Beads of hope - how one village recovered from a typhoon

A village was devastated by a typhoon in 2009.  Thanks to a ceramic bead workshop, the villagers are busy learning new skills to make a living. More than three years later, now the village is reborn from typhoon disaster.  

The Typhoon Morakot Disaster

In 2009, August 6 to August 10, Typhoon Morakot swept through the south and southeast part of Taiwan. Due to the record rainfall (equivalent to the entire year rainfall), the flood and the accompanying landslides and mudslides caused a catastrophic damage to the southern and southeastern Taiwan. It was believed that 461 people were dead and 192 others were missing, most of whom were feared dead. The total damage was roughly NT$ 110 billion ($3.3 billion USD). It was the worst flooding in Taiwan history since 1959. Among those worst hit villages, Jialan, located at Jinfeng Township of Taitung County, is one of them. 

A house from Jialan village was washed away by typhoon Morakot in 2009.

Jialan Bayi Workshop

The majority of residents in Jialan are Paiwan, an aboriginal tribe of Taiwan. After Typhoon Morakot, the affected households in the village received temporary placement and relief fund from government.  But to start their own new life, they had to find a way of generating steady income. Fortunately, the local Community Development Association had an idea of how to rebuild the village.  They want to help the villagers to learn new craft skills so they can make a living for them self. They want to rebuild Jialan so it is perceived as a tribe with pride.  They don’t want Jialan to be perceived as a tribe that relies on allowance received from government.

To accomplish the goal set by CDA, "Jialan Bayi Workshop" was founded with grant from government on April 19, 2010. "Bayi" is a word used to address Paiwan women intimately. The majority of the participants at Jialan Bayi Workshop, which concentrates on ceramic beads craft, are indeed women. The workshop has a two-month training courses.  Some of the instructors are from the nearby university.  At the workshop, the participants will learn the basic technique of making ceramic bead that includes preparation of the pottery clay. After they finish the training, they'll go back to their houses and make ceramic beads and the ceramic bead jewelries such as bracelets and necklaces with their own style and design. Working at home also enables them to take care of their young kids at the same time.

The sign of Jialan Bayi workshop

Women participated at Jialan Bayi workshop.

The goals at Bayi workshop are twofold. (1) To preserve and carry on the traditional Paiwan bead handicraft. The ceramic beads with "Jialan flavor" will be developed through the workshop training. (2) To heal the wounded soul of many Jialan people and to improve their living standard. After Typhoon Morakot, many people lose all they had. Some had trouble to bring food to the table, some even rely on anti-depression drugs for temporal relieve of their pain inside. Fortunately, the establishment of Bayi workshop keeps their mind occupied and gives them a hope for the future. Many Jialan families are now able to bring home a steady income thank to the training at the Bayi workshop and the many years of hard working.

In the early development phase, the ceramic beads made by Bayi workshop participants are mainly based on the traditional style. For many varieties of traditional Paiwan glass beads, each one has its own name and blessed implication. For example, the "Bead of the Noble" is the keepsake for tribe chief; the "Bead of Tears of the Sun" means thinking of you; the "Bead of the Land" is a symbol for harvest; and the "Bead of Peacock" is the expression of love. To give a particular Paiwan bead is like giving that special blessing perfuse from that bead. But for the future development phases, it is very important to have the higher standard in quality and artistic design if Jialan wants to compete with other tribes’ ceramic beads. Only through innovative, a truly ceramic bead business can be sustainable at Jialan.

In addition to making ceramic beads, they also make value-added products with artistic styles such as bracelet, necklace, earring, key ring, hairpin, stationery, oil cup and other items that have practical use in daily life.

Ceramic bead products such as bracelet, necklace, earring, key ring.

Ceramic products such as stationary, oil cup, hair pin.

Jialan reborn through Living-room Studio

Liya Hu was one of the first trainees at Jialan Bayi workshop and had started her own ceramic beads business.  Her studio is just at a corner of her living room. She designs the art work and has her own brand name, which is called Giivai (means love in Paiwan language). Her artist husband calls it "to love" because they received so many love from the society after Typhoon Morakot. Now they want to give the love back to the society.  Liya Hu frequently modifies her design by studying other studio works and the feedbacks from her customers. Her unique bright and appealing design style brings her large quantity of orders, so does a steady family income.

Liya Hu works at her living room studio.

The unique “Giivai” (to love) ceramic beads designed by Liya Hu.

Just like Liya Hu’s studio, many households in Jialan now have their own ceramic bead studios. With the love and blessing from the society, Jialan village is indeed reborn and even stronger than before.

A picture of Jialan Bayi Workshop took on June 2013

Note: part of the story is translated from  Traveler Qiongyin.