A touch of heritage
Buying a woven bag goes a long way in helping women of the Penan tribe achieve financial independence
PENAN women in Sarawak are weaving unique bags and baskets, both to keep their cultural heritage alive and to earn a living to help support their families.
This initiave to help improve the economic livehood of the Penan tribe is the brainchild of the social enterprise Penan Women Project (PWP).
Its co-founder Ann Wong said that, at present, the project involves 60 weavers.
“PWP helps to generate an income for these women to support the needs of their families, such as putting food on the table, sending their children to school and paying for their medical needs,” said Wong.
Wong said as the Penans originate from the jungles of Sarawak, the patterns and designs on the bags and baskets are inspired by the flora and fauna found in the rainforest, including patterns found on animals such as porcupine quills, crocodile tongues or tails, and even python’s teeth.
“We have many types of baskets to offer for different use or needs. The Shopping Tote is the most popular bag,” said Wong.
The price of the items ranges from RM40 for a small-sized bag, while a larger one costs about RM80 and above.
“We also have home living baskets, which are suitable for use in resorts or hotels, including a large laundry basket that costs about RM180,” added Wong.
A portion of the profits from the sale of the baskets is used to fund Project SHINE, a healthcare initiative in collaboration with the Clinical Research Centre of the Sarawak General Hospital.
SHINE stands for Sanitation, Health/Hygiene, Impact, Nutrition and Education.
For this initiative, PWP goes into Penan settlements which are not part of the Weaving Project to help 300 to 500 Penans from 100 families who have no access to medical health-care services, due to the remote location of the villages.
In March, PWP will organise a seven-day trip to these remote villages spread along the Ulu Baram River, which is only accessible through logging roads.
During the visit, a medical team will provide treatment to those who require it, and also educate the community on hygiene practices, leading a healthy lifestyle and disease surveillance.
Wong added: “For this trip, I hope to raise the importance of basic hygiene and health care, as well as raising our community engagement with the villages and their people. We plan to return and assess developments over the next four to six months.
“The selected villages will be adopted in Project SHINE for at least two years. In future, I hope Project SHINE will be a permanent medical outreach project for other tribes living in the remote jungles of Sarawak.”