Gender Equality Madagascar Project #31478

Transform Lives in Madagascar with Silk and Raffia

by Conservation through Poverty Alleviation, Int

Project Report | May 27, 2020
Marketing on line to support SEPALIM

By Catherine Craig | CPALI President and Founder

Baskets designed by Lalaina and made by the team

We are happy to report that there have been no known occurrences of COVID in Maroantsetra. The team has been able to continue to work wearing masks (each team member has 6 and they change them every 2-4 hours), each wears the new SEPALIM uniform, hand washing is required upon entering the workshop and no one other than team members are allowed into the compound. We anxiously await the arrival of winter in June in Madagascar and continue to keep our precautions in place.

Mamy and Lalaina have both been thinking about new products to farm. Fruits are available for about 1 month during the year in abundance and much goes to waste. Mamy would like to set up a fruit drying program. We are getting generous help from a new agricultural advisor, Chris Pannkuk whose experience in tropical agriculture spans the globe. Lalaina is also taking on new projects to enhance food security. She is working on teaching herself how to make flour from locally available breadfruit.

Mamy is taking immediate action to help the team insure itself again hunger during the coming lean season. He set aside a room in their house for storing food. He provides a salary advance to team members to purchase rice when it is immediately available. The rice is stored ahead of lean period until needed. Farmers will not have to deal with inflated prices. This is the same approach the team took to ensure that farmers could afford to purchase school supplies for their children. If you remember, Mamy and Lalaina purchased school supplies during the off season so they could offer them to SEPALIM silk farmers at low cost when school starts. This allows team members to avoid having to purchase them from local venders who increase the price during school season. Hooray for the SEPALIM social network!

Our new CPALI summer intern Stella Gryler is making facemarks from our beautiful cocoon silks. They will be sold on our Ta'Na'Na online website! The masks are made from COCOON SILK and lined with 2 layers of contrasting, cotton. The inner layer is finished off with a small pouch for an inner layer filter if desired. Filters are not provided with the mask but we recommend a simple coffee filter that can be changed every day. The masks can be washed in cold water as needed.

Also new to the market are Lalaina and the artisan teams beautiful cocoon silk baskets. The baskets are made in three sizes (a basket family) from the different types of silk with which SEPALIM. Melissa McFadden Photography in Walla Walla is helping Tanana put together a new online store by taking beautiful pictures of Lalaina's new cocoon-silk baskets. I will be sending new links in the future but here is a sneak peak! They make a unique gift made from wild cocoons trimmed with natural dyed, woven raffia trims.

Cocoon silk mask made by intern Stella Gryler

Covid mask filter pouch

Diversity of basket colors

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