SUSILA DHARMA GREAT BRITAIN

SHORT GRANT REPORT

Project Name: FUNDACION EL REFUGIO/JOVENESORFEBRES

Description: Establishment of sales outlets with the sale of products originating from the training of young people in jewellery-making and human development, with a focus on fair trade and association.

People responsible for making the request: ÁLVARO HERRAN and NURY BONILLA RUIZ

Grant Amount:  
Date given: October 2009 - February 2010


Our report contains many important facets and has been developed with the help of:
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Ministry of Social Protection (MPS)
Secretariat of Social Integration CASA DE LA JUVENTUD (Youth Centre)
Fundación el Refugio and SD (B)

DEVELOPMENT

The project was implemented after participation in a tender proposed by UNODC and MPS where a co-financer and an operator were needed, in this case SD(B) and Fundación el Refugio respectively.

The project was carried out between 7th October and 15th February.

BEGINNING

CALL FOR APPLICANTS: This was carried out with flyers and posters in the los Mártires neighbourhood. 50 youngsters signed up, among whom were teenage mothers and young people between 14 and 30 years old. 30 of them started the training.
They registered by filling in a form with their personal information and we asked them for identity and social security papers.

INDUCTION: The induction day is carried out in order to give initial information about the complete programme and the Foundation, and for the facilitators to hand in training programmes, work kits, cooperation guidelines and to welcome the participants to the programme.


ACTIVITIES


NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY AND HALF OF FEBRUARY
 
The planned subjects were studied.
In jewellery-making the following subjects were dealt with in the period up to 30th November.

• History of jewellery-making
• Care of equipment and tools
• Industrial security
• Beginners workshop in design of jewellery
• Smelting and alloying of metals
• Making rings

During December the following activities were realized:
    At the end of the welding component, students started work on two rings:

• One made with large files and another wide ring made with laminated sheet metal
• The two rings were made by applying the techniques learned and by developing other skills – cutting, filing, sanding and polishing:
• The material was prepared for making the wire.
• On January 4th this material was taken up again and the third part of the process started, taking into account the unique design of each one
• They did fretwork, making cuts of 0.30 microns in a sheet of bronze with different tracing exercises and a free drawing depending on the theme chosen in the design.
• Inlay technique attempts to make concave forms or half balls using tools shaped specifically for this, where colour resin is going to be added at the end.
• They made tubes, which like inlay, are done with special tools, and finally
• We combined textures and resins on the pieces already made, giving them life and exclusivity. It is worth noting that at the end of the process, I was only the guide because they themselves now knew what they had to do in each process.

In the end all the techniques have to be used in order to make the pieces of jewellery, such as laminating, welding, filing, sanding etc.


METHODOLOGY

The first three workshops are carried out in theory and in practice.
A notebook is used to write down theoretical explanation and industrial security guidelines explained with demonstrations for body protection.
Design workshops begin with a word game about feelings which leads them to choose a subject for their collection of jewellery.
After this workshop the practical part begins and the material is distributed in bags marked with names and a place is assigned to store them after the class.
Smelting and lamination is learned hands-on with tools and equipment.

WORKSHOP DURATION

The workshops last for 4 and 8 hours respectively.
Depending on attendance and progress in the subjects, theory workshops last 4 hours and practice ones 8 hours or more for a maximum of 16 hours, or two weeks.



The subjects dealt with during the project are:

• Basic skills
• Ethical values
• Values development and business skills
• Application of business skills
• Fabrication of wall charts about business skills
• Design and development of business projects
• Functions in a business
• Fair trade
• Philosophy of fair trade, faire trade certificatio

METHODOLOGY

The skills workshops were very well received. We used a method of self-assessment and results reinforcement which generated interest and a good atmosphere. Subjects were dealt with using wall-charts, group work, bibliographic cards, role plays etc.

JovenesOrfebres was used as a cross-cutting theme and an example of a business of relevance to the young people.
The birth of JovenesOrfebres, as well as its current way of working, was explained, and several questions were asked about a possible participation of the young people within this project.

We touched on the subject of commitment and skills on which they had already carried out a self-assessment and identified skills.
The thing which concerned the young people the most was that they did not see themselves as owners of their own business in the immediate future but as participating as labour or in sales.

We carried out a survey about which areas they would like to work in and explained how this particular business is organized.

The educational trip to the crafts market in the Plaza de Artesanos generated concern and highlighted the importance of the area of sales in order to obtain the resources which they expect to earn from this trade as employees or entrepreneurs, as well as their responsibilities surrounding these possibilities. These themes are so vast that we came up with the possibility of asking specialized entities for help on this, which would allow us to deal in greater depth with the subject of creating a similar business or study a way of linking up with JovenesOrfebres.


What is fair trade?

The subject is very interesting. We dealt with the most immediate points and the ones which could cause concern. The general comment was that it was a fairer and more equitable way of doing business, especially as far as salaries are concerned, given that the jobs some people had obtained paid them for piece work or hours, and did not pay social security.
The difference with normal trading systems: comments about rights and the capacity to associate in order to work “well” came up.


EDUCATIONAL OUTINGS.

We visited the Gold Museum and Luis Angel Arango Library.



ACTIVITIES

BEGINNING

This is an idea that we have worked on with young people in previous groups and during their training; they were producing for JovenesOrfebres, and thus strengthening its market. Thus winning this contract allowed us to come back to tasks we had carried out previously.

We looked for premises in shopping centres of all sizes and in commercial zones, as well as in permanent crafts markets. The requirements for the sales outlets were of different types, and included having guarantors, paying three months in advance etc. This made it difficult to take them because it would have meant doing this in the name of the legal representative or a member of the Board, as well as having someone to support the request, and this all complicated the finalization of agreements.

The setting up of the sales outlet depends on the size and the place where they are situated, and has to take into account the specificity of the product, in this case contemporary jewellery accompanied by similar products belonging to special artisans.

In order to find the premises, we used contacts we had made, friends and acquaintances in the artisan world, as well as consulting newspaper classified ads etc.

WE CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING PLACES:

• Small outlets around the Plaza de las Américas.
• An outlet in the market opposite Jorge Eliecer Gaitán in the city centre
• A corner outlet in Calle 82
• An outlet in the permanent market in Calle 140
• An outlet in the Hacienda Santa Bárbara, Plazoleta de las Aguas

JovenesOrfebres has been occupying a stand for the past two years in the Hacienda Santa Bárbara. It is administrated by IPES and the Arsaquen association. It is a 3 m x 2 m area and is used on Saturdays, Sundays and fortnight-long fairs for special occasions such as Mother’s Day, school holidays, Easter, Love and Friendship Day, Father’s Day, Christmas etc.

DECISION

The best period for the setting up and inauguration of the sales outlet is December, but the collections of the Young people would not be ready until the end of the process or the project. However the young people participated in the markets in December (sales), thus reinforcing their training and the process of belonging which provides an incentive in their work.

Seeing as the collections of the young people were going to be ready in a low sales period, we decided to use the sales outlet at the Hacienda Santa Bárbara on weekends. We are already known here and our clients know us and the work developed by the Foundation.

It consists of a 3 m x 2 m area covered on all four sides by a new tent with a 1.70 m x 1 m  banner as decoration. The showcases and tables are covered by blue cloth and the jewellery is posed on yellow card bearing the logo, the same colour as the banner.

The sales on its opening day as the JovenesOrfebres / Fundación el Refugio sales outlet came to almost $40 (USD), and the total value of its inventory is around $1,210 (USD).

The young people were invited to the inauguration but different problems, especially of an economic nature, stopped them from coming to the first sales day. We are thinking of opening the sales outlet every day in the busiest selling period (from May onwards). In general the idea is that the youngsters start coming on different weekends and start feeling ownership of the space, and we also hope that orders from these new collections become a reality.

It is a real pleasure to tell you that we participated in the Salón Futuro 2010 (Future Fair 2010) which the Secretariat of Economic Development implemented for its projects and enterprises in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá.

On the Tuesday after the close of the project and the inauguration of the sales outlet, the jewellery stand was assembled, and we were the only ones with two stands – one with pieces made by the young trainees and one with pieces made by JovenesOrfebres.

We hope to be able to continue participating in this Fair and using our sales outlet, which will be itinerant until we manage to set up a stable or daily sales outlet.
We made contacts which we hope will give us the possibility of establishing an enterprise which generates economic stability for these young people.

ACHIEVEMENTS, DIFFICULTIES AND LESSONS LEARNED

The difficulties have been basically about attendance due to the final activities of schools, universities and, particularly in the case of the young people from the Hogar Nuevo Nacimiento, we had to make changes in the timetable because of the obligations the young people had within this institution.

ACHIEVEMENTS

We formed three groups with 30 beneficiaries.

Group A:

This group is made up of teenage mothers sent to us by a local institution, who attend regularly albeit with some difficulties owing to the fact that they are protected by the institution, but they are very interested and with excellent perspectives in manual skills, creativity and interest in acquiring the trade as a life project.

They attend Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8am to 12pm.
The snacks for this group are provided two out of the three days they attend by the institution which looks after them.

Group B:

They are mostly young people over 20 years old (7), with 3 under 18 year-olds. It is a good, dynamic group, very creative, although with some problems among the youngsters because of a lack of resources for mobility and a lack of punctuality.
They attend training workshops on Tuesdays and jewellery workshops on Wednesday and Thursday from 8am to 12pm.

They club together to bring their own snack (bread, biscuits etc.) and take it in turns to prepare juice, coffee etc.

Group C:

This is the most committed of the groups, and is made up of young people who go to school in the morning, and was formed later than the other groups.
The work carried out with them in training workshops has been interesting. They have training workshops on Tuesdays and on Wednesday and Thursday they attend the jewellery-making component from 2 to 6 pm.

They also club together to bring and prepare their snack.


Benefits obtained:

The young people know about and enjoy the other services of the Casa de la Juventud, like the gym, dance and music workshops, and several of the young people joined the Youth Round Table in the los Mártires neighbourhood.

DIFFICULTIES

Lack of attendance and irregular attendance in the December period delayed the programme and reduced the number of participants. A problem came up from the institution to which the teenage mothers belonged seeing as sometimes they were not brought to class at the agreed time. Also, some of them went back to their homes and some of them are from a different part of the country and thus did not come back; and some girls, because of their lonely and shut away situation, ran away from the institution and thus could not rejoin the training process. Sometimes we had to go and get the girls ourselves, or call every morning to make sure they were going to be brought to the course. In other cases, there was lack of attendance due to lack of money for the bus fare for people who had moved house in the middle of the course and who now lived further away. Difficulties always come up in the implementation of a social project, such as participant drop-out due to lack of interest – but in this case we are sure that this was not a reason people abandoned the process.

The doors were always open for those who wanted to come back and make headway. In fact three people did come back and graduated with success.

SOLUTIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED

In January all the young people were called by phone and invited to continue their training, studying on alternate days.

Many of them were ready to develop a life project through jewellery, and others were concerned about sales and commercial skills. To make up the lost time from December, we decided that when we started again on 4th January the jewellery teacher would be there all day every day so that whoever wanted to and had time to could make progress in the programme. There were very long and tiring but fruitful days seeing as we managed to finish with all the participants who remained in the project on the agreed date.

There were moments in which the classroom was cramped seeing as each participant arrived at different times and there were times at which there were two groups working at the same time, and at those moments we would have liked to have a larger space.

It is worth noting that at the end of the jewellery process the teacher was only a guide because the students themselves knew what they were doing at each stage of the process.

It is very important to recognize that these processes are vital for the personal development of the young people of our locality and city. They help them to find healthy and productive opportunities and ways of growing as individuals and as families, and helps keep them away from delinquence and drug abuse.
The installation of the sales outlet is very important in the young people’s development, as they will have somewhere to exhibit their products and the opportunity to generate income with what they have learned.

It is transcendental to follow with a second stage which is to train the young people in specialized jewellery-making so that these new jewellers have more techniques to use.

In this process we realized that is was necessary to have more time, because, even though the objectives were achieved, much more could be done if there was more training time in order not to have to do things in a rush or do more than one thing at a time.

TRAINING AND ENTREPRENEURIAL WORKSHOPS

All subjects were dealt with and all the formats applied, including self-assessment and assessment.

The workshops about Fair Trade did not really strike a chord with the students who had very different interests and needs, which meant that the subject did not have more impact than a mere transmission of first-hand information.

Having different timetables on two different days meant that a lot of the time people did not attend with the regularity that was needed and they also attended at different times to those arranged, and this resulted in less time being dedicated to the assessments of the students’ skills and what they needed to work on.

1. How was the grant spent?  Please detail all expenditures and attach an accounting statement.
   
   See annex
   
   
2. Do you have any comments for us?

The project was very successful. Its most important achievements are:

All the young people understood the training process and managed to produce marvellous collections. The sales outlet is a reality which allows us to visualize and make concrete the productive processes which will give stability to the business.
A production team was created, but it is important to work and strengthen marketing processes in order to give it stability.

We would like to open up the working groups to female heads of households and people with special needs.

This project trained a girl who had an incomplete hand, but even so she finished her training with a collection as lovely and well-made as any other young person. This is why we know that it is possible to open up opportunities to people with this kind of special needs.

This project also opened up other possibilities of action in other localities, and with other target populations. Therefore having your support is vital to us.

We thank you for all your help and look forward to hearing your questions and comments.

NURY BONILLA
VERÓNICA PERDOMO
ÁLVARO HERRÁN