Blog Post #36 - Mulberries Organic Silk Farm

Between interviewing farmers in Xiengkhouang two weeks ago, we had a small window to go visit the 'famous' Mulberries Organic Silk Farm in the area. They have a very nice store in Vientiane that my family stopped in at when they were here in early January.

I have visited silk houses in China years ago, but have never had the opportunity to see the actual silk production process. As quoted from the experts at the farm and on Wikipedia, Mulberry silk is one of the world's best quality silks. Do not ask me to name any other type of silk, but the Mulberry scarves did feel quite nice. In addition to being smooth, Mulberry silk apparently also has very strong fibres... although I cannot confirm because I did not want to risk testing the durability and strength of the scarves around the store. Not only am I often too strong for my own good ;) , but I could rack up quite a hefty bill.

The worms eat the leaves of the white Mulberry plant. See below for the full production process....from tree to retail of the expensive scarf (for my mom).

These mulberry trees are 30 years old.
They are trimmed so that the leaves are easier to collect

New trees growing for transplant in other locations

The silk production process usually happens in a strictly controlled and monitored environment to ensure that the worms are happy and spinning no less than top notch silk threads.

We visited the silk worms staying at the 3-star resort. Despite having an all-you-can-eat buffet of white Mulberry plant leaves, their accommodation was sub-par, and lots of tourists visiting meant that all their needs could not be sufficiently addressed.

All those tiny black dots are very young silk worms

After a small feast and a bit of time, they start growing

Here they are almost big enough to bite your finger off...dangerous business

Once they are ready to start cocooning, they are placed on a mesh to collect the silk thread

The production stage is over.
The process for garment making is ready to begin

Getting the silk thread on spools

They can make 150 distinct colours using only organic plants

Reminds me of my grandma's wool room in the Lake District of northern England.
She used to dye all her own wool

Here is the dying process in action.
Not sure how you dye wool, but I imagine it is similar to dying silk

The weaving experts at work. It can take over a week to make a single pattern for a scarf

The final products!
($$$$$$)

Quite an amazing story. Not many people would have the strength to persevere through such tough circumstances

I met Mrs. Kommaly at an organic agriculture workshop in Vientiane. When I mentioned I was from Canada, she asked if I had heard of Cochrane, Alberta. My jaw dropped, because for those not familiar, Cochrane is a small 'city' 30 minutes from Calgary. She apparently has business partners / sponsors from Cochrane and she has visited the area (including Calgary) many times. Talk about a small world!

Enjoy the start of your week! This afternoon I am attending a workshop aimed to promote entrepreneurship among farmers.

Visit http://www.mulberries.org/about-us/silk-story/ for the full silk story.

Blog Post #35 - Memorable Meals

Little text is required to explain this next post. I wish many of you could have been there to enjoy the meals with my friends and I. 

They are in no particular order, but I hope that they inspire you to try some Lao food at a restaurant near you.

My coworker invited the team to his parent's house for dinner while we were in Xiengkhouang

Amazing traditional meal with farmers from Xiengkhouang

We went to interview this one farmer, and he was hosting a party with the entire village.
As you can imagine, we left with bellies full of Lao food and some sodas.
Made for quite an unproductive afternoon.

I watched this goat meet its ultimate demise.
Here are the cooked organs....memorable, not necessarily appetizing

I have an amazing group of co-workers that I eat lunch with every day.
Some are from SAEDA and others are from the Gender Development Association downstairs

For dinner, Indian food at least 2x per week. I have found the best spots in town

Korean BBQ also at least 2x per week. Fortunately there is one near my apartment,
so when I can barely move after over eating, the journey is relatively easy

Here is the Korean BBQ next to my apartment. Basically my veggies for the week

When I go out for dinner with Lao people, there must be karaoke

Like I said, karaoke at most meals. 

That is my office dad singing. So proud of him haha

American Thanksgiving!
They celebrate a month late but it was a nice break from regular Asian-food meals

The Cuso volunteers meeting for some afternoon pizza
(doing the ASEAN handshake)

Sometimes the Cuso office hosts volunteer group lunches!

The real hard workers at Cuso preparing the lunch

Time for my next meal! These pictures have definitely given me quite the appetite

Blog Post #34 - Field Visit to the Land of Khao Kai Noy

After a whirlwind two-weeks of travel for work, I am finally back at the office in Vientiane. Back to the busy streets, back to the heat, back to the smiles around the office.

This past week myself and the team visited Xiengkhouang Province in northern Laos. We were there to interview over 15 Khao Kai Noy farmers, test KKN quality across various districts, collect samples to distribute in North America, and meet with potential partners, including millers, seed distributors and institutional customers.

Meeting with the team at the start of the week to outline trip objectives and finalize logistics

The first interview!
(always facilitated with a translator because my Lao is nowhere near ready for technical talk)

The farmers were always so pleased to meet with us,
giving us a warm welcome and post-interview meal / drink sendoff

As the dry season comes to an end in May, and planting begins in June and July, we must identify the strongest KKN farmers working through SAEDA. International customers demand top quality, and historically farmers in the region have not been incentivized to make improvements. The rice is tasty enough for personal consumption, and for surplus KKN available for commercial sale, traders typically just perform visual inspections and then mix all purchases together.

Prepping our moisture meter for quality tests.
Moisture % is an important indicator because if it is too high, the rice will spoil over long transport journeys.
High moisture also prevents proper milling

So proud to show off his "Good Farmer Award," received from the President of Lao PDR
Definitely deserved! He is such a nice guy.
We have met multiple times in Xiengkhouang and Vientiane over the past 5 months

We have collected a lot of great primary data to frame our final recommendations for LOPA business plans. The samples of both KKN and a sticky black rice (that we previously knew very little about), will be crucial to generate interest among Western buyers. We have also narrowed down the list of farmers LOPA will likely purchase harvest from in November / December.

You may recognize this farm from my first field visit to Xiengkhouang

Our translator (a Cuso Intern) did an awesome job keeping up with the conversation

Nothing was growing at the time of our visit,
but there was no shortage of beautiful landscape views

We did interview many female farmers,
but there is still evidence of some gender inequality in decision making

In addition to the farmers, there were many other important value chain partners that we needed to meet.

Probably a good idea to meet with the government if our objective is to export

Good quality, homogeneous seed is very important for achieving top quality final KKN product

Checking capacity and quality at a local rice mill

Met with local rice traders to understand the domestic market

The black rice in this photo is also very glutinous and sticky like KKN.
It is rarely grown because it is only used locally for dessert and alcohol making.
We think 'health conscious' Western customers will fall in love with it

Temperatures actually dropped to 9C our first evening there. I was uncomfortably cold and slept in all my clothes. Fortunately it warmed up later in the week. How will I survive my first winter back in Canada?! But no need to worry now, just enjoy some of my favourite shots from the week.

No shortage of fun when there are three straws (home brew KKN whiskey....better known as Lao Lao)

His fate was inevitable....and so delicious

Dreaming of a future sticky rice empire

I felt like I was being watched at this rice mill

Using an old American cluster bomb to BBQ at a party

We met many ethnic minorities living in the highland areas

A beautiful kitchen in the countryside. Nothing like back home but that's what made it so amazing

FaceTime with the family in Calgary <3

Quite far from home, but spitting distance from Vietnam
(those mountains are the border)

One month left in Laos before heading to India for the next adventure!