learningtorise-blog

[learningtorise-blog]

I really love what you're doing! Do you know when your products will be available and how much they will cost? I'm in the US and would really love to support Rise

Awesome! Thank you for your support! We are currently in process of working with a local bagmaker to get our more high end products made. Our products will be available for sell starting in December! If you give me your email, I’ll send you an email letting you know when our debut collection has been launched!

[learningtorise-blog]

"If there ever comes a time when the women of the world come together purely and simply for the benefit of mankind, it will be a force such as the world has never seen before." RISE #artisans and founders coming together for a meeting to discuss new designs and weaves. #RISEupstyle #womenempowerment #feminism #womensfashion #sustainablefashion #thailand #ethnicstyle #chiangmai #daughtersrising

[learningtorise-blog]

Success!

My two friends and I recently founded RISE (a fashion business that strives to empower marginalized, ethnic minority women by infusing their beautiful craft traditions with contemporary style). Read more about our adventure in my first blog post.

Trying to start RISE has been quite the wild ride.  Currently, we are trying to get our first group of sample products made so that we can decide which products we want to reproduce and sell. Throughout this process, we’ve hit a million walls… communication problems, color or design mistakes, even finding young Karen weavers (it’s a dying art form), etc..  We want to make fabrics that blend the Karen traditional style with colors that will appeal to western women. This mission has been difficult this far, especially with language difficulties. My Thai is getting better these days, but the Karen weavers often times only speak their indigenous language. Despite all of the issues, the women artisans have taught us so much about the design process and we’re beginning to figure out how to best communicate our interests to them. It’s been a crazy learning curve.

RISE’s process to design and collaborate with Karen artisans to create the perfect textiles.

After a lot of effort and thought, we’ve finally nailed down a (hopefully!) fail-proof system for making our product line.  As part of this system, we decided to start working with only one remote village instead of many different villages.  This is partly for ease and consistency, but also because we want to provide jobs to women who lack access to other ways to make money for their families.  We chose a village called Mor Wah Kee because it’s a village that Daughter’s Rising has worked with previously. (Daughters Rising has donated over $14,700 to Mor Wah Kee School!! More about Daughters Rising’s project at the Mor Wah Kee School here.)

So Alexa (co-founder of RISE and manager of Daughters Rising) reached out to our English speaking connection in the Mor Wah Kee village and told her about RISE.  Her name is Tu An and she’s a total badass.  She is Khmer, born in the south of Thailand.  She’s university educated and speaks fluent Khmer, Lao, Thai AND English.  And now she’s married to a Karen man and has become a facilitator and a driving force in her community.  She’s always been really constructive, honest and friendly.  Best part is that we can trust her and she’s reliable. Luckily, Tu An invited us up the following day to meet with weavers because it was a new moon, and Karen people don’t work in the rice fields when the moon is new.

Tu An in the center surrounded by myself, Hannah and two other lovely volunteers from the Chai Lai Orchid, Fran and Lydia

So yesterday Hannah and I hopped in the back of a seemingly ancient pick-up along with two other friends and set out to Mor Wah Kee to meet with some artisans. The village is normally about a two-hour drive up winding, steep mountain roads, but this time the ride took about 3 hours due to the fact that the pick-up truck couldn’t make it up any of the steep, muddy stretches of the road without the engine going out and us starting to roll backwards. It was hilarious/ totally dangerous. Next time, I’ll be going in a truck with 4-wheel drive.

When we finally arrived, there was a huge group of Karen women waiting for us at Tuan’s house. We previously thought that only a couple of women would show up to the meet us but actually around 20 weavers came!  Tu An had previously told the women about RISE and that RISE was going to do something special with Karen fabric. After some quick food, we sat down and had a big meeting where Hannah and I introduced ourselves and told the weavers what we wanted to do while Tu An translated. The best part was showing them some RISE sample products that we already had manufactured. The women freaked when they saw their traditional weaving incorporated into high-end purses with leather. They loved it.

Karen women checking out RISE’s first sample products.

Next, we showed the women how to read and understand our supply kits, which contain diagrams of the patterns and colors we want so that the women could match them exactly.  They were totally into it! They listened carefully when Tu An translated, asked questions, and wanted us to show how our templates worked again and again. In the end, I wish that I brought more supply kits.

 There were so many women that wanted work but we weren’t prepared with enough kits. In a couple of days, we’ll go back to the village to check on the work to make sure it’s correct and drop off some more kits. We tried to make these kits beyond easy to follow. We’ll see what happens! I’m anxious already….

After tying up a couple other loose ends, we left feeling thrilled. It was awesome to see that the women wanted to get involved and that they liked what RISE is doing.  I’m finding that the small things wear you down but sometimes it’s the small things that lift you up and make all the difference. Seeing the women’s faces light up when they held our products made my week. The women were so lovely and friendly. Great next step in the RISE adventure that makes us feel like our goals are not so far-fetched. Getting excited for what the future will bring!

With love from the mountains of Thailand,

Allie

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[learningtorise-blog]

New Beginnings

Three years ago, I made the spontaneous decision to buy a one-way ticket to the other side of the world. I was a 23-year old college graduate without a clue what I wanted to do in the world. I was stressed out about my career path, my relationships weren’t what I wanted them to be, and the job that I had worked so hard to get fell apart moments before I was going to “sign the contract.” To put it simply, I was unhappy. I’ve never been one to settle, so I questioned myself, “why settle for a life I don’t like?” So I made the decision to change the tone of my life… And I left.

When I introduced the idea that I was moving to Asia, my family thought I was lying and my friends thought I was crazy. I’m from a big, close-knit southern family; I was the first to move to out of the US, not to mention the South. But I packed my bags anyways, said sad goodbyes and boarded a plane solo to Bangkok, Thailand. I realized how absolutely unprepared I was when I heard the stewardess on the plane say “hello” in Thai. It couldn’t have sounded more foreign and difficult to pronounce. And now, three years later, I’m still in Thailand. I have fallen in love with this crazy country.

In Thailand, I have supported myself by working as an educator. I’ve definitely had my ups and downs in teaching, but I cherish the skills that I have developed and what teaching has taught me. I find that often times my students are my greatest teachers.  As I reflect back on my time living in Asia, I cannot begin to express how my experience has shaped who I am today… the people that I’ve met, the culture that I’ve had to adjust to, the places that I’ve seen, and the things I’ve learned.  I’ve had the opportunity to teach over 400 students in Thailand and know most of them personally.

Above: My 3rd grade students at Ambassador Bilingual School in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Below: My freshman students from the Chiang Mai Rajabhat University.

There was one group of students that affected me more than any other. While teaching at a Thai University, I elected to do some volunteer work in order to get involved with different communities in Chiang Mai. I was set-up with a volunteer teaching gig at an organization called BEAM, which is a NGO that aspires to provide higher education access to ethnic minority migrants and refugees from Burma.

Students from BEAM.

Being the clueless - perhaps ignorant - young American that I was, I confidently walked into my first class to preach about grammar without any information about the audience I was teaching to. The students were shy and extremely respectful. I could see that they were curious to know more about me and I wanted to know more about them…. But they were too shy to engage in conversations unrelated to learning English. 

There was one student in particular, who after a couple of classes, began to feel comfortable enough to approach me after class to ask questions about American life and my background. And because of the questions that he asked and the way he asked them, I started to gain some understanding of where he came from.  I eventually learned that this particular student was from the Karen ethnic minority group, which I didn’t even know existed at the time!  Over time, he started to tell me about his story and shared short snippets of his life in his remote village, the war and genocide he was a victim of, his experience in his refugee camp, and his desire to become a politician so that he could fight for his home country, Burma.

Poekoko, my student from BEAM, that first began to reach out to me...

I began to learn about the Burma’s civil war and military regime that had been so hidden from the rest of the world’s headlines. I learned about the systemic problems that refugees encounter and more specifically, the lack of access to proper education that refugees face. How can a country rise up if their future leaders, doctors and politicians aren’t being educated? The answer is that they can’t.

I soon began to develop deep relationships with many of my students as they started to feel more comfortable telling me their stories and their struggles. I started to learn more about their background, their resilience, and their determination to overcome their obstacles. What I learned astounded me. Despite all odds, they had overwhelming determination to go to university so that they could better their communities and fight for rights within their home country. These students, with their kindness, their humility, and their perseverance, changed my life.

Dinner outings and celebrations with students from BEAM.

My first concern was that my students were unable to pay for their education once they finally climbed the impossible mountain to access it. I wanted to find a way to help finance their education, so I started thinking of ways to make money utilizing a skill the ethnic minority groups already had. This led me to the beautiful weavings that many mothers make in the villages. I started to wonder… why don’t I find a way to sell the beautiful hand-woven textiles to Americans? And use the money from the business to support the communities that hand-weave the products? My idea was to find a way to “empower mothers to empower their children through education.” But how?

I wanted to work directly with the weavers, but how to gain their trust? And could I trust them? Who was I to go into indigenous villages with the assumption that I was going to help them?  I played with the idea, but all of the factors were too complicated and overwhelming for me to figure out how to manage on my own. I attempted to write a business plan, but over time, the whole idea fell apart. I gave up. It felt more like a dream than a plausible reality…. until I met Alexa Pham.

Alexa is a powerhouse. She’s the one-woman show that co-founded and manages a non-profit while she also runs a successful social business that she founded to financially support her non-profit. Needless to say, she’s impressive. She also hasn’t received a paycheck in two years despite working 12-hour days, 7 days a week. The non-profit, which is called Daughters Rising, works with ethnic minority communities to empower at-risk women, specifically those at risk of sex-trafficking and forced labor, through education opportunities, employment, and community development programs. The majority of communities that Daughters Rising works with are of the Karen ethnic group. 

I met Alexa when I came to stay at her social business called the Chai Lai Orchid, which is an eco-lodge, nestled in the mountains outside of Chiang Mai. It’s a little slice of jungle heaven that shares property with an elephant camp. Guests get to stay in high-end bungalows immediately next to where the elephants sleep and walk around. It’s one of my favorite places in all of Thailand. When I first arrived, the beautiful hand-woven Karen textiles for sale in the café caught my eye. I asked where she got the products from, and I learned that most came from the neighboring Karen villages that Daughters Rising works with. She told me that she was trying to sell more products with hill-tribe fabrics online and develop her store to help pay for a school in a Karen village. My eyes widened and cogs started to turn in my brain.

About three months later, I made the decision to move back to the states, but I wanted to volunteer before going back. So I asked Alexa if she wanted some help. Luckily, she gave me a volunteer position and I began volunteering in June of this summer. While volunteering, I met Hannah, a firecracker of a woman who co-founded Daughters Rising with Alexa.

Hannah’s background is in design, product development, and indigenous textiles. Previously, she developed products and managed Daughters Rising’s online store while also doing a Fulbright research grant in Mongolia followed by grad school in Detroit. Her hands were full and it was difficult for her to do it all. But lucky for me, this summer she was free and coming to Chai Lai to create new products and develop the business. After spending a couple of days together, Hannah and I realized that we wanted to do the same thing: create a fashion business to support Daughters Rising’s projects.

As a result, Alexa, Hannah and I made the decision to create RISE.

“RISE is a social fashion business that blends indigenous textiles with contemporary design. We incorporate gorgeous hand-woven textiles made by Karen master crafters into fashion-forward designs. RISE connects western consumers to our artisans who live in isolated, marginalized communities. We aspire to encourage women’s independence, which in turn facilitates female leadership in the villages. By choosing a RISE product that showcases Karen weaving, you not only help to empower indigenous women through income, but you preserve the dying, ancient weaving tradition.  Furthermore, for every dollar of profit that RISE generates, we donate half to Daughters Rising. Together, we can raise awareness about the Karen people: their story, their struggle, and their strength and empower the women in their communities.”

So here we are… Trying to start business. Going into villages, meeting Karen artisans, writing business plans, making meeting manufacturers, trying to figuring out communication issues, learning how to best work with the artisans, trying to get funded… There’s been a steep learning curve, but everything has been a success so far.

I created this blog to keep friends and family updated about what I’m doing with my life these days and keep people updated about RISE. I feel excited, nervous, and confident about the future! I guess it’s time to figure out what these #hashtags things are all about....

Lots of love from the mountains of Northern Thailand, Allie Fite

Hannah showing the Karen weavers how to read the RISE templates that we provide artisans.