Marking the end of our first mini consulting project, our second week with CraftHER comes to a close. This week we spent an incredibly powerful and eye-opening week with the women of Forest Post including the fabulous Manju, founder of Forest Post, herself. A week of stories shared, food devoured and a sense of real community and trust. I come away with a deeper understanding of the indigenous communities and the challenges that face them and their way of life, and most importantly a feeling of responsibility to support the fight for the conservation of these beautiful people’s craft and forestry.

Day 1 was spent at the production facility, learning the processes and steps involved in making the soaps, balms and food products. We sat, skinning tubers, packaging soaps and shaving beeswax the same way these women did (albeit much worse) and discovered how a back can hurt after an hour hunched over your work, hands get stained from dirt and arms feel heavy after hacking away at a hard block of beeswax but most importantly we discovered the community and the chatter of being a part of this incredibly inspiring workforce. I sat with Chandrika, a member of the Appantham community, for the better part of two hours skinning tubers and between transactions provided by Preetha and hand gestures I discovered an incredibly strong woman who despite tragic events maintained a smile and spoke of resilience and happiness. She inspired me to write my blog (one of the deliverables of the consulting project) with a tale of two tigers she stumbled across with her husband. In short explaining that when the balance and respect for the forest and its occupants are maintained harmony can be achieved. An excerpt can be found below:

“ Whether the tiger had learnt human language, read their body signs or simply decided that they posed no threat is impossible to know. But this is not why the story has stuck with me. I carry the story with me as a reminder of a truth often forgotten: nature does not ask or need for our control or dominance, simply our respect. Harmony with the roots that birthed us, the forests that feed us and the wildlife that lives alongside us is not built on power but on the acknowledgment that we are visitors in a world that was never ours alone. When we respect nature, acting with humility not entitlement, we take a step towards living in peace with the world around us, too often described as dangerous and unworthy of the respect it is due. Living in harmony with nature isn’t about speaking to the forest. It’s about learning to listen to it”

Day 2 found us meeting women from the bamboo weaving community who patiently taught us their craft on the backdrop of the astounding Athirapilly waterfalls. We listened to Manju’s story of the founding of Forest Post and began interviews with the weaver women. Unfortunately these interviews gave little to work with, as the wome were quite nervous but this allowed us to adapt and change our tactics for the interviews with other women. Erin and I who were working on the weaver women video (another one of the deliverables for the Forest Post Instagram) had to pivot and quickly come up with another idea to put together over the next two days. Thankfully on Wednesday we were able to get lots of bits of footage from the preparation of the hair oil, soap packaging and sealing as well as final product photoshoots and so decided on a Forest Post Trailer style video. We were also able to help Manju the following day when visiting a community still living partially in the forest by taking interview segments of two of the ladies.

It was perhaps this fourth day that I felt the biggest sense of the sisterhood and care that exists between women in these communities. After accompanying the women on the harvest of the plant required for their hair oil we sat inside the main room of one of their houses and through the translation of Preetha and Manju, learnt that the three older women in the room had all been left by their husbands with young children to raise without any financial support. They spoke of the support given by one another and the community and the feeling of being better off without men. One of the younger women, Siji, also spoke of the death of her parents and the way one of the elder women in the room had taken her in and cared for her. Manju told us of Siji’s education and that she had worked in the ‘outside’ world, naturally we asked where she felt happiest and without hesitation she answered the forest. My understanding of this familiar theme I can summarise in the community and principles transmitted in these villages. The outside world is highly individualistic and promotes wealth and success above all else, in these villages there is support and care woven into everyfabric of their way of life. Care for each other, for the forest, for the wildlife inside it. I think of another excerpt from my blog: “The ‘modern’ ‘advanced’ world I grew up in calls itself so because the cities are bigger, the medication stronger and the limits ever higher but advancement without wisdom is merely acceleration. Perhaps true advancement comes from learning to live in harmony with the world instead of trying to escape the ship we are setting on fire ourselves. In these communities enough is actually enough, once the need has been fulfilled there is no reason to want more, the forest is not a resource to drain but a friend to look after, and wealth is counted by the family and friends around you not the hoarding of stuff.”

There is one person here that I have not yet given enough mention to and that is the force of nature known as Manju. Despite having founded this incredible collective that woman upon woman told us had improved their lives and gave them the ability to make savings and provide for their families, she remains humble to the extent of seeming surprised that these women were so grateful towards Forest Post. She was so welcoming and kind, taking time out of her busy schedule to sit down and talk with us as she did with all the women working with her. To me her leadership style and character is one to aspire to. Manju takes the time to listen and work with, not above, the women in her collective ands because of this there is an incredible respect between them all which makes for its own little Forest Post community from ladies across villages. This is perhaps the greatest lesson I learnt this week. The value of good leadership. A leader that listens to all, making decisions based on what the community needs not personal greed and above all kindness, quiet strength, resilience and the ability to make everyone around you feel valued.