A SUMMARY
From the start, the goals of the Pilot Project "Hand-made Books" have been defined by the participants. When asked what they could and would like to do with the knowledge of bookbinding, they answered: "Teach the concepts to others in our homes and communities, make and repair books, work in groups, write our own books and sell hand-made books and journals."

They have begun to fulfill these goals already, mostly on their own initiative. Now the Component "Productive Groups", which is part of the Pilot Project "Handmade Books", will assist each of the 10 mining districts that are interested in forming Productive Groups in determining their individual objectives as groups, and in fulfilling those goals. Some groups have expressed an interest in simply having a creative space to meet and produce. Some want to teach. Others want to offer bookbinding and book repair services in their communities and for agencies in Bolivia who want to hire them to bind material. Other groups are interested in creating hand bound journals and/or writing books to sell in their communities and in fairs outside of their communities as well.

Overall, the mission of the Pilot Project "Handmade Books" has been to empower the participants with the experience that their own initiative is essential to the future of this project, or any other project they should like to create. Because their voice has been the leading input in the course of the Pilot Project, they relate to the goals and have identified objectives that we, as coordinators, would never have been able to come up with on our own. Especially since our life experience is very different than theirs. Needs and ways of working together in their communities are drastically different than those of the coordinators of this Pilot Project. For example, book repair was a service they named as very important in their communities. School books especially come to pieces, and their ability to repair them helps them economize in the home. Other agencies in their communities (schools, libraries, cooperatives) have also expressed an immediate interest in hiring the participants to repair books. Book repair was not, originally, an area we as coordinators had even identified.

While most participants have preferred to work in groups, there are individuals in each of the communities who want to work on their own. They will also be included in future workshops dedicated to expression and creativity.

 

For a more traditional (bureaucratic) description of goals, read below:

A Very Abbreviated Description
Pilot Project
"Handmade Books: Expression, Repair and Economic Alternative"

Alex Appella
alexandmagu@transientbooks.com
October 2003

INTRODUCTION

In January 2003, a series of workshops were conducted with focal groups of women miners in Potosí, Ánimas and Telamayu, Bolivia, to identify possible intervention and to elaborate profiles of the Women Miners Project in a participatory manner.

The final draft of the document "Women Miners Plan" was approved in June, 2003. The Women Miners Plan has been validated by the following institutions: COMIBOL, Dirección General de Género, Red Internacional Mujeres y Minería.

The Pilot Project "Handmade Books: Expression, Repair, Production and Economic Alternative" is designed to compliment the following expected result of the Women Miners Plan: "Increased participation and representation of the women miners in society". The production and commercialization of handmade books is proposed as a pilot project to generate economic alternatives in the mining areas and to diffuse nationally and internationally the reality, the identity and the work of the women miners.

Development Objective: The general objective for the mining component is defined as follows: "The improvement of the socio-economic and environmental conditions affected by mining activities past and present in the high basin of the rivers Tupiza and Cotagaita in the Departamento de Potosí, with the active participation of the involved individuals."

Immediate Objective: Fortify the capacities and abilities of women miners, housewives, and widows in the mining communities, contributing to the legal equality of gender rights, access and control of economic resources, and participation and political voice.

VISIONS

The general vision of the gender focus of the Mining Component is that the fortification and empowerment of the women in the mining communities will contribute to strengthening the gender equality and the overall well-being of the families and the communities. Following the guidelines of the World Bank and DANIDA, three visions are presented through which all planned activities propose to achieve the general vision.
Equal legal rights.
Equal access to economic resources and equal control over the benefits.
Equality in expression.

Through workshops and other related activities, the Pilot Project "Handmade Books" supports and extends the possibilities of implementing tools and knowledge that will empower the women in the mining communities to realize these three visions.

CONTEXT OF PILOT PROJECT "HANDMADE BOOKS"

Within the context of the Women Miners Plan, the Pilot Project "Handmade Books: Expression, Repair, Production and Economic Alternative" not only has practical applications for the knowledge acquired in the literacy programs, but also is a small "trade" in itself given that the Pilot Project's goal is the self-promotion and production of editions, and the repair of books.
The expression, collection, and publication of histories, testimonies and life experiences contributes to the contact and communication among the members of the mining communities, and also outside of the communities, generating comparisons, identification, and recognition of and with one's society. The direct consequence of this leads to the fortification of individual and community identity, given that the final products, published books, will be the enunciated voices of said process.
On the other hand, this trade offers a much wider selection of possibilities and resources. From saving money at home (the possibility of re-using paper and materials in the house to create one's own notebooks and other school needs), to the possibility of generating an income through the creation and repair of books and editions, and/or by fulfilling custom binding needs currently present in the communities. Through the creation and repair of books, the stimulation of working in groups will generate useful habits that can be applied to any number of undertakings, in addition to being a tool for resolving differences, ending discrimination, and to exploit productive capacities.

RATIONALE OF PILOT PROJECT "HANDMADE BOOKS"

The Pilot Project "Handmade Books" is divided into two components: The Binding and Expression Component, and the Development of Productive Work Groups Component. The books created by the participants of the Pilot Project "Handmade Books" is the junction between what they express individually or in groups, and what they can produce with the objective of sales, diffusion, and expression.
The Binding and Expression Component concentrates on developing the abilities of the participants to express their life experience and their identity through the creation, design, and binding of books. Although the development of productive work groups is proposed as a means of diffusion and as a means of developing group editions, the expression stimulated through the workshops of the Pilot Project "Handmade Books" realized individually and/or in groups is of equal validity and importance. The development of the ability of individual expression augments self-esteem and identity. The development of expression in groups is an enriching way to create editions that reflect the life and the reality of the mining districts.
The Development of Productive Work Groups Component concentrates on the development of work groups that use the knowledge of binding to diffuse expression and life experiences, and to generate income. In addition to being proposed by the participants of the Motivation Workshops in Mission 1, this form of working will be the most effective for the collection and eventual publication of testimonies, histories, personal experiences, etc. Facilitating the creation of work groups will be a valuable experience with very positive consequences over the long term because the habit of working in groups, once developed in the communities, can be transmitted to any kind of activity.
To maintain the priority of authentic expression, the development of products must keep in mind that sales are not an indication of success of the products or of the work gropus. An object of art or of expression that is appreciated, but not purchased, is of equal importance. Working this concept with the participants will be essential so that their expression is authentic, and not based on the demands of the market.
Keeping this in mind, the first market analysis will be realized and analyzed by the Work Groups after the initial launching. The analysis will be based on the public's reaction, to avoid that the first sales attempts be defined by the market, and not by the authentic expression of the Work Groups.

Methodology: The development of both components of the Pilot Project "Handmade Books" will be realized through a series of workshops that will be held from September 2003 and throughout 2004.

NO PART OF THIS TEXT MAY BE COPIED OR REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR: ALEX APPELLA.
alexandmagu@transientbooks.com