Seki

So on Monday night I took off for Seki (Sheck-e) with two other workers from NHE. We took the overnight train, which was clearly built during Soviet times. It was old, slow, and loud, and the ride was not all that smooth, but I was able to get some good sleep.

We arrived into Seki early the next morning, and started off our day with a visit to the NHE office up there, and then we went to a micro-finance program that works closely with NHE. There we were put into contact with a local guy who works in honey production, and it was quite interesting to see the production process they use to abstract the honey, but I don't think being an apiarist is in my future.

From there we met up with a local painter and potter. Both of these men's work is pretty incredible, and the potter is a 5th generation potter, and even I can recognize the high quality pottery this guy produces. Some of the products we sell in the store are the potter's pieces with painting from the local artist. It is all very nice stuff and quite functional as well.

After a lunch break, we walked around town some more, looking for other potential partners in the project. We spent awhile talking to a guy who makes wood boxes of every size, decorated by hand-beaten metal to decorate the exterior of the boxes. We then went to a store that sells some locally produced silk scarves, and asked the guy if we could see where the scares are made. He promptly drove us to the small factory, and showed us a bit of the production process and some of the products they make. Here is a picture of an oil boiler they use to imprint different designs on their products.

Overall, it was a fun trip, and although somewhat tiring, it was nice to get out of the big city for awhile and breath some nice fresh air. I will generally be making trips like this about once a week or so, and keep looking for updates.