Rassanikone impresses from first acquaintance with her direct manner and firm eye contact. She is an attentive listener but has much wisdom and knowledge to impart. She maintains she is not a business woman but set up and runs Nikone Handcraft in Vientiane after years of running Lao Cotton, a state enterprise. She employs 50 weavers, dyers, office staff and showroom assistants on site and 70 weavers in the villages and the business has improved the standard of living for them all. She is a just and fair employer expecting high standards and ensuring a good working environment and conditions for her employees.
Nikone is the eldest of fourteen children and spent much of her childhood helping bring up younger siblings but also learnt to weave and dye in the traditional way, at her mother's loom. She won a scholarship to study in France where she did a Bachelor of Administration at Orleans. She speaks fluent French and has excellent English which are essential as she has developed business markets in Europe and elsewhere.
On returning to Laos she worked for the Department of Handicraft and helped to build it up with enthusiasm and perception. She was asked to set up Lao Cotton, a government initiative to develop and promote a locally grown commodity. Her vision has always been and still is to promote Laos' resources and its artisans, in particular, women. Nikone has been very active in Gender Awareness and has encouraged the education of girls and women. In all her activities she has attempted and achieved improved education and training to empower women and raise their ability to generate income and raise their standard of living.
As a master weaver she has tried to ensure that traditional designs and techniques are not lost. She has been able to train and upgrade the skills of women who work in villages away from Nikone Handcraft. Some come to the centre to improve their skills and go home with the potential to provide their family with a better life. Nikone talks of 'my villagers' not in a possessive sense but with a feeling of responsibility for their welfare. She has a philosophy of self-improvement and an enormous dedication not only to her own workers but to her country and the Lao people.
Nikone promotes natural products and environmentally friendly practices. This includes developing natural dyes from a variety of natural products which she obtains from the villagers using sustainable cultivation. She set up a dye house in a nearby village, investing her own capital, to encourage the local people to develop their skills and provide the centre with natural dyes.
Nikone was the force behind the establishment of the Lao Handcraft Group and its inaugural president.
Her motivation was to have a group where craftspeople could share their expertise and ideas, take responsibility for promoting their respective crafts, network with each other and the relevant ministries and benefit from international links. Nikone has been and continues to be a powerful adviser and has performed a variety of consultant roles both locally and with international organizations. She has amazing networking skills and attracts a stream of international visitors and experts with whom she shares ideas and promotes Lao handcrafts. She sees opportunities and acts decisively and untiringly to further the cause of Lao handcraft.
Nikone puts profit back into her business but is also a very generous woman assisting others quietly in a variety of ways. She should, and would love to, write a book and do further study into her abiding interest in natural dyes, which she is continually developing and improving. To do this she needs time, money and some way to be freed up from all her responsibilities. Not easy when spare time is a scarce commodity in her busy and demanding life.
Nikone's contribution has already been recognized by the UN and others but she does not seek to promote herself, rather she is selfless in her efforts to build up the skills base of Lao artisans both to benefit them, their families, and the potential for Lao craft and for the betterment of her beloved Laos.
For more interesting information on Ms Rassanikone go to:
• http://www.silkmoon.org
• http://www.laohandicrafts.com ,
No comments:
Post a Comment