If we didn't have water restrictions in Australia I'd start making paper again!
Special paper makers
By MANEESHA KARAN
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Fiji Times
Kelera Taukeinikoro with the finished product at the paper factory
"The paper factory ... is it where the paper factory is?" This was the question that was continuously repeated by our driver, Deo, on Thursday on our way up to Wainimakutu Secondary school, which is in the interior of Namosi province.
I didn't know when the three hour drive would end, but Deo's consistent insistence excited me about the paper factory.
We reached our destination just in time - when it was about to finish, and with time left on our side, we went over to have a look at the paper factory.
"Here this is the paper factory!" Deo exclaimed, I had already gathered he was a big fan, but he had managed to captivate photographer Atu's attention as well.
The 'factory' was located near a white graveled river bed and just along the road leading to the Wainimakutu Secondary school. It was a two-room concrete house with a make-shift shed built over the back door.
The first room from the entrance was vacant except for a mat which contained little baskets of flowers and fern. It was joined to the second room, where three boys worked, moving sieves through pale water containing flower petals. Outside were stationed seven women, some sitting near open fires with spoons, and some kneeling down adding content into the pots that were growing dark as night each second - this was where the whole paper-making process began.
This was an extraordinary factory, which had no electronic machines to carry out any process. Every task was carried out manually.
The swirling of spoons in the pots were like the wands of magicians, which created beautiful scented paper.
The environment the village women and young boys worked in amazed me and I felt overwhelmed by the quality of paper they produced.
Kelera Taukeinikoro was 28-years-old when she first started work at the paper-factory 10 years ago. She is now the Supervisor of the paper factory, and she talks about how wonderful the factory has been for the village.
"The factory is one feature that makes the village unique from all other villages in rural areas, and it is something which we are very much proud of," she said.
The factory involves about 70 women and 30 men.
According to Ms Taukeinikoro, the factory gets an order for 1000 sheets per week from Pure Fiji. The sheets are sold at a dollar each to the company.
When asked about how they made paper in the factory, I was met with a smile.
I felt as if I had asked Ms Taukeinikoro to sing out the alphabets from A-Z and back.
"It's not a very long process, we are able to complete one week's order within three days," she said.
The materials for making paper, Ms Taukeinikoro said are the Drala plant and masi, which the women bought from women of other villages or while out marketing in Navua and Suva, for about $30 to $50.
"The plants are boiled with chemicals for about two hours. When the materials grow soft and the smell of the plants has gone, it is taken off the fire and the contents are poured into large containers for cooling."
The liquid is then transferred into a large wooden container, where the flowers and green ferns are added. These additional material provide scent and decorate the paper.
The mixture is then sifted by a man, who hands the sifted material to another man, who assembles them in between pieces of clothes.
Soloreni Tuibuitamna, 21, carried out this task. He first spread out a sheet of cloth, then neatly placed the sifted contents off the sieve onto the cloth. He placed another piece of cloth over the sifted contents, continuing the same process untill he had piled 30 pieces of raw paper.
The whole batch is then placed under a metal compressor to extract water from the contents - this is done by pushing down a lever. After water is extracted, the sheets are placed in a dryer, which bakes the raw sheets into paper. And the end products are taken out hot from the 'oven' and arranged in the first room one on top of the other, containing yellow stickers to keep a tally on the number of leafs produced.
Red 'sinu' flowers and the green ferns were still visible adding Fiji's beauty into the paper. The papers are then transported to Pure Fiji by the villagers.
According to Ms Taukeinikoro there are 10 groups, each consist of seven women and three boys, and only one group works on the week's order.
"Each person in the group takes home more than $50 of profit. It's not much, but it pleases us to earn some money. We don't have to spend much money on food because mostly all of it is grown here in the village which is sufficient to cater for the whole family, but the revenue is helpful in the children's education and helps buy items we can't grow at home such as sugar, salt and flour," said Ms Taukeinikoro.
The next group is responsible for gathering the materials for the next order, and starts work to meet the weekly order.
The paper factory has been receiving an order for a thousand sheets for the past decade.
"The company had increased the order to 3000 sheets a week 10 years ago when we wanted to extend the factory. So when there was enough money to cater for the construction and the painting, the order returned to 1000 sheets. The factory has become a lifeline for some of us," she said.
"Some youths have been in engaged with the factory since they were 10-years-old and have found comfort in earning money by working at the factory," she said.
Ms Taukeinikoro said the factory was the initiative of a 60-year-old woman by the name of Prue Thurnston 10 years ago.
"We are continuing her work today and we treat the factory as a gift by an angel," she said.
