Laos revisited

Laos, a small and poor nation in Southeast Asia, has recently become the center of attention as the 2016 East Asia Summit unfolds. Many world leaders, including Barack Obama and Malcolm Turnbull, have gathered there to discuss important topics. What interested me most, was what Obama would do as the first sitting president to visit a country that US bombed relentlessly during the Vietnam War. Would he acknowledge the pain and suffering that Lao people endured as a result? Would he apologize? I held my breath.

To my disappointment, Obama fell short of an apology. What he did offer though, is $90 million for a national survey of unexploded ordnance and efforts to clear the affected areas. Is that enough? I highly doubt it. About one third of the 2.2 million bombs dropped on Laos remain undetonated and threaten the lives of Lao people every day. Obama acknowledged that too few people knew about the bombings of Laos, and that America has a “moral obligation to help Laos heal”. I can only hope that this promise will be kept by the next US president and the ones after that. To many people, the cleanup effort is too little too late.

In Xieng Khouang, the most affected province, bombs are found in forests and school buildings, roads and rice fields. Kids often mistake them for toys. One survivor says, “Until every bomb is removed from the ground our children will be at risk. I want to know whether those Americans who pierced our land with bombs, are they sorry?”

Until then, let us not forget.

Check out our range of fair trade recycled bombshell products made from safely sourced materials: http://www.ozfairtrade.org/flower-bomb/ Every purchase helps them to clear the affected lands.

Spread a message of peace. Wear something truly extraordinary.

Flower Bomb

Flower Bomb – this is the new name for our most popular recycled bombshell category.

I recently came across this phrase in a magazine, and it just seems to be the perfect description for Oz Fair Trade’s recycled bombshell products. Flower represents life, and these products represent the incredible resilience of Lao and Cambodian people who suffered decades of war and are still suffering from the landmines. Subconsciously, when I took photos of the recycled bombshell products for the website quite a while ago, I took them with flowers from my garden.

Do you like the new name?

Not Valentine’s Again

I’ve never been a hopeless romantic, and even if I were, the thought of Valentine’s would still trigger nothing more than cynicism in me. Just like diamond and expensive handbags, why should I give in to manipulative marketing?

This personal dislike of marketing often clashes with the reality of what I’m trying to do i.e. selling ethical products that are handmade by some of the world’s poorest people, so that they can have a reliable income and live with dignity. The way I see it is that I’m not trying to convince anyone that the product is worth more than it is (hence I’m not being manipulative); all I’m saying is that if you are going to buy something you might as well buy things that are made ethically.

Put the business aside, I’d like to share my little personal story about Valentine’s. When I was in school in China, I had a massive crush on a boy who was born on Valentine’s Day. He was the cleverest one, and he was who I wanted to be. We lost touch a long time ago, but every Valentine’s reminds me of this innocent little girl who did many crazy things for this little boy, and they never even held hands or exchanged a long conversation.

Many years later, this little girl has grown up, but she is still too honest, too trusting, too nice and too empathetic. She still sees the best in people and still believes in love no matter how much it has hurt her. She is seen as “successful”, “independent” and “happy”, but only she knows how difficult some days are. But she keeps smiling, and she believes that she will meet “the one” one day. She knows there’s more to life than romantic love, and she keeps her life busy with her involvements in her little charity Oz Fair Trade, her full time job, Rotary, Amnesty, professional studies, friends and families, readings and other things.

She gets strength from the thought of the people she’s helping, and she is thankful for all her past experiences which helped her to grow into a strong and mature woman. Maybe she will be alone this Valentine’s, but she won’t be lonely 🙂

p.s. if you are still looking for a perfect Valentine’s gift, head over to Oz Fair Trade’s Valentine’s collection.

How bombshells are turned into jewellery and spoons

Australia is a lucky country compared to Laos and Cambodia, where millions of undetonated bombs threaten lives every day. During the Vietnam War, the United States dropped more than 270 million sub-munitions in an attempt to block the flow of North Vietnamese arms and troops through Laos. This makes Laos the most heavily bombed nation per capita in the world. It is estimated that more than 30% of these sub-munitions failed to explode, leaving Laos with 80 million of undetonated bombs. Since 1973, there have been around 12,000 explosion-related accidents.

Cambodia’s notorious landmine problem is the product of a civil war that spanned three decades and claimed the lives of up to three million people, or one third of the entire population. Today, more than 40,000 people are amputees. The vast majority of the victims are men and thus the traditional bread earner.

It is very expensive to clear lands affected by undetonated bombs. Despite the efforts of the relevant government bodies in both countries, millions of undetonated bombs are still unremoved.

It is within this context that a new type of product was born: recycled bombshell.

Aluminium and brass are commonly used in the construction of bombs. Once exploded, the metals can be melted and made into spoons, chop sticks and jewellery. The local people started with making spoons out of bombshells to feed their children after the war. With the help of western designers and innovative thinkers, they started to turn bombshells into beautiful jewellery.

Recycled bombshell products are ethical in three main ways:

• recycles existing material

• provides extra income for land clearance

• provides job opportunities for local people

You can view how bombshells are turned into jewellery from our Oz Fair Trade’s YouTube channel.

It is estimated that it will take 800 years to eliminate all the undetonated bombs in Laos and Cambodia, but buying these recycled bombshell products can help hasten the process: each purchase supports landmine removal from 5 square meters of land. The farmer-artisans who make the products from wartime scrap metal earn a living for their families while bringing income and investment into their communities.

Q: How did people learn to melt the bomb metals?

A: There is a mysterious story about a man melting metals after the war and made spoons from them. A few men watched him, and the skill was passed from one family to another, from one generation to the next.

Q: Is collecting bomb scraps dangerous?

A: Each country has its own dedicated organisation that carries out skilled land clearings. The people there are well trained and experienced. Generating an income from recycled bombshell products help them to train more people to clear lands affected by undetonated bombs. These people have a very positive attitude: the bombs are here so we might as well do something productive with them.

Q: What is the process from bomb to jewellery/spoon?

A: The artisans use handmade molds, which are made of wood and ash from the fire. They make a square wood box and fill that box with ash or dirt, which is mixed with water. They make the shape – an impression on both sides of the mold – and let it dry to a plaster. When it’s all dry, they pour the metal that they’ve melted from disabled mines in their kiln into a little hole, shaping out the piece. Once it’s cooled, they sand it smooth – into a unique piece of jewellery/spoon.