Day 2

plan:

Make new pulp using just paper and methi that we soaked the previous day.

Make a very quick mind map for the papier mache problem solving- sources, sizes etc.

talk about the possibility of using P.O.P in the pulp to keep rats away, and increase the strength of the bowls.

Afternoon:

draw out and discuss idea for the packaging of the food.

-size

-the need for it to be able to be shut

Make them think about dabba's with lids.

we spent quite a part of the day making new pulp. the paper hadnt soaked well enough from the previous day and we decided to just take a bit of it and grind it with the stone grinder.

we had decided to put only one tea spoon of methi this time round as last time the pulp seemed to be very slimy and stinky. However to make the grinding easier i suspect while i was away for ten minutes, one of the women decided to add quite a bit. This meant that we ended up with very slimy and gooey pulp. I let them apply it onto the moulds this time and gave them some pulp from before too (this was way coarser and with much lesser methi ), they then realized what the effect of a lot of methi is.

The sad bit today was that there was no sun!, all our products lay out all day but hadnt dried a bit until evening. Also since there was a lot methi in the pulp, the paper bowls weren't taking shape quickly- they were collapsing easily.

Today made us think of the biggest problem we might face of drying out produce. Paper mache needs good, strong source of heat to dry well. Products like the packaging bowls etc would be fine if they arrant very strong, but for other products one would have to find either an alternative or the months for making the products would be restricted.

We had asked for POP powder from Gangavati, but that hadnt been brought in yet and so we couldn't harden the pulp either and help it to set.

We realized that the paper waste needs to be soaked for at least three days in the water for it to be ground easily by hand, and so we need a constant system of sorting, tearing and soaking happening on the side too. So we spent sometime doing that and preparing future material.

Our mind map

I will write out this processes in greater detail sometime in the next two days, as i heard about the waste managament initiative that a German volunteer Ferdinand has taken up at Anegundi. If i could get him to become a source for waste paper for us , it would be great!

It was so difficult to get the three of them Varalaxmi, Anusuyamma and Vanoramaamma to draw what they felt the containers should look like. They had many ideas that they showed with there hands, but drawing no one wanted to do! As i started to draw, slowly they didnt mind making changes. It became easier for them when i showed them how what they were showing could be translated onto paper. This is what they came up with!

we realised that we had to consider that these will be given free at the sante and so we needed to think of a design that was very basic and easy to make. Here talking about dabbas with lids helped. Our vegetable as varalxmi said would have a slight gravy and so a lid would be needed. What would be the easiest and cheapest way to pack it- tying? if we have a complex mould would we be restricted by how many we can make?

I had some spare time on hand and decided to explore some possibilities using some waste coconut pieces that were lying around in the workshop.

I made a belt buckle from one of the pieces and will ask one of the ladies to crochet a belt for me tomorrow.

i also started exploring some product ideas for pencil pouches.

http://users.coditel.net/ellen/pm/howto.htm

Day 1

The mind map for things i needed to consider and sort out for the papermaking as well as papier mache.

Day one morning:

sit and try to explain and understand all the things on the mind map together. Assess what parts of these would be problems and what parts wouldn't. get the women to do the analysis and give relevant inputs from my own assessment and my understanding of the situation by having talked to Shama.

Outcome: a combined diagrammatic and critical assessment of the issues, strengths and hence the possibilities for paper making and related activities.

time: 1 hour

preparation: papers and pencils. my mind map on the computer for my reference.

participants: the supervisor (she would know the functioning and possibilities at a higher level), two women- one who is involved with working with the removal of fibre and one who works with dyeing the fibre and treating it.

Day one afternoon: Start with papier mache. Explain the process. Show the sample i have. Talk about the products that Shama has suggested that we make.

Look at the pulp that they have mede and try moulding a bowl from it. Talk about moulds and the effectiveness of moulds.

preparation: take some sample on the internet .

Materials: bowls for moulding. Today i wont take many other materials, we will look at the up that they have made.

Day one didn't start off the way we i had imagined. There was so much excitement on working with something new that the women had asked Shama if they could make the pulp before i came, and Shama had told them to take some waste paper, rice grass and methi and grind it in their paper making machine into a pulp. This pulp turned out to be quite a disaster, as they too realized. The consistencies of the paper and the grass and the methi were all three very different from one and other. The grass strands were large and hard, the paper became a relatively fine pulp and the meth seeds remained unaffected. I told them that since the three materials are so different they would have to be treated differently- the grass would have to be cooked.

* in my experience grass needs to be cooked in an alkali solution to "Digest" the material. This process removes lignin and other components of the wood from the cellulose fibres which will be used to make paper. Lignin is the "glue" which holds the wood together; it rapidly decomposes and discolours paper if it is left in the pulp. It is possible to mechanically crush the fibers to an extent where most of the lignin comes out, but this process is time consuming and not very effective. Considering that fact that we will be using our pulp to making products for packaging food, using caustic soda or any other chemical substances doesn't seem viable. Also any plant matter would need to be cooked and it seems like the added energy would be such a waste for a packaging product.

however the grass that was used in this pulp was dried rice grass, and so the chances of it rotting or discoloring weren't an issue for us.

After we looked at the pulp , i sat down with the three of them, and we discussed the mind map. It was a fun process, they seemed to enjoy having to think of all the nitty grittys. They began to see the larger picture and came up with some great solutions.

In the after noon we boiled a bit of the pulp as one of them was persistent that we do so. She realized that it wasn't really working after half an hour of boiling. Then we decided that we could grind it. Here we realized that the pulp got much better and finer, however this process was very labour intensive and time consuming. BAD IDEA FOR THE FUTURE!!!

Meanwhile i created two small packaging bowls from the original pulp, just to see how successful it was.

Unfortunately i couldnt get a scan of the mind map we made together, i did take a picture but i turned out terrible. However this exercise was helpful in many ways. Firstly it was a great ice breaker. We got into simple conversation where they told me a lot about their village and lives. It also made them stop a moment and think about all the details of the map. For instance when we were speaking about the electricity being a possible problem, i told them that the grinding of large quantities of pulp would take around an hour and a half in the machine. One of the women said that even during power cut times, they have two hours of electricity at night and so we could have one person just come in at night to do the grinding.

When it came figuring out simple logistics i found that all three women were very proactive and came up with a lot of ideas. However when we were talking about the marketing and tourist expectations parts of it, it was great to have the supervisor there. She was the bridge between me and the other two women.She knew how to explain to them what kind of quality was expected.

The hardest aspect for any of them to critically think about was the environmental aspect. Thank fully i had done a lot of research on the impact f using chemicals such as caustic soda and alum etc, and so i could tell these to them. However it still was a difficult concept for them to grasp.

Although today we went into great detail of every stage related to paper making, i felt that within the time i had now, it was better to focus on just the packaging products. However i could see a lot of excitement for making paper and i hope that we will be able to explore some of that too:)

I went straight to Shama's place on the day i arrived at Anegundi. We had a chat about the suggestions she had for areas that i could help develop as well, what i would like to work on. I also told her about the idea i had for reviving the paper making unit. She seemed to be very excited about it. Shama was very cool about any new possibilities and explorations that i wanted to do. But she really wanted me to work on the packaging for local that they were planning to sell at their local sante on every full moon. ..and also some small souvenirs made from papier mache.

We spoke in detail about many of the questions i had in relation to the set up and the revival of the paper making. I knew there was a lot that i would have to find out for myself once i was there, as no longer was Shama actively involved with the functioning of the Kishkinda trust.

i thought a good starting point would be the making the packaging for the food, as the initial basic process for papermaking and the papier mache would be similar.

Shama mentioned that the women had begun to make a paper pulp for paper from the basic recipe i had sent her.

After shama's and my chat i made a quick mind map of the few things i could focus on while i was there. The main would have been the packaging considering i had just 8-9 days. But drying of the products would take a considerable amount of time and so i felt that i could try my hand at some other options such as using large amounts of woven banana fibre mats that were lying around in the workshop and lots of coconuts too. (This i had noticed the previous time i went there.) Shama in particular wanted a design for a small pencil case too.

very coool source

http://practicalaction.org/docs/technical_information_service/papermaking.pdf

http://www.awagami.com/basics.html#fibers

paper making with fibres

http://www.missioncreekpress.com/plants.htm