The shelves are full, and our resolve is stronger than ever.
If you've been following our recent emails (this one and this one) you'll know that we've all been waiting for this shipment to arrive for a very long time. You’ll also know that the future of how day-to-day life will feel in Burma is currently on a knife-edge. Nobody knows what this afternoon will bring, let alone tomorrow, next week or next year.
I’ve spoken before about trying to reconcile the many strands that are involved in running a business in Burma. About what to do on a day where encouraging sales of tumblers for gin and tonics feels totally impervious to the current emotions of the people who made them.
The balance has always been a challenge; marrying the trivial with the brutal. And the current situation in Burma has electrified this challenge.
But even before 1st February, so much of Myanmar was in a precarious state; everyday troubles continue all over the country, coup or no coup. The decades-long disputes between the army and armed ethnic groups rumble on, and over 35 million people try to eke out an existence on less than £1.40 a day.
So while we and our Yangon colleagues are devastated by what is going on and fearful about what happens next, our mission hasn’t changed. If anything, it has been reinforced. We are absolutely committed to supporting our makers. If they can’t be sure of whether their friends and family will be safe tomorrow, at least if they can carry on making their products, and know that Kalinko will continue to buy them regardless of the political situation, they can retain some stability.
So we are thrilled that our shipment has finally arrived and that the warehouse shelves are full again. It means the cycle can continue and we can help with some continuity for the makers in the midst of this crisis.
Their products are totally beautiful. So if you are looking for some tumblers for your gin and tonics, which in the context of a rather bleak wintery lockdown are totally necessary, then please buy them from us rather than from a huge company. The impact is tangible, quick, and totally direct.
