Izara Arts Background and Philosophy

After retiring from business careers in the UK and Canada, Patricia Solar and Paul Hancock created the Khom Loy Development Foundation a non-religious organisation working with indigenous people of Northern Thailand. We decided to use our own funds to support pilot projects designed to help hill tribe people get to grips with the modern money economy which is edging its way into their lives. Eventually, we settled on agriculture (food sustainability), education (preparing children for learning to stop the cycle of limited and poor education) and handicraft (income generation and job creation).

As the education and agriculture projects prove themselves, we look for additional funding but we decided that as a handicrafts business, Izara Arts had to stand alone as a viable business. We sell hill tribe products for a profit which is re-invested into the project and producers but we are a business first. Our focus must always be commercial because this is the way to maximize income for the producers in the long term. Running a charitable operation will increase dependency and does not build the women’s skills and confidence. In addition, projects dependent on charitable support can never grow as fast as those which are financially self-sustainable.

Beginnings
Our first effort was to sell what the women produced. This was a losing strategy because if the products had been desirable, they would already be selling. We learned that the techniques were the main selling feature but the designs were too “ethnic” and would never capture much of the market. So we brought in a designer to create some great modern patterns.

We then found that it took increasing numbers of trainers, supervisors and quality controllers to stabilise the output so there was still something not right. The women know how to produce. What they need from us is a link to the Western tastes and markets. We returned to developing our handicraft products as vehicles for their traditional techniques and patterns. We move the women back to old styles where the stitch work is smaller and more intricate than the casual tourist is willing to pay for, the techniques now only seen on formal personal outfits on special occasions.

Method

We take this undeniably beautiful, intricate work and use it with products that showcase it. We try to catch trends (like the yoga mat bag and the permanent shopping bags). We try to stay practical and relevant (eyemasks and baby products currently in production). We keep prices reasonable so the products move quickly and the women keep working. We put many different techniques onto each product so we maximize the number of jobs in each piece and make copying of our designs – always a problem in the handicraft world – more difficult. We introduce new products all the time because getting through the noise of the marketplace and connecting with a customer is the hardest part of the selling process. Once they know us and our quality, we keep giving them beautiful things to buy.
Philosophy

Thailand borders Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar. In comparison to these countries, it is a developed nation and in fact is no longer on the underdeveloped nation list. In 1974, Khun Meechai began his condom promotion scheme. The birth rate dropped to 1-2 children per family from the previous 8+ at the same time as healthcare improved and child mortality dropped. These results have not extended to hilltribe villages.

Every developed country on earth has a falling birth rate while every underdeveloped nation has large families. When resources are finite (and when aren’t they?), no one can prosper when the pie keeps being divided into smaller and smaller pieces. Inevitability, when their children’s survival prospects improve, women choose smaller families. In addition, if the women can earn at home, they stay with their children instead of migrating to cities where their prospects are poor.

There is a link between female empowerment and economic development. Micro-credit schemes loan almost exclusively to women because they have a better understanding of money as an investment in the future. All women in our producer groups say that they want extra money to educate their children.

It is repeatedly proven in the developing world that women are the important change agents. Even in the developed world, small businesses are the real engine of jobs creation, not the big multi-nationals and small business startups are usually female. Viable businesses in the villages mean better lives for the villagers.