Thoughts on Luang Prabang's Night Market

This evening I took a stroll through Luang Prabang’s night market—a bustling affair with village women coming from the city outskirts as well as urban artisans who reside inside this UNESCO World Heritage city. The night market caters primarily to foreign tourists, or “falang” as they’re called by locals.

Eager to see handiwork from various ethnic groups in northern Lao, I ate a quick dinner of street food, then took my time wandering past the various stalls. It was truly a feast for the textile lovers’ eye! Bags, wall hangings, scarves, slippers, blankets, you name it! My focus was primarily textiles, although there was quite a selection of various touristy accoutrements: temple bells, t-shirts, wooden bowls, silver jewelry, hats, decorative paper umbrellas, tissue box covers, and on and on.

Two items struck me as I walked through the market tonight:

1. The lack of diversity between vendors (We call these things “competitive advantages” and “product differentiators” in the US.)
2. Lots of relatively low quality products. (Working in Laos for some time now, I’ve discovered how to distinguish between poor and great quality products; these tonight, unfortunately, seemed almost mass-produced but were marketed otherwise.)

The first point, lack of differentiators between vendors, is one I’ve encountered often with GIANNA. One of the reasons why artisans and cooperatives are eager to work with us is the product development education we bring. We work with artisans in a collaborative way to co-create designs. This means we look at what they craft currently and build upon it. We bring fresh ideas and a Western design sense, while the artisans add their own cultural motifs and creative direction to pieces. This process culminates in the beautiful designs and patterns you see on our website.

In addition to innovative designs, GIANNA artisans are excited about learning how to build scalable systems. They observe that their world is moving from an agrarian-based economy to a market-based economy, and they’re eager to learn how to thrive in this new era.

The production of products can provide such a beautiful and very tangible way to learn about systems creation and ways of thinking that will help artisans thrive in this ever-connected global economy. To this end, many products at the night market tonight weren't "fairly traded," so if you find yourself in Luang Prabang, I encourage you to consider buying from NGOs and other organizations that invest in the development of artisan communities. One such admirble organization is the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre located a few blocks from downtown.

The second point mentioned above about the plethora of low quality products prompted further investigation. I spoke to several people tonight who explained that the market demographic, typically backpackers, has been so price-focused that goods are often not crafted “with heart,” but simply made as quickly as possible using the cheapest materials available with little regard to quality, craftsmanship, originality, the environment, etc.

Markets adjust, and in the case of the night market, artisans are thinking first about earning enough money to cover basic needs. There's little thought about negative externalities assocated with crafting products. This is something you and I can help change.

One of the beautiful, and in the case of the night market, frustrating, things about capital markets is the connection between supply and demand. Consumers can affect change with their purchasing dollars, if they are educated. This is a point we at GIANNA strive to teach consumers—vote with your dollars! There are many factors to consider when purchasing products, including the environmental impact of the item (which has very tangible “costs” that may or may not be immediately felt), the quality of the work, the cultural significance of the work, the concept that the artisan is being paid a fair and living wage, and so forth....

The bottom line is that the night market is a place abuzz with activity and beautiful things, but if you venture here, please be mindful of the points listed above. And if you’re really serious about visiting Luang Prabang’s night market, let me know—I’ll direct you to a few of my favorite shops in the city that live by fair trade values.

Now for some images:

Here's an image of decorative paper umbrellas in striking colors! Just make sure to keep these for decorative purposes only... paper umbrellas and rain don't mix too well.

T-shirts and more t-shirts!

Various metal vessels, jewelry boxes, and decorative pieces. The larger silver bowls are commonly used to give morning alms to monks.

Images from Life on the Road

What a beautiful, thought-provoking, productive, and enriching trip!

I’m back in the US getting caught up slowly on, well, everything! It’s always so wonderful to be abroad and spend time with our artisans, but there’s typically a pile of work and emails waiting back home. I'm slowly getting the to-do list done!

For those who read the blog regularly, don’t worry. I wrote multiple blog postings (on paper) during my time in Laos. I’ll transcribe these over the next few days, so you’ll see them here soon.

Several of you have emailed asking for fun photos of “life on the road,” so I want to share a few. Enjoy!

Artisan Noy is taking a quick break from weaving with one of the team leaders, Phonesouk.

This is Artisan Kong's mother who was very excited to have her picture taken--she's demonstrating how to use indigo leaves to make the natural indigo dyes you'll see in one of our new ikat pillow designs!

This was taken during a meeting in a village a few hours north of Vientiane, the capital city. The women are gathered around to learn more about the market in America, new designs, and share their ideas. Of the various artisan groups with whom we work, this particular village produces exquisite ikat. (more on ikat in a future posting)

Oh, notice the fresh coconuts. Yum! (and ignore my backpack...)

The villagers know I'm a fish-eating vegetarian, so they graciously grilled fresh fish for lunch (above), along with sticky rice, mushroom-pumpkin soup, papaya salad, green onion and lettuce salad, and sauteed pepper greens. Each woman brought a dish or two for family-style eating. Sep lai lai! (Lao for "Very tasty!")

Laos is a very diverse country with significant cultural differences between ethnic groups and between people living in the northern and southern parts of the country. Above is a photo of a traditional Lao home. Note that the family has adopted a practice we at GIANNA encourage--open spaces beneath homes instead of the traditional "animal pen" to house cows, goats, chickens, and other animals. Open spaces are healthier for families because they reduce the prevalence of diseases and other health issues that occur when livestock live "downstairs."

Above is a photo of the ever-silly Bandith, one of GIANNA’s team leaders in Laos. Bandith's goofy spirit comes across in this shot! On his head is basket used to cook sticky rice. We were visiting a basket-making village and the weaver had just finished making it. She laughed for about 5-minutes straight!

This is my Lao family a few hours before we left for the airport in Vientiane. Samoy is on the left, Toto, Meh (Lao for "mother"), and me. Meh cooked a feast! And made it vegetarian! Looking at the image here brings tears to my eyes.

I'm so fortunate to do the work I do, to meet so many truly incredible people, and to have the family I do, and yes, that means my family in the US and the Philippines, as well as my Lao family above.

Meetings in Laos

Good morning! It’s about 4:20am here, roosters are crowing, there are sounds of distant motorbikes humming along the main road, and I’m wide awake. Thank you, jet lag! It’s actually quite nice though as I’m able to get work done while the rest of the house sleeps…

My time here has been its usual pace of very full, long days. We saw Leslie off a few days ago—an amazing young woman who’s done an absolutely stellar job during her time here. (I hope you’ve enjoyed her blog postings!)

The days here have been spent largely in meetings that begin by sitting down with artisans and spending the first hour catching up. It’s a beautiful Lao way of life. Relationship first. Everything else, including business, come second. When I’m here, it’s a continual balancing act juggling my ideas of Western efficiency with the Lao way of conducting business. A typical meeting is (literally) an hour of catching up, followed by an hour or two of intense work, coffee/tea, then a review (at my insistence!) to confirm mutual understanding of what we just talked about.

I’ve learned over the years to bring a small album each time full of pictures from my life in the US. Regular things, like dinner with friends, gatherings with family, vacations, daily life--it's all of interest. Just as we’re curious about their life, they want to know everything about life in “Amer-ee-KAH.” It’s fun! The questions are endless:

- Do you have children yet? (no, not yet)
- Your husband is very handsome. (thank you!)
- Why is he not here with you? (he has a lot of work at the non-profit in America helping students)
- Do you miss him? (yes!)
- When will he come to Lao again? (maybe next year he will come. I am not sure.)
- Does your mother live with you? (no, we want her to, but she will probably only come after we have babies)
- (I show them pictures of my mother) She is very beautiful. She looks like Lao. Is she Lao? (no, she is from the Philippines.)
- Is it cold in San Francisco? (compared to Lao, yes. You must wear a light jacket every day.)
- What do you eat in America? (whatever my husband will cook for us!)
- Why do you wear glasses? You look prettier with no glasses. (I must wear glasses so I can see you and the beautiful silk that you weave! I wish I did not have to wear glasses. I have contact lenses, but it is difficult to wear them in Lao. Too much dust.)
- And on and on… :)

Once we’ve sufficiently caught up, we can begin to discuss work and the latest at GIANNA. This varies from meeting to meeting, but typically includes things like reviewing designs, orders, quality control, natural dyeing consistency, and the market in the US.

Working with artisans is heart work. By American customs, work here happens slowly with much uncertainty. By Lao standards, people in America work too much and lead lonely lives so disconnected from their families.

I think there's a sweet spot somewhere between the two customs. Perhaps one of the things I'll take back to American boardrooms is the Lao way of complimenting frequently, smiling often, and offering a gentle touch of the arm or hand when emphasizing points dear to the heart.

Preparations for Laos

As I prepare for another journey to Laos in a few days, my mind wanders back to previous trips—the experiences, the learnings, the excitement, the reflections, and the life stories of women crafting various GIANNA products. I’d like to share a few of these images with you.

Bandith took this photo in Bolikhan village before we headed back for the surprise Baci ceremony. Nouthong's two sons are to my right—inquisitive, fun guys who love to play games!

Flip flops. To me, these are emblematic of the resourcefulness and “waste not” mentality of the Lao. The slippers are clearly worn, but what’s not conveyed in this image is that these same slippers will probably continue to be worn on the feet of people in Bolikhan village for years to come. Who knows, perhaps I’ll use these very same slippers when I’m there in a few days!

Here’s a fun photo taken after a village meeting of Anong (top), MaeCam (bottom), and Anong’s son on the steps leading to their bamboo house. MaeCam was still holding one of the fair trade scarves she’d just finished weaving.

Mmmm….. yes! Great things are in store. I’m ready!