Tnalak Tau Sebu prestige

What is it about?

We, the Tboli women of Lake Sebu in South Cotabato, Philippines, would like to present to the world our traditional and all natural hand-woven Tnalak Fabric.

For generations, Tnalak fabric has empowered us and given us prestige in our community.

By participating in our crowdfunding you will contribute to ensuring that Tnalak will continue empowering the Tboli women of today and our daughters tomorrow, so that we continue shaping the future of our communities.

Today, in this globalised and modern market, to obtain a fair price for our prestige Tnalak, we need to upgrade our marketing. We need your help to put in place our quality control and branding system to guarantee the authenticity of our Tnalak from our forests to our customers wherever they are.

What is Tnalak Tau Sebu?

Weaving of T’nalak is our way of life, a tradition that has been handed down from ancestors to the next generations. Tnalak is hand-woven from fibres stripped from abaca plants found around lake Sebu and hand coloured with natural dyes from local plants.

We, the weavers, design the T’nalak cloth from the memories of our dreams. Each design represents a story connected to the life of the Tboli people. The production of the T’nalak fabric contributes to the preservation of our way of life, our environment and of our rich cultural heritage.

Who we are

We are Tboli – an indigenous people from lake Sebu (Tau Sebu) South Cotobato Mindanao, Philippines. We are the inheritors of the tradition of dream weaving Tnalak cloth.

We represent 750 women weavers. Our 8 producer associations and cooperatives have come together to form a federation (the TTS inc.) to defend and promote our product. We have been working on defining the quality as well as developing a common marketing strategy and brand (a Geographical Indication).

Why do we need your participation?

We need some capital investments (CHF 6000, or some PHP 280000) before we can guarantee and label our product as the authentic high quality Tnalak, and thereby ensure a fair income to the 750 weavers of our community.

This investment would cover the final development of a logo and label by a professional designer, the purchase of a computer and printer and other tools to print these labels, a camera and initial salary of our staff.

We would also like to celebrate the launching of our Geographical Indication by organising a celebration, to which you are all invited here in Lake Sebu, so any money we obtain above the CHF 6000 will go to this event.

Please join us

Please join us in our efforts, so that we can earn a decent living from our high quality natural Tnalak and thereby preserve our traditions and environment! We have a number of perks for all of you who will help us on our way (please see in the column on the right). Once this capital investment is in place, we will be able to earn decent income from our products.

This will improve our families’ lives, but also empower us to gain respect, reinforce our participation in the shaping of our communities, and help us preserve the Tboli way of life and our forests. Thank you for your support.

Tey Bong Slamat be kuy tobong kum – Thank you for your support (in Tboli)

Pictures of the tokens

Below you will find the pictures of the tokens described on your right. These tokens are to thank-you for your support.

Please note also that all backers in Switzerland will be invited to a presentation of the Tnalak Tau Sebu adventure by Peter in the spring of 2016.

All backers based in the Philippines are invited to visit lake sebu any time, and learn at the school of living tradition how the handicrafts are made.