Roger Ong
CoronaChampions is a new interview series exploring how Japanese sustainable organizations and brands are meeting the challenges from the coronavirus threat head on.
Please tell us about the ethical brand, Sulci!
Sulci has a workshop in Cebu Island, Philippines. By providing Japanese crocheting technology, we create a place with jobs for unemployed Filipino women who want to work. We operate with the motto “Clearing a future path women in the Philippines with one crochet needle!”. Sulci makes bags using crochet using raffia, a natural material. The finished bags are then sold at major department stores and on e-commerce sites in Japan.
How has Sulci been affected by the coronavirus pandemic?
We had prepared a package departing from Cebu Island before the air routes were closed in the Philippines. However, it has not reached us yet. Within was an OEM product in the package, but I’ve been unable to deliver it nor collect on it.
Furthermore, our pop-up stores at department stores were canceled since April, which was a source of income for us.
The coronavirus lockdown overseas included the fields, and it became difficult to receive the raffia thread from Bohol Island (the supplier of the raffia thread). As such, the raffia thread was not available to our crocheters. We are unable to get work to continue, and their source of income has been cut.
How are you responding to the issues, especially with the stopping of work process?
An acquaintance of mine is improving SEO measures and increase our sales online. Regardless, we are going to have fun by conducting virtual trips to Cebu Island through videos, take Japanese people to Cebu Island, visit local workshops and crocheters’ houses, see the crochet process, tour the market etc. I want to interact with the local crocheters online, while using it to enable sales of the bags.
Do give a word of encouragement for our readers!
Every one of us has a unique power. If we can hold out through this situation, the time will come when we can fully unlease that power!
