UP Ibalon (Bicol), UP Catandungan (Catanduanes) and UP Saro (Camarines Norte), three of the university-based organizations of students coming from the Bicol Region (an APFTI AMACE project area) resolved to consolidate their booth allotments at the UP Diliman University Fair, creating a 3m x 9m Fair Trade Zone, wherein products from producers in Bicol Region were sold. The booth also featured a photo exhibit of the post-calamity situation in Bicol and presented and disseminated various Fair Trade advocacy materials.
Interconnecting Previous Advocacy Efforts in the University of the Philippines to the “Fair Share for Bicol” Activity
The booth served as the launch pad wherein the products of Fair Trade producers were introduced to the UP community through a retail selling activity. This is the initial attempt to do such. The actual idea of bringing-in items from community enterprises in the countryside and selling the items to UP students has evolved from a series of activities previously conducted in UP. The activity was not a result of a swift decision to barely sell some items in a crowd-drawing event (such as that of UP Fair) in a campus, but instead, the initiative was a result of the uphill process of creating awareness, generating involvement, and spontaneously allowing the youth to take direct action.
The following activities paved the way for the selling exercise to take place:
February 2006: Kalinangan ng Komunidad: Fair Trade Lifestyle Exhibit and Orientation at the College of Social Work and Community Development: the one-week display and the two-day orientation solicited the interest of a group of Community Development students to explore and study the advocacy.
August 2006: Fair Business, Fair Market: Youth Discussions on Fair Trade (UP Balay Kalinaw): With youth organizations from other universities, Community Development Students decided to focus their Communication and Development Plan (a class requirement in CD125) to Fair Trade. The group voluntarily attended the forum. As an output, they resolved to come up with a Fair Trade awareness-raising plan specifically targeting the UP community.
November 2006: Fair Share, Fair Deal (UP CSWCD): The Community Development students, who attended the Balay Kalinaw forum, crafted and implemented a plan for a one-day complementing forum on Fair Trade where they invited 10 UP-based provincial and regional organizations. They capitalized on the premise that empathy could immediately be spawned from the students who came from the localities that have been described in the presentation and orientation (APFTI’s project areas). As an output, the regional organizations decided to explore the idea of networking with APFTI partner producers on some of their campus-based or province-based activities and looked into the possibility of bringing products from their provinces to specific events in the university. The 3 Bicol Organizations implemented their plan and allotted their booth allocations to the UP Fair to stand as a Fair Trade Zone that will sell Bicol-made Fair Trade products.
Activity Highlights:
The activity targeted to accomplish 4 basic things: create awareness on Fair Trade and Fair Trade products within the UP community, measure the youth’s reception and perception of the products made by community-enterprises, and involve the members of the 3 Bicol organizations in the advocacy.
With these objectives, the following points that the activity generated could be highlighted as:
Message Delivery: More Simple and Graphic Yet Still Precise
The booth’s concept and design were products of incessant meetings and brainstorming with the student organizations involved. The groups wanted to convey a positive yet accurate image of the Bicol Region, something that complemented the advocacy’s thrust to show empowerment rather than to plainly seek sympathy.
With the theme,“Fair Share for Bicol: Your Responsible Purchase Can Rebuild Lives”, the selling mission gave emphasis on the idea that by choosing and by buying products from responsible small producers in this calamity-stricken region, consumers can contribute in providing sustainable livelihood to communities, thus, hastening the rehabilitation and recovery of the region.
The concept of Fair Trade was introduced in a simple, probably slightly graphic and obvious manner-- the booth hollered with the banner that consumers could indeed help communities by buying the products produced by enterprises in Bicol. With images and stories of post-calamity Bicol still fresh on people’s mind, the booth has an element that apparently appealed on the emotion. Yes, it did play on the drama of the tragedy but it did not dwell into that. It offered an alternative to mere pittance and to plain donation boxes. The message gave recognition to the Bicolano’s perseverance to emerge out of the tragedy through the hard work and creativity evident in the products.
The products were staged in a manner that people would get to appreciate the craftsmanship and creativity intrinsic to the products. The sellers (students) were also oriented about the product’s origin, and with their latent familiarity to the materials and the ethnicity of the items, they shared some personal insights about their provinces’ generation-old industries.
With a number of food and crafts concessionaires in the UP Fair, there was a deliberate attempt to make the “Fair Share for Bicol” booth different. APFTI and the student organizations succeeded in making the booth stand out from the rest. With inputs from interior design and tourism students from the organizations (UP Saro and UP Catandungan), they built a gypsy-like, shark-type tent. They opted to use more colors, fused bamboo and abaca ropes with white painted risers, used yellow lights, worked for a “donsol” beach-themed atmosphere, and yet maintained the youthful, deconstructed look with two 4m x 5m graffiti murals depicting images and texts associated with their hometown experience. UP Ibalon decided to transfer their photo exhibit inside the booth. The pictures showed the extent of the damage that the typhoons Milenyo and Reming brought, further correlating the initiative to the over-all end of rehabilitation and recovery for the region.
Some of the student organizers remarked:
“Ang ganda ng set-up. May class. Feeling ko napakalaking factor nun para mahikayat ang mga consumers na pumunta sa booth namin”
“The products are stylish. They exceed my expectations with regard to handicrafts. They’re high quality”
A Test on Buying Motivations: Do We Have a Youth Market for Fair Trade?
One major concern for APFTI and the student organizations during the brainstorming sessions was the type of items that will be brought-in to the fair. APFTI pooled the products that were deemed to be interesting and sale-able to students. Function, uniqueness, design and affordability have also been taken into account. APFTI Marketing Supervisor Jennifer Garana specifically recommended the crochet bags from Jewam Handicrafts in Camalig, Albay. DTI Catanduanes Coordinator Irene Sambajon gathered items from Catanduanes’ partner producers such as: hand made paper scrapbooks and drift wood frames from Terestian Crafts, dusters and novelty brooms from Lasa, and Mazapan bars and bites from Belen’s Pinahamis. Camarines Norte sent a few layered nature-inspired handcrafted wall décors and abaca/bamboo picture frames. Barcelona Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Sorsogon sent buri, pandan and bacbac-based items such as functional boxes, mini-baskets and candleholders. A number of producers signified their interest to send their items, particularly those who have been making student-friendly products (such as bags and accessories) unluckily, majority of them did not have a considerable inventory during the time and have yet to start on their production after repairing the damages brought up by the typhoon. Barcelona for example, sent items that have been salvaged during the typhoon, their storage facility were severely affected.
The activity generated a total of P 24, 986 in gross sales. The sales amount was relatively competitive for a crafts sale in a UP fair according to the student-organizers (based on their previous experiences). Catanduanes received the biggest share with P 7894 in total sales (see attached sales report) and Jewam’ Crochet bags registered second with P 7438.50. The handmade scrapbooks and cards from Terestian and the Mazapan de Pili Bars from Belen’s Pinahamis were the best sellers for Catanduanes. According to the sellers, the scrapbooks were popular because those were cheaper compared to the ones available in Manila and the designs were evidently unique and handcrafted.
The crochet bags were popular among female students who usually came in throngs, examining and fitting every bag. A number of them commented that those bags were already available elsewhere (at Greenhills and tiangges), but they have observed that the quality of the items were first-rate. “The weaving is very fine and dainty” according to an on-looker. Barcelona’s functional boxes and pencil cases that were priced inexpensively (as low as P10 and P15) were all sold out. The visitors who were invited by the students saw that the act of buying those small items as a way of signifying their support to the cause of the organizations and the activity. The Barcelona items, affordable as they were, played the role of the “armband”—in a student’s words “a-count-me-in” purchase, more of a symbolic buying rather than an on-purpose purchase.
Majority of the products were handcrafts, therefore the design and the uniqueness strongly matter. Majority of those who bought, have picked the items for the reason that they would not be accessible anywhere else. There are inquiries on whether the items will be made available on the organizations’ tambayan even after the event. A number asked whether there was a shop that has been selling those products. The prices of the items, including the mark-up added by the students, were still competitive. For example, the bags available at other booths/sellers at the fair, were priced at around P200-300, while the Fair Share booth offered a range of choices: lower priced crochet items (sling and mini bags) at P100-150 and higher-valued ones at P200 and P500. The usual practice of negotiating and haggling for a lower price were minimized once the students have explained where the amount would bring to the makers of the bags. “O sige, hindi na ako tatawad, for a cause naman e” was the usual buyer remark.
Since the event was held during Valentines Day, small gift-able items like frames, cards, scrapbooks and boxes (including the Mazapan bars as a chocolate subsititute) moved quite fast.
Some visitors and student sellers commented that:
“The products are stylish. They exceed my expectations with regard to handicrafts. They’re high quality, but more stocks should be made available”
“The products were made from raw materials which are mostly available in the Bicol Region. Not only do these items give livelihood to the small producers in the region but they exemplify the genius of the Bicolanos”. I am aware that those were carefully crafted and done by hand and this assures the high confidence of buyers in these products quality-wise. The major factor which would have contributed to the appeal of the products is their unique and intricate design.”
“ The products were environmentally unique. It stands-out among the modernly made products and souvenirs and only a few manufacturers produce such products nowadays. Evidently, the products are hand-made, that offers livelihood opportunities.”
“ Handcrafted products definitely offer livelihood for producers from the region. They showcase the skills and creativity of its producers and they cater to a wide range of customers. Moreover the materials used are environmentally friendly and may also support producers of raw materials.”
“The products are all unique. Perfect 10 for all the products showcased… and I can see people are really into it.”
The Advocacy unit saw the event as the best spot where the perception of the youth, students and the academic community on Fair Trade and Fair Trade products can be liberally gauged. The Community Development students who backed the forum that gathered the regional organizations volunteered to do a random survey on the viewers and buyers who looked into the booth.
In connection to the Consumer Awareness Campaign, being implemented by APFTI, the group asked a single question:
Will you buy a product or give it an additional merit if you will learn they were made under socially and environmentally just conditions? Why and why not? (Bibilhin mo ba o bibigyan ng dagdag na puntos ang produkto kung malalaman mong ginawa ito sa makatao at makakalikasan na pamamaraan?)
Randomly asking 77 respondents, 53 answered “Yes” and 17 answered “No”
The 22.07 % who replied “NO” the following reasons were cited:
“I buy products that I need and I choose the best deal for my money”
“There is no way to know how it was made. Every manufacturer would claim so many things.”
“Presyo pa rin at quality”
“The social injustice in this society is structural. There is no way we can solve that through handicrafts.”
“Ang problema hindi kung gustong bumili o ayaw. Ang problema walang pambili.”
The issues raised were that of: 1) Value for the Money: because of the weak/limited purchasing power, they tend to prioritize buying the basic things/products at the lowest price 2) Distrust to the current and alternative economic systems, with a doubt on the validity of the claims of Fair Trade, and absence of ways to verify it.
The 68.8 % who answered an affirmative, have qualified their responses with:
“Not all manufacturers do that on their operations (practice social and environmental responsibility), hence why not support them?”
“Bihira lang sila, kaya dapat suportahan”
“Mahalaga ang social awareness, dapat tulungan sila (responsible producers)”
“We will feel better and feel more socially responsible if we choose such products.”
The responses can be summarized as: 1) The need to support and to encourage few producers with social and environmental commitments, 2) A way of practicing one’s social responsibility.
Partner Organization Involvement: Sense of Ownership to the Activity and the Products
One of the Advocacy unit’s end goals, stated in the AMACE project, is to spawn Fair Trade youth organizations that could act as a potential support group to APFTI’s partner-producers and possibly conduct consciousness-raising activities on Fair Trade to their campuses. In its campus-based activities, the unit has been working to optimize the involvement of the members of its partner-youth organizations in the conceptualization and implementation of the planned activity.
UP Catandungan, UP Saro and UP Ibalon members demonstrated untiring enthusiasm and gave their full support and commitment in setting-up, manning, managing the inventories and promoting the booth for 7 days. The activity required them to stay the whole night (from 4pm to 4am). Most of the time they had 2-3 shifts, to endure the long hours. The items were carried from their storage area to the fair grounds and were brought back after the end of each day. They also needed to re-arrange and to re-merchandise the booth every day.
The tent served as the convenient “hang-out” area for the 3 Bicol organizations’ members and their friends who visited and converged in the fair. With its spacious area (because of the large tents), two big mats were placed on the sides where students sat and chatted from time to time. APFTI’s advocacy staff saw that as an opportunity to chat with the students and to speak about the significance of the activity and the background of the producers from their areas. The inputs were reasonably received as they narrated them again whenever there were buyers inquiring about the items.
The murals that the Bicol organizations have hand painted (they worked for two days for the murals) also allowed them to express their views about their region, in a way, providing them a real sense of ownership to the activity.
They gave the following comments:
“Dahil isa akong Bicolano, proud ako na isa sa mga produktong nakadisplay ay galing sa probinsya namin. Ang mga produkto ay tunay na gawang Bicol. Very creative. Nakakatuwa. Naintindihan ko po kung bakit medyo mahal siya, pinaghirapan kasi.”
“It’s really very important that the Filipinos get to appreciate their own local products. Dapat maging proud tayo lalo na sa mga bagay na sariling atin. That is why, this activity is great since hindi ka lang nag-gain ng profit but more importantly people can get a look at or see the different products the Bicol Region could offer. And the second reason why I like this activity is, it paved a way for us, the Bicol organizations, to have one activity, thus, strengthening the bond we already have as Bicolanos.”
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