Los Colobris Crafts Group: Empowering women and supporting sustainable
development in the tropical cloud forests of western Ecuador in gender and
tourism: Women's employment and participation in tourism
Gail Y.B. Lash, Shannon W. Parsons, Rebeca Justicia
UNED, UK
1999
maqui@peachnet.campus.mci.net
Keywords: forests, protected areas, sustainable development, non-government
organisations, women, tourism, Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador.
Contents
Key Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations of Study
Abstract
PART 1: Introduction
PART 2: Key Objectives of Los Colibris
PART 3: Methodology
PART 4: Assessing Experiences: Lessons for the Future
Key Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations of Study
A) Recommendations for Policy Makers
i) Local/National
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Local political support is needed to sustain the protected area status of
reserves and national parks, without which initiatives such as Los Colibris
cannot survive.
Local political Support can also be crucial in practical terms; for
example, in ensuring access through road clearance projects; in ensuring
electricity supply.
Local & National governments should promote & support environmental
conservation & sustain-able development. Initiatives such as Los Colibris
need public & consumer support.
ii) International
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International funding for community tourism initiatives is essential if
they are to compete within the tourism industry.
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Training of non-local skills is crucial for competition in the international
market.
Consumer awareness increases support for and tenability of project, and
international governments should work towards promoting and
generating support for these types of initiatives.
B) Recommendations for Stakeholders
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Local NGOs should provide contacts, expertise, advice, training,
markets, and consumer education.
International NGO should provide funding, training, markets
Local community should give support, opportunities, alliances
Tourists need to provide incentives and markets
Tourism Industry should support community based tourism initiatives.
NB: All stakeholders should ensure that their support fits with local customs
and traditions.
While guidance should be offered, it is crucial that the members of the
community group have ultimate responsibility over and credit for their
initiative.
C) Recommendations for Community Tourism Initiatives aiming to replicate
the success of this model
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CTIs should ensure dedication and determination of group members,
incl. trust within the group. Small groups may be preferred. Equitable
labour division and democratic decision-making processes are needed
The CTI members must control and manage strategy and policy
priorities.
Local & international NGO partnerships should be established, for
contacts; training; funding.
The support of the local community, incl. that of spouses, needs to be
won; local expertise should be tapped.
CTIs should ensure labour efficiency, product quality, incomegeneration, market accessibility.
CTIs should promote understanding of and training in environmental
conservation and sustainable development amongst members and the
local community
CTIs should establish on going monitoring and evaluation systems,
including monitoring of gender responsiveness.
Abstract
The artisan group Los Colibris (LC) was conceived in 1995 in the village of Santa
Mariaruta, Ecuador, to offer locally made handicrafts for sale to tourists at the
nearby Maquipucuna Reserve and to generate income for village families by
providing artisan work to women. Overcoming traditional female roles where
women did not work outside the home, the women of LC were able to organise,
receive training, secure a grant from USAID for equipment, and produce and
sell sustainable rainforest products with the help and support of resident Peace
Corps volunteers and staff from Fundacion Maquipucuna (FM). FM is the NGO,
which owns and manages the Maquipucuna Reserve and its ecotourism
ventures. Key to LC's success was its evolution from an unstable, large group of
15-20 members down to a workable small group of five core members who
respected each other. Addition-ally, LC women found that full-time work did
not allow for the daily demands of child rearing, and instead settled into a
rotational, part-time practice. The members tightly control distribution of
profits and equity in sharing of costs. The success of this group inspired the
formation of two further women's artisan groups, and secured a three-year
training grant from the UK's National Lottery Charities Board.
PART 1: Introduction
The village of Santa Marianita (Marianitas), population 230 residents, is located
in the tropical cloud forests of the western Andean mountains; about three
hours drive from Ecuador's capital, Quito, and within the Metropolitan District
of Quito. Marianitas and several other villages exist within the 10,000 hectare
(25,000 acre) buffer zone area, named CARG (Cuenca Alta del Rio
Guayllabamba), adjacent to La Reserva Maquipucuna, a 4,000 ha (10,000 acre)
biological reserve (Pearson, D. and D. Middleton, 1996) that is increasing in size
each year (Rainforest Concern, 1997). This area is hoped to be increased to
include protected forests (of all types) from the Andes to the Pacific (Fundacion Maquipucuna, 1997; Fundacion Maquipucuna and PROBONA - Ecuador,
1997). The Reserve is owned and managed by a NGO, Fundacion Maquipucuna
(FM), formed in 1988, which operates a Research Station and Ecotourism Lodge
at the reserved northern end, just four kilometres by road from Marianitas.
This private nature reserve is characterised by steep mountain slopes of 90%
primary rainforest, located between two major rivers, with both ancient
(archeologically significant) and newly-carved hiking trails, highlighting many
rare and endangered plant and animal species. Its ecotourism facilities can
house a total of 30 people (18 guests and 12 researchers) and opened in 1995 to
350 tourists; 1996 brought 1,000 tourists, increasing to a total of 1,580 tourists
in 1997. The Reserve employs approximately eleven full-time staff (not all
local) and eight temporary workers; the FM office in Quito supports a staff of
22 persons, run by a board of directors under a general assembly.
The two other main industries located near Marianitas and neighbouring
villages, besides the eco-tourism services at the Reserve, include a large
chicken farm and a flower-growing factory. Like the Reserve, each of these
large operations only provides 10-20 employee positions to area residents,
leaving most people to rely on an agriculturally-based economy of sugar cane
alcohol production from many small, family-based farms, as well as small-scale
milk production from cattle farming as their main source of income. A few
services have appeared in the village such as general stores, a small restaurant,
transportation, and a women s artisan group, Los Colibris (The Hummingbirds).
Los Colibris (LC) was formed as a Peace Corps initiative, when the need was
seen to provide local rainforest handicrafts (even ones of low quality and at
low price), instead of crafts from other parts of the country, for sale to tourists
at Maquipucuna Reserve. In December 1995, the resident woman Peace Corps
Volunteer (PCV) gathered together 16 interested residents of Marianitas (both
men and women) to plan training workshops for craftmaking. Due to later
conflicts (discussed below), the group decided it should consist only of women.
The major stakeholders in LC are: tourists, FM, Peace Corps (PC), the members
of LC, and the markets for their products: the Reserve, two to three shops in
Quito and now three markets/shops in the USA.
In this rural, traditional Spanish culture, "women's voices are not heard as
loudly as men's". Typically, women are not the decision-makers and do not have
access to funds, skills, or cultural support to change these traditions (Parsons,
1996a). Women are usually confined to child-care duties and household chores
while the men attend to the pastures or sugar mills. In terms of employment,
women, like men, have few jobs available other than machete work (working
pasture and grinding cane) and they need and want work that allows them to
still care for their house and children --making handicrafts fits well with
women s daily time schedules (Lash, 1998).
Within the tourism industry at Maquipucuna Reserve, local men are employed
as assistant managers, guides, carpenters and organic gardeners, while local
women employees are cooks and cleaners. Men or foreigners manage all
tourism associated with the Reserve. LC was able to break this mold and allow
women a higher class job, managing and directing a project, and producing and
selling crafts, which increased the opportunity for women to 1) express their
independence in decision-making, 2) increase economic self-sufficiency, and 3)
finally have the men and the entire village take them and their enterprise
seriously by seeing LC s success.
LC is a fine model to examine all aspects of craft development: pricing, costs,
costing, willingness-to--pay, production capacity, quality control, and markets.
Any assessment needs to be in light of these elements. It is an exemplary
model for not only gender issues, but also for sustainable tourism development,
being a small-scale, locally run community tourism initiative. It is also a model
for community development, entrepreneurship, interactions between NGO and
community, spousal relations, and other socio-economic relations in
communities.
PART 2: Key Objectives of Los Colibris
The key goals of LC are multi-faceted. First and foremost, they are:
1. to give employment to village women,
2. to enable women to learn something new (they are starved for
knowledge),
3. to empower women with a sense of pride and equality and the ability to
use their money to improve their lives and the lives of their children, 4)
to allow young women to be able to stay and work in the village and
avoid going to Quito to work as maids, and 5) to birth a new, private
enterprise for women (Lash, 1998; Parsons, 1997).
This enterprise illustrates good practice by truly basing its monetary success on
market demand and supply. During tourist season this creates incentives to
produce crafts; the harder a woman works, the more money she can make. The
women of LC do not equally share in its profits, but they do equally share in its
costs. Costs include an initial entrance fee for each member, a set monthly
payment for building rent and electricity, and buying small supplies such as
sandpaper, paints, metal earring wires, etc. All machines (drills, presses,
polishers) in their workshop were acquired through grants and are limited in
number, available to all members for use on an as needed basis.
When a craft piece is sold, income is distributed directly to the person who
made that piece, minus 10% for the kitty: an emergency supply fund to 1) fix
machines and 2) purchase other necessities (transportation, postage, etc.). All
money from sales of products to markets/stores out-of-country is kept in an
FM/LC bank account in US$, for the purpose of buying a parcel of land and
erecting a workshop/showroom for LC in the village. This eliminates the need
to pay rent to other persons and will give LC members a sense of independence
and control of their destiny.
Social success is measured by other means -- united conquests over adversity
and the tests of time. The major goal of women in LC is to continue to make
this enterprise work (personal communication, 12 June 1998), having decided
that steady, part-time work is preferred (Lash, 1998). The core five women
have remained together since LC s inception, both through slow seasons and
times when orders could not be filled fast enough. They have gained
recognition from the community as a force in the workplace.
Other facets of LC s goals create a respected alliance between villagers and
FM. FM has worked with the community for several years implementing training
workshops, environmental education lectures and tourism development
meetings. Through LC s presence, all village women have a voice about
community development programs, such as building a children's day-care
center to expand women s work opportunities. In 1998, FM received, through
the Rainforest Concern (1997a), a three-year grant from the UK s National
Lottery Charities Board to: implement this children s center, improve artisan
training, and assist in formation of additional artisan groups and community
programs -- all due to the tenure of LC.
LC members are in agreement with the need for environmental conservation
and sustainable development, and strive to learn and invent new designs for
natural, sustainable handicrafts (Lash, 1998). The group started by using local
vines to make baskets, but this stopped because of difficulty in obtaining a
sustainable supply of vines. Reasons for this difficulty were that as the demand
for the vines, which grow wild locally, escalated, the supply of vines within a
short walking distance of the village diminished. Finally, the labour costs from
the amount of time and effort it took to collect enough vines from farther
away, and to make the product, outweighed the benefits from the sale of the
vine product. A similar decision to stop using large snail shells in craft-making
was made because this use encouraged the practice of eating snails, which was
causing population numbers to decline (personal communication, 25 June
1998). Most LC products are made from tagua nuts (a palm species) and
bamboo, thus encouraging the group to plant tagua and bamboo locally for
fixture use.
PART 3: Methodology - Experiences with a Gender Responsive Process in
Planning and Implementing Los Colibris
3A. Planning Stages: How Information and Expertise Was Improved
The collection and storage of information of any kind regarding the members of
LC, dates of work-shops, products made and sold, are minimal at best. All LC
training involved hands-on experience, with no written records kept on
production techniques. A booklet was later produced on making recycled paper
and used for PCV training for other communities (Parsons and Osterling, 1996).
Traditions in the village of Marianitas are oral not written, even though at least
55% of all women in the village, and 100% of LC, are literate (Lash, 1998). LC
members, just like local general store owners, have to mentally approximate
how much money they earn per month.
Initially, when products sold at the Reserve, the manager would record the
name of each artisan, so that she could be paid directly for the piece, but this
type of record keeping became too labour- intensive. The Reserve switched to
a system of once a month sending all money for products sold, and all products
that had not sold, back to LC. The women would recognise their returned
products and know which ones had sold and then be paid for the products
which did sell from the treasurer. The monthly lists of products sent to the
Reserve and LC s record of who sold what were always thrown away. These
records on each woman were not seen as necessary (personal communication,
17 June 1998).
The only gender-specific data collected and still stored are interviews
conducted in summer of 1998 to assess the viewpoints of village women
towards the Reserve, conservation of forests, developments needed to improve
life in Marianitas, and to document production techniques and costs/benefits of
LC from these oral accounts. It is very useful to hear and analyse voices rarely
heard, and to bring women s concerns to the attention of village leaders and
FM for resolution (Lash, 1998).
In the beginning, LC was open to all in town wanted to join and learn to make
crafts, both men and women, young and old. By involving everyone, the whole
town learned of the enterprise, sup-ported it, and all were given a fair chance
to work hard, learn new skills and make money. The size and composition of
the group fluctuated over the first rune months, and in the tenth month, when
new machines arrived for group use, LC declared open enrolment finished and
the group closed with a total of ten members (seven adults and three
teenagers). This action solved many problems of conflicting interests between
groups, but also caused jealously from some people in town who saw LC making
money and was not able to participate afterwards.
Two conflicting stakeholder groups were adults versus children, where children
would misuse equipment and waste supplies -- most considered making crafts
just a fun past-time and were too young to have the discipline to take it
seriously, with responsibilities. Another schism came from people refusing to
pay their monthly fee, and from disruptive egos; after closing, the remaining
ten members worked well together, and were secure in knowing that the rent
and electricity would be paid and that they could concentrate more on work.
Nine months later with only seven members, another major conflict happened
when the two men in the group wanted to use the machines for carpentry work
instead of crafts and the group disagreed. After not paying rent, the man and
son left, leaving the five core women members of today.
LC women hold meetings where they lay down rules and set priorities -- their
main priority since 1997 is to own their own workshop. This requires purchasing
a parcel of land and building a place for their machines, storage of supplies, a
place to work and demonstrate techniques, and a showroom for tourists to buy
products. As women, they know little about how to go about this, and rely on
men and FM to help and advise them how to accomplish this goal. Other
priorities voiced are to continue to improve social interactions and to build
communication skills. As a group, they share use of tools and designs, and
teach each other how to make new products. Their husbands, who at first did
not take LC seriously and even sometimes resented the time wives would spend
making crafts, see the income generated and now help the women in the
evenings to complete orders for products.
Tapping the expertise of local craft makers, the PCV planned LC's first craft
training workshops using a woman in a nearby village who could teach basket
weaving one day, every other week. Next, the PCV learned and taught how to
make recycled paper note cards, envelopes, and bookmarks. Using the
knowledge and tools of a man in Marianitas, LC learned to make painted tagua
nut keychains.
In order to learn new tagua and bamboo designs of higher quality, the PCV
found a woman artisan professional from Quito and hired her to teach LC
members for one week. This occurred around the same time the group
membership closed. Grant money became available to 1) purchase equipment
for LC and 2) to pay this consultant both for training workshops and for
equipment that she needed for training. The woman insisted that she be called
La Se era. Even though her designs were exquisite and her skills great, her
treatment of the women of the village was less than professional. The women
were made to work 12-14 hours a day for weeks to fill La Se ora s orders for
stores in Quito and the USA, and she promised to pay the women after orders
were finished. La Se ora never taught the whole production process to any one
person, had everyone doing assembly-line work, and would finish all the pieces
herself. This resulted in no one from LC knowing all the steps to making the
products.
It was while working with La Se ora that the LC women learned about potential
health risks associated with tagua dust from sanding and grinding, and the
necessity to wear a cloth or mask over one s face. After two months of working
with LC, La Se ora left without paying anyone anything. Causing a rift in LC, 8-9
people, both from LC and other village residents who still believed in her
promise to make great sums of money, worked with La Se ora for another
month without pay, only to finally realise that one day when she left with their
products, still refusing to pay them, that she was not come back. LC regrouped
with seven of its original members and worked together to learn how to make
completely several tagua products, the best design was for napkin rings. There
were actually many benefits, which stemmed from this tragedy, discussed in
Part 4.
On a positive side, LC women enjoyed being trained and educated about
conservation and the ecology of natural materials they use in their products.
They, more than other village women except those actually working in the
Reserve, took to heart the lectures on species and habitats given by the FM
staff and the PCV (Lash, 1998). One LC member said, "It s good I learned from
the FIJI to love nature. Before I knew these plants, you think it s just a plant
and nothing else; now it s different with [education] courses. You know with
the fruit or nut of the plant a bird can live; now you know that if you conserve
the plant, you conserve the bird (personal communication, 21 July 1998). When
educated by FM courses about their role in conservation tourism, the women
feel more involved and are more likely to support and respect the Reserve and
its mission (Lash, 1998).
3B. Strategy Formulation
LC members formed their own strategies and policy options regarding their role
in tourism. The women decided when creating LC that crafts making was softer
than hard machete work, and that this was their response to participating in
community-based tourism options that fit their needs. Issue- specific policy
options, such as flexible work hours, and working with natural raw materials
and products, were determined by the women to affect their lives both at
home and at work in the most positive way.
LC chose to implement options that maximised people s participation and
available resources. On a village-scale, LC negotiated with local landowners’
access to their tagua and bamboo. After planting additional tagua trees in the
Reserve and prompting other residents to grow bamboo, LC women ultimately
had to find a larger supply of tagua nuts in a regional village, while waiting for
local trees to bear more fruit and young ones to mature.
On a group-scale, all members can use the workshop and machines at anytime.
Each woman is paid according to each piece of product she makes. Orders are
split evenly and given to who is best at making those products. There is no boss
in LC, only five equal members (or as some may say, five bosses!). There is a
president/leader, but her job is to listen to the group and decide what is best
for the group, not for her. After the PCV lent, a tourism liaison was appointed
from FM to: help the women continue meetings, sell products at the Reserve,
buy needed supplies from Quito, and deposit money in their bank accounts.
The group s relationship with NGOs has been very rewarding. Just after the
group began, FAO donated $100 for needed start-up materials. In June 1996,
the PCV wrote a grant proposal to USAID asking for equipment and workshop
funds because, [t]he artisan group lacks basic materials to better their
products and lacks enough materials for everyone to work at the same time.
Right now there is competition for materials within the group (USAID, 1996).
The $1200 US grant was awarded to LC through a partnership with FM to be
managed by the community women, in a way that will not be environmentally
destructive. USAID funds will be used to buy blender, iron, drill, stainless steel
pot, materials and implements for paper recycling, the necessary equipment
for the workshop, lock, didactic materials, and to cover training costs (USAID,
1996).
FM, as well as promoting LC products at the Reserve, provided many resources
for LC training, meetings, and field trips. The National Lottery Charities BoardUK grant enabled a Project Coordinator to be hired to work full-time with
Marianitas and other communities surrounding the Reserve.
3C. Implementation
The implementation of community-based tourism strategies utilised several
types of untapped human resources. Leadership skills were discovered in one of
the women of LC, who had worked well at the old day-care center and
possessed a good work ethic. She was elected president of LC and has lived up
to her potential. Artistic talent appeared when the tagua keychains needed to
be painted with a picture of a bird-one man became designated painter
because he took the time to paint the birds, making them beautiful and of high
quality. Currently, one of the husbands does all the bird painting with almost
equal skill. Husbands also help to drill holes for keychains, earrings, collect
tagua and bamboo, or make wooden stoppers for tagua salt and pepper
shakers. This support from husbands demonstrates increased interspousal
interactions. All local action plans for LC are discussed, approved, voted on by
members, and implemented by LC elected officers. For example, to qualify for
the USAID grant, the group had to fund raise 10% of the grant amount, $120 US,
and did so by holding raffles and bake sales. The group worked initially
together to: recruit new members, rent workshop space, find new markets by
talking with store owners in Quito, develop new products, closely evaluate all
products, present teaching workshops, and sell at crafts fairs (Parsons, 1996).
3D. Monitoring
It is important that every community-based tourism enterprise be sensitive and
responsive to gender roles and needs. As a women s group, the premise of LC
inherently involves considering the needs of women, at least among group
members. Members meet frequently to discuss openly their concerns and
successes, achieving an ad hoc form of continuous monitoring, evaluation, and
adjusting of their process (Parsons, 1996). When dealing with the rest of the
community, NGOs, training experts, and other private enterprises,
consideration of gender needs may not be so apparent. A study was con-ducted
in 1998 with the women of Marianitas that aims to shed light on whether
gender needs are being met and to make recommendations to LC and the
above parties for improvement. The specific focus was to document possible
links between tourism training (including crafts training) and conservation
attitudes and practices of women residents of Marianitas by interviewing
women using semi--structured surveys with open-ended questions. Women
voiced their concerns and whether their relationships with FM were working or
not. Preliminary results indicate that FM is working well with LC, but that all
women interviewed recognise a lack of jobs available to women, and most
expect FM to provide these jobs and/or community programs and
improvements (Lash, 1998). Good communication becomes a central issue when
dealing with gender responsiveness -- are women really listened to? LC women
need to be more assertive about speaking up in public, in-group situations and
asserting their ideas for change (or not). Indicators of gender responsiveness
have not yet been incorporated into LC and FM monitoring and evaluations, but
we suggest that the following be considered: whether LC women can perform
(independent of FM help) all the pieces of the LC puzzle successfully: money in
the bank emailing about customer orders, presenting/selling at craft fairs,
interacting with tourists professionally, doing family chores, staying healthy,
having support of husbands, elevating position of women in the community.
3E. Evaluation
A major change in LC policy occurred when the group switched from depending
on people s artistic ability (e.g., able or unable to paint beautiful birds on key
chains) to depending on their hard work. This change meant that the women
needed to find products that everyone could make, so if they worked hard,
they could make money. LC held a big meeting where each product was
evaluated with regard to quality control, production costs, pricing levels, and
marketability, to determine which ones to concentrate on. Criteria included:
which products sold best, which ones sold least, if it was too difficult for
everyone to make, if it did not hold together over time (e.g., broke in six
months), if the materials were hard to find or costs (materials or labour) too
high (Parsons, 1996).
LC effected changes in tourism planning by attending and selling at PCsponsored craft fairs, net-working between communities with field trips and
training in adjacent towns. FM has community programs in six surrounding
communities, and is promoting the formation of crafts groups in at least two of
these. LC women now provide narrated tours of their workshop and
demonstrations of craft making to tourists travelling to or from Maquipucuna
Reserve. These tours are an added benefit for both FM and LC by: giving
tourists a glimpse at local culture, broadening FM s nature-oriented tour
package, and providing an opportunity for tourists to spend money on local
crafts.
LC has made strategic use of Fad s external support on many occasions. Two
related stories illustrate the need for LC women to develop urban skills so as
not to depend totally on FM guidance. When LC women go to sell products at
craft fairs in major tourist areas, usually two women go together, both for
safety and due to the limited amount of time women have to travel. One
evening, outside of a crud fair, the LC women were robbed of money and
crafts. Understandably shaken, they were able to borrow money to get home.
The next season when the fair was held at this same location, the FM liaison
helped LC to arrange lodging to stay overnight, so as to avoid being out in the
evening and potentially being robbed again. After selling crafts in the morning,
the LC women waited to hear where their lodging was, but not having heard by
noon they panicked and left the fair so as to catch the afternoon bus back to
Mariarutas. The PCV has helped tremendously by providing external support in
acquiring markets in the USA. She, personally, and with two other
stores/wholesalers, has placed at least seven large orders for LC products in
the last year and a half. These moneys help to substantially build the bank
funds saved for the future LC land and workshop.
PART 4: Assessing Experiences: Lessons for the Future
4A. Changes Compared to Previous Experience
The most important change is that LC is working! Overall, LC demonstrates that
a new small community enterprise in Marianitas can be successful on a longterm basis, given certain fundamental coterie, such as dedication and
determination Tom group members, the presence of a dedicated PCV, local
NGO, funding organizations, and readily accessible markets. This is a different
outcome Tom, for example, two other projects started in Marianitas by the
PCV: an agroforestry program and women's vegetable gardens. The agroforestry
program was short-lived mainly due to the group dynamics of a large number of
participants, and care for the vegetables plots did not fit into the women s
daily routines (Lash, 1998). The success of LC has permitted aspects of
community gender issues. The most obvious is that women now have a voice in
the community regarding a new day-care center for children, so that women
can work outside the home. This increased input from women has been
expressed through FM meetings with the community and FM grant moneys for
the center.
4B. Factors Which Influenced the Outcome of the Process
In a silent manner, the LC project has benefited greatly from sustainable
political support through the PC and FM, and the contacts that these
organisations, particularly FM, have with the Metropolitan District of Quito and
its mayor. These ties help to keep the road free of mudslides and accessible to
tourists. These contacts most likely influenced the installation of electricity
and community telephone in Marianites. Most of this political support helps to
sustain the protected area status of Maquipucuna Reserve. Without which LC
would have not been invented.
The women of LC have dealt with much opposition Tom many different sources,
those who have interests in tourism and those who do not. These dealings have
both torn at the group and strengthened it. First, this small town is divided by
a line drawn Tom old grudges into two camps which prefer to have as little
interaction as possible (Parsons, 1996). All five of the LC women are Tom one
camp. This confirms one resident's philosophy that [t]hose divisive lines ran
through town like cracked pavement...Full community projects [are] not going
to work. Success is to work with units that already exist...a family group,
church group, groups that have reason to work together (personal
communication, 13 June 1998).
The biggest struggle that LC has experienced and conquered was working with
La Se era. Looking back, this probably could have been prevented if La Se ora s
reputation had been checked more carefully, but then, despite the strife, LC
would not have accrued such important benefits. The benefits that came from
this are that LC [members] now have vision of ups and downs and see [that]
this [group] can last for a long time, and [are] aware of pay-off at [the] end
(personal communication, 13 June 1998). It clarified that part-time work is
what LC members need. Even through seasonal tourist times when sales are
scarce, LC members are not easily discouraged. This strife not only brought the
members of LC together but also brought factions in the town together when La
Se ora left. Those who had not been able to participate in LC were able to
work with her. It gave everyone a chance to be trained, and it was then each
individual s fault (not LC s or La Se ora s) that he/she did not continue making
crafts on his/her own, or start another group.
The evolution of LC has been complex for rural village life and simple for
foreign life. Its jubilations are based on the women's energy, willingness to
take risk, or willingness to make a time commitment... [And to make]
equality...a guiding principle for community projects (Sproule, K. and A. S.
Suhandi, 1998). Its tribulations are based on LC women s timidness to stand up
for themselves: at draft fairs, with trainers like La Se era, when FM proposes
strategies in meetings those LC members oppose, when selling products outside
the Reserve, and much more. Some of this timidness has changed over time,
and with practice and training, LC women can conquer it altogether.
A similar factor to be conquered is LC s lack of business skills. It is culturally
easy to teach or pro-mote craft production, but often harder to teach subjects
outside of cultural norms, such as: record keeping, marketing their products to
tourists and stores, handling checking accounts, asking for money in a businesslike manner if it is owed to them, and adapting a business-like manner in
general. It should be noted that women s seemingly innate ability to negotiate
and manage (e.g., bargaining in the marketplace or managing a home) is an
important element to factor into business training.
In understanding the women and their attitudes, training options, and the role
of community, FM, and other key players in this regard, FM s new Project
Coordinator is challenged with the gender sensitive factor of confrontation
skills in business relationships. As a male, he sees LC s enterprise in the
following manner:
"There is a wall to cut down...They ask for support and things, and on the other
side they don't want it. It's not easy... [It is] necessary to break these concepts,
for example, not working in quality work, and [because] had [to make PCV]
order and couldn't do FM order. There are no stock items [of LC crafts] in FM
[office]. Problem is mental and maybe have to accept how they are; they think
how they are now is enough Problem is don't have urgency for economic
resources; the work now it’s a pastime. [LC woman] don't complain about
Reserve not paying for everything [owed to them]. Problem is not motivation...
[It is] the relationship. We have good relations with people in Marianitus, [it is
friendly. needs to be more technical, more professional and they need to
complain if [there is] a problem, and talk back and forth [It needs to] be a
business relationship and not a friendship relationship [that could break]...I
don t want LC to depend on FM [staff], [want to] develop capacity in people of
Marianitas. I need to be hard in this first facet. If I'm nice, nothing changes"
(personal communication, 27 July 1998).
The above cultural/mental factors also influence financial incentives and clear
understanding of potential benefits. The decision was made recently to
increase the quality of products and this created a change in benefit incentives
and distribution. Quality is increased if all women work together in assembly
line stages making each craft product, and sell bulk orders together, instead of
working independently on items where quality varies due to the different skills
of each member. This creates income distribution of paid-by-the-hour or task
(like sanding or painting the product), instead of paid by the piece. In this
manner, the next person in line to work on the item can check quality.
It has been difficult for the women to switch to this type of income distribution
and change in work schedule, where all women need to be working at the same
time or at least closely together, but it is better in the long term for LC and
their marketing of standardised products under one LC label. To retain these
benefits, but also ease the transition of changing production techniques, a
combination of the two strategies could be implemented, where women still
work some at home on a piece and then come into the workshop to finish their
part and pass it on to the next worker.
LC women have a great desire to own their workshop and the land it is on. The
factor inhibiting this it is very difficult for women to know proper legal
procedures to purchase property. They need help from village men or FM for
advice and action. For this reason, FM keeps their bank account in US$ from
sales abroad to save money for land purchase. When they obtain enough
money, they will either need to learn how to buy the land, or rely on
community or FIJI help to do so.
Partnerships with the local community, NGOs, and other key players are
necessary for a sustainable rural gender tourism program, like LC. Rural women
certainly need the support of some portion of residents, both male and female,
in their community to launch a tourism venture like LC. Lack of community
support can divide a group, but also shows resiliency in response to difficult
situations, as seen when LC women worked with La Se era. For LC, its NGO
partners, PC and FM, and key players like the PCV, are the most significant
factors contributing to its success. These organisations help tremendously in
writing and obtaining grants, in banking, and in introducing the women to craft
fairs and other markets, all of which these rural women needed guidance to
do. The drawbacks to this aid is that these women need ultimately to be
trained how to do all these things by themselves, with confidence and
professionalism, enough so that they can become independent and selfsufficient.
4C. Lessons to be Learned and Recommendations to be Made
Can the success of LC be replicated? Yes, establishing a women s craft group
within community-led tourism initiatives in other communities can be
successful, if certain fundamental conditions exist. In 1998, sponsored by FM,
two new women's groups in adjacent communities began producing crafts.
Every case is site-specific, each depending on local cultural traditions of
women s roles as to which factors need to emphasise and taught to support
women's role in community tourism initiatives. We have to remember that
forming a women s artisan group has the dual aim of 1) producing and selling
crafts successfully by ensuring product quality meets foreign tourism standards,
as well as 2) empowering women in their own culture with new economic and
social opportunities. If LC's standards for product quality are adhered to, then
goals for replication of craft production are straightforward.
Empowering women, however, when working with different cultures (e.g.
colonial vs. indigenous) requires a careful study of local habits, roles for
women, daily routines, available resources, and capacity of women to acquire
the skills to produce goods for sale to foreign tourists.
As this case study shows, women need to develop a project for themselves and
be in control of it. It is suggested that women are from related groups or
families and their group is small in number. A NGO can guide the group, but
local women must have ultimate responsibility and credit for accomplishments
is best given to the women, not the NGO. In this manner, the women acquire
pride and responsibility and are more likely to succeed in the long run. When
women realise their potential to change their lives in ways they want, this is
empowerment.
Further research is needed to see if LC (and community) women are content
with tourism development, and to document what issues they think are
important and how to go about addressing these (Lash, 1998). The National
Lottery Board Charities UK grant dictates a fast pace for training of LC women
and improving crafts production, a pace which may be too fast for these
women s lifestyle (Rainforest Concern, 1997a; personal communication, 12
June 1998). On other hand, rapid, successful achievements are good because
women see positive results and are more likely to continue with the program.
The following are significant changes in strategy that have evolved for the
women in LC: 1) concentrate training in the areas of business development and
management, assertiveness, how to interact with tourists, as well as actual
production of crafts, 2) make professionalism an underlying goal for all aspects
and decision-making, 3) emphasise standards of consistency and quality control
in product production, 4) increase incentives to promote mutual responsibility
and disincentives for free riders, 5) package and sell bulk orders from the group
LC, 6) make regular trips as a group into Quito to gain related benefits, 7)
purse legal issues of how to buy land, etc. as a group, asking for help when
needed, and 8) aim to be a key player in a service industry which grows with
the Growth of Maquipucuna Reserve and its tourism, efforts.
________________
Notes to readers
The Author may be reached:
Ms. Gail Y.B. Lash
PhD candidate
Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources
The University of Georgia
Athens-Georgia
30602-2152
USA
Email: root@maqui.ecuanex.net.ec OR maqui@peachnet.campus.mci.net