Dispatches
Papercraft: Some call it rubbish; we call it renewal
March 6, 2008
Harriet turned the car from the paved main road onto hard packed dirt. Driving toward the workshop, Harriet waves at a man carrying an empty canvas bag that smiles and nods back at her. “that man, he supplies us with the banana leaves we use for the paper”.
Papercraft is an employee-owned recycled + natural papermaking business that promotes self-sufficiency for its employees, many of whom are women who are given training and employment in an environmentally gentle trade.
A simple brick structure with a corrugated roof built on a slope. Harriet walks us through the paper making process – they use elephant grass, banana + pineapple fibers- cleverly repurposing offal from other trades that would have otherwise wound up in the landfill. The materials make for paper with a hearty, textured, organic quality. They source shredded ledger and business paper from a local bank to make their recycled paper and these have a smoother, finished look.
Once dried, the paper is turned into a number of finished products that the shop employees create – picture frames, stationary, decorative boxes, tags, photo albums. These products are then sold to retail outlets including Banana Boat African Craft stores.
Back in Kampala, we visited a Banana Boat African Craft store and met Ralph and Suni (pronounced “shoe-knee”),owners of the Kampala-based retail operation. This progressively-minded, entrepreneurial couple provide many services to their employees + suppliers beyond the traditional exchange of goods and services. Unlike many other craft retailers, they pay their suppliers in cash, not consignment.
Banana Boat stores promote sustainable + renewable materials and are particularly supportive of businesses such as Papercraft who actively train and educate community members toward self sufficiency. Banana Boat, in fact, provided a microloan to the employees at Papercraft so that they could buy their business. Bank funded loans can charge small businesses 25-40% interest, while the funds from Banana Boat to Papercraft are no interest loans that Ralph and Suni offer to employees and suppliers with the understanding that they are simply paid back in agreed installments every month.
A compliment to their successful retail business, Ralph and Suni invest in the potential in people. The loans they’ve offered through Banana Boat catalyze profound changes in the local community – employees can buy a business, fueling their self sufficiency and confidence without sacrificing the environment or accepting undue financial risks. In turn, Papercraft employee/owners provide their village with positive examples of previously untrained community members who have transformed into contributors to commerce through craft.