The Beginning of the End

It is the first day of our last week here in Goa. For the Oscars junction group, that means material sourcing and prototyping. With little time left, it is important we stay on schedule. 20170529_130439

Our challenge is to make a grocery bag with locally sourced sustainable material that’s is uniquely Goan for Oscars Junction. The bag also has to be easy enough for the women of Kiran Niketan to make it in their homes or in the community center.

Jake and I started off the day by heading into Margo with Sarah and Aaron to do our second round of material shopping. While shopping, I saw a woman in the crowed of people with a reusable bag, I walked over to speak with her. With a sense of pride, she told me that she was born and raised in Goa and that she always brings a reusable bag to shop in order to avoid using plastic bags. It was good to see this kind of thinking locally and that people are willing to talk about the initiative. These are the kinds of shoppers we want to appeal to for the project. After managing the crowds in the hot beaming sun, we were on our way to the car when Aaron spotted someone else with a Jute reusable bag. We spoke to them, they explained they bought if from a well-known grocery store, Star Bazar. The proceeds of the bag go towards children’s education which made their purchase mean more than just buying a regular bag.

When we arrived back at the guest house, the prototyping was already on its way with Maddy and Michael. After lunch, we got to work eminently because we need to have a ready version to show our client Ashford tomorrow. With little time left every moment count for us.