors ( students and teachers from Japan, exposurists from DKA, Austria, friends from UK and our Sisters from Australia). Visits are a good chance to practice 'sales talk' in English; this is needed also at the American Embassy & American Women's Bazaars which we attend 5 times a year in Manila.

Any queries or suggestions are welcome! We would love to network with other small Cooperatives like ourselves throughout the world. Special interest in women's groups. Please write to us at the above address.

Anne Brittain (Sister of Sion)
September 2003