Living Our Past

Outline:

     I.            Maintaining handicrafts have salient and indispensable importance in our life since it helps in overcoming unemployment, reinforcing the economy, and enhancing tourism in one’s country.

 II.            A) Maintaining handicrafts dwindles the rate of unemployment.

1-  generating employment for 24% of Italian citizens

2-  providing the chance for undergraduates to fabricate handicrafts by Steve Heron

B) Sustaining handicrafts reinforce the economy

1- depending on crafts as 95% of the total products in Japan

2-helping Indian woman rise a family’s income in their                                                                        villages

        C) Preserving handicrafts enhances the tourism.

        1- visiting Saudi Arabia every year to see the latest crafts

2-depending on tourists in Myanmar to sell crafts

III.            To sum it up with, generating employment, reinforcing the economy, and enhancing tourism is what handicrafts maintain.

Living Our Past

“Maintaining one’s culture, values, traditions, and handicrafts are beyond price.” Gaetano Lui’s quote asserts and alludes that it is priceless to hold on and preserve our cultural heritage especially handicrafts which have salient importance that makes them a cornerstone in the past, and the salt of the earth in the present. Sustaining handicrafts displays the civilization of one, though it is good as gold to pass it to the next generations. Maintaining handicrafts have salient and indispensable importance in our life since it helps in overcoming unemployment, reinforcing the economy, and enhancing tourism in one’s country.

   To begin with, maintaining handicrafts dwindles the rate of unemployment. To illustrate, in Italy, 24% of national employees belong to the crafts sector, which also employs 1/5 of the private sector workers, among whom 100,000 perform high-quality production, Italian crafts exports represent17% of the Gross Domestic Products(GDP). Moreover, Steve Heron (1926-2013), who was an American worker in the handicrafts sector, considered crafts of worth its weight of gold. In his childhood, he learnt to manufacture some from his mother and continued creating different fascinating crafts. He also built a small workshop in ship design and provided the chance for some people especially the undergraduates to work without requesting money or degrees.

    Moreover, sustaining handicrafts reinforces the economy in myriad ways.  For instance, Japan, which is at the peak of economic development, has considered 84% of its industries as small and medium scale industries. In countries, such as India and China, handicrafts are as high as the merchandised products in quality. These countries focus on the development of the handicrafts industry, in order to strengthen the economy. Furthermore, GEP “the Gross roots Empowerment Project”, a UK charity encourages Indian women villagers to fabricate handicrafts and sell them to raise funds for the family. This project began in a small way in 2010 with an investment of €300 to help a small group of women to start to use their traditional sewing skills to make and sell quilts based on local designs using discarded saris and other items. Today, there are 25 sewing machines with 80 participants gaining €1000 as their salary, with more waiting to be trained.

    Added to that, preserving our customs and traditions reinforces tourism in one’s country. As an example, handicrafts as cultural souvenirs play the main role in enhancing tourism too. Many countries, considering handicrafts as the main core in tourism development, establish the tourism facilities near main handicraft production centers. Some try, like Saudi Arabia, to show their originality and identity by offering new products made through a combination of their national symbols with their handicrafts. Festivals like Jenadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival, which is held in Saudi Arabia, combines all the exhibits where traditional craftsmen practice their skills. Such a festival is waited for by thousands of tourists around the world to be held. Besides, sales of traditional handicrafts always increase when more tourists come to Myanmar. Myanmar’s arts and crafts industry and its tourism are directly related to each other. Sales of handicrafts increase with the rise of the number of tourists as it decreases with the cutback of tourists’ number. Between 2007 and 2010, figures from Myanmar’s Immigration and National Registration Department show that the percentage of selling crafts increased by 25% as the number of tourists rose with additional 20,000 tourists to 25,000 ones. To sum it up with, generating employment, reinforcing the economy, and enhancing tourism are what handicrafts maintain. In my opinion, countries, especially Lebanon, should take procedures to sustain their cultural heritage and handicrafts. This can be accomplished by composing exhibits where traditional craftsmen practice their skills or adhering to age-old customs and traditions. If we can’t enjoy the modernity in Lebanon, we have to at least live the past and preserve our antique traditions and customs.