Week 2 in India marked the beginning of our first mini-consulting project of the CraftHER programme. From Monday to Friday we were based at Forest Post, an eco-conscious brand which sells products hand-made by the indigenous women of six different tribes in Kerala’s forest region.
Across the week we had the pleasure of meeting a plethora of the awe-inspiring women who create the products for the brand. As well as assisting them in the production and packing process for the skincare products (including hair oil, beeswax soap and balms) and attending various craft-workshops (including bamboo mat weaving) our primary focus was shooting B-Roll content and interviewing the women to create three promotional videos for the brand’s instagram, as per the brief given to us by founder Manju at the beginning of the week.
At first, I think we were all a little uncertain of what we ought to ask the women and what would be appropriate to film. Our reluctancy was exacerbated by the matter of the language barrier: the women could not speak English and we cannot speak Malayalam. However, with some encouragement from Preetha, who acted as translator, we started just with conversations about their family, which they reciprocated, and this often led directly into a discussion of their experience of living in the forest.
For instance, the first woman that I started a conversation with shared that her father had been killed by an elephant stampede. This came as a shock as I didn’t know that elephants could be aggressive and kill humans. It was explained by the fact that habitat destruction and invasive tourism were causing these gentle giants to fear humans and retaliate by showing aggression to any that they came across even if those individuals were tribal people who meant them no harm. The anecdote shed light on how outside interference in the forest could destabilise the fragile harmony of co-existence that the indigenous people had cultivated with nature.
The fear of elephants, especially the prospect of having to cross into their territory to harvest vital forest produce, was a theme that endured in conversation with the women throughout the week. However, this fear of nature was not inherent to these indigenous people, not by any measure. Whenever we asked how the women felt about living in the forest they all said that they loved it and it made them happy to be there. One woman shared, when asked what her favourite forest animal was, that she had grown up alongside all of them and so didn’t have a favourite because she felt it would be wrong to choose just one.
Another anecdote which indicated the state of peaceful co-existence that the indigenous people had cultivated with local wildlife was the story of the bathing tigers. Chandrika, one of the women that we spoke to at Forest Post’s manufacturing unit, told us about a time when her and her husband were walking through the forest and came upon two tigers. One tiger was bathing and the other was watching from the edge of the water. When the tiger caught sight of the couple it raised its hackles, taking up a threatening stance. Naturally, Chandrika was frightened by this but her husband told her not to be afraid and said he would just go and tell the tiger that they meant it no harm and just wanted to pass by. After he did so, Chandrika told us, the tiger settled and laid down to rest once more allowing the couple safe passage past. This story was absolutely incredible and left all of us in awe of the beautiful relationship that the indigenous people seemed to have possessed with the wildlife in the forest.
I’ve learned so much this week, having come into it with little to no understanding of indigenous ways of life. The brief, which required us to spend lots of time talking to and working with the women, illustrated to me just how much wisdom the women have. Their understanding of the forest and how to use but not over-use its resources for food and everyday utilities is second-to-none. Indeed, many of the Forest Post edible products are based off of the ancestral recipes and blends of the indigenous people. In addition, their ability to survive displacement (due to the construction of damns), abandonment by their husbands, and the threat of elephants indicates an attitude of resilience which derives from that of first accepting things as they are, not fighting or denying it and then stoically moving forward and finding solutions.
The challenge for us this week then was to convey in three short promotional videos, the brilliance of these women who work at Forest Post and so how worthwhile it was to buy the brand’s products. In this aim, I think we as a consulting team were very successful. The three videos that we presented to Manju on Friday were authentic yet purposeful in trying to market Forest Post’s products and Manju seemed pleased with the content that we had created and eager to use it on the brand’s social media.
My own personal challenge this week was being a successful group leader. I had the tasks of ensuring that: everyone was on-time for sessions and fully informed of admin details or scheduling changes; everyone was working collaboratively towards our mini-consulting project outputs; keeping the CraftHER social media up-to-date and generally making sure that everyone in the team felt supported throughout the week. Throughout the week everyone was pretty much self-sufficient in terms of being on-task with the work as each of us are industrious people who want to give our all to each task that we’re given. However, given that Friday was our first end-of-week presentation, the team needed more guidance and support than usual with the presenting element, due to nerves. I feel that here I really came into my own in giving directions on how the presentation should be delivered, who would be best placed to speak when and what were the main points to be conveyed. Everyone did incredibly well and I was really proud to have led the team through such a successful presentation and week.