eHomemakers Malaysia

Though the whole experience at Club Med was great, there were two occasions that I will not forget, in a looooong time. Let's call them the Suit & Tie Incident and the Unexpected Friend. The Suit & Tie Incident Just as I was about to leave home for Club Med, I got a text from Daniel (part of our EnWeave training group already in Club Med) saying they’ve organised for a ‘Special’ Fine Dining for that night’s dinner and I had to wear a suit and tie. For any other person, dressing up isn’t such a big deal, but I despise dressing up. For me putting on shoes with the usual shorts and slippers might as well be formal wear. :p But I thought since my friends had taken the time to organise something special, I suppose dressing up isn't that bad. So I packed my suit and drove off to Club Med. Later that night I dressed in full formal complete with dress shoes, coat and tie. I didn’t like it but thought, it's not that bad. But when I got to the resort's lobby, I st...

Beautiful beaches, endless flow of food, and the smiles of friendly people at every turn. A week at Club Med is indeed a great getaway from the dull routine life of KL. The usual smell of exhaust from the wayyyyy too many cars replaced by crisp clear air heavy with sea salt, the constant crashing of waves in the distant, and the beautiful green fields truly delight the senses. Apart from just a good break though, the past week here at Club Med really has been amazing. For starters, I've had a chance to try a bunch of thing pretty hard to come by in KL, else they're just far too expensive for me. From sailing to rock climbing to the TreeTop Challenge (Club Med's version of Sky Treks), the activities available definitely did keep me busy, challenged and well entertained. The highlight of among them would be the Trapeze. Swinging around and posing in mid-air is a lot harder that it looks, not that it looks easy to start with. Just today, my knees slipped off the Trapeze bar ...

Team 2 at Club Med At first glance, weaving a basket seems fairly simple. Looking back at the first time I learnt how to weave a basket, I’m embarrassed to say, but it was a total catastrophe. I remember going through a whole whirlwind of emotions “I am so not good with craft, why am I doing this?” Nevertheless, I got through what seemed like an impossible task at that time.Amazingly, I was rewarded after. Teaching some very keen learners Learning to weave is one thing. Teaching however, is a whole different ball game. Sometimes it was a challenge. Other times, it was like hopping from one country to another (being able to meet people of so many different nationalities), With each person I taught, I developed a new appreciation toward the ladies in our project who worked so hard to make a living.  Spending the day with some gorgeous GO's on their day off                         ...

Family Nature Fun, Club Med's two-month-long event in June and July 2015 at its first eco-nature resort in Cherating, Malaysia. In conjunction with its campaign to promote nature, arts, and wellness, eHomemakers was invited to the resort to teach tourists how to weave baskets out of magazine paper s . For one month, a team of 4 people were successively sent up to Cherating for  eight  days at a time and were required to host a weaving class for 2 hours a day .  Rolls for tourists were made before Club Med days so that they could learn to weave. Each ecobasket needs  approximately 120 rolls. My team ,  Rhonwyn, Daniel, Rui Ci and myself,  was the 3rd  team  to be sent up  to Club Med . We were surprised by the good turnout of tourists to our sessions.   We got to meet people of all ages from all over the world and had interesting conversations with them while weaving. Team 3, with Rhonwyn behind the camera. The sig...

During the summer of 2015, eHomemakers was invited to organize a one-month eco-basket weaving workshop in Club Med Cherating Beach in conjunction with its Family Nature Fun event. The event was filled with a myriad of lively activities of various themes such as art and dance, wellness, eco love, music and magic. Club Med's Family Nature Fun event The eco-basket weaving workshop falls under the theme eco love. A little introduction to eco-baskets: they are baskets hand-woven from used magazines by the EnWeave Community, a group of female weavers who are of low-income and disadvantaged. This community is part of Salaam Wanita, a pro-poor community project by eHomemakers.  I was one of the instructors for the workshop. During my time in Club Med and organizing the workshop, it was evident how this workshop fulfilled the aim of Club Med’s Family Nature Fun event perfectly in all three aspects.   (Left to right) Rui Ci, Shu Anne, Rhonwyn and D...

The best part about our weaving session was that it was a very family friendly activity. Children and adults of all ages could take part in it, and we’d cater according to their capabilities and time constraints. For example, children who were younger and not so sturdy with their hands weren’t left out as Uncle Asok taught them how to make rolls, the foundation of basket weaving. This little team of cousins and their enthusiastic energy was surely a delight to work with!  It was pretty funny, but mostly cute, when the two boys kept on asking to learn how to weave a different basket that was on sale when the little girl just kept rolling diligently.  Personally, I was delightfully surprised to find children interested in our session. Unlike the usual glue and scissors arts and craft, weaving a basket required much more patience.  In the picture below, we have a pair of sisters working on an eco-basket together. Despite getting...

The 9th of June 2015 marked EnWeave Community’s first group of volunteer’s first day at Club Med. For context and the benefit of you readers, EnWeave was lucky to be a part of Club Med’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and carry out weaving sessions in conjunction with their Family Nature Fun programme.  Aside from raising awareness about upcycling, it was also a good opportunity to promote the art of weaving to Club Med guests. As soon as we arrived Club Med Cherating, Team 1 was greeted by the extremely hospitable staff and especially a man named James, who made sure we were well accommodated. We settled into our rooms in no time as we had help with our luggage and the baskets plus materials we’d brought. One of the first few things that overwhelmed us was the energy everyone had at this resort, always up and going! We knew it was going to be an exciting week ahead. True enough, day one of conducting our weaving session, we were delightf...