Latest update May 7th, 2024 12:10 AM
Aug 17, 2020 News
There is a deep, lasting, and systemic benefit to society and the environment when local entrepreneurship is fostered at the micro-level. The cumulative impact of small and medium sized local entrepreneurship pervades all aspects of the development agenda: capacity building, quality of life, sustainable stimulation of the local economy, proliferation of choices for the populace, security, gender equality, environmental stewardship, etc.
In fact, social enterprises are now acknowledged by organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and other international development and financial institutions to be sine qua non, or essential, to sustainable development. Social enterprises are businesses that trade for a social purpose: their primary purpose is the achievement of social and/or environmental targets. While they generate some of their income from traditional business pursuits, their mandate must include sound business management and solvency as well as social and environmental gains.
Rupununi Essence Inc. (REI), a company created through the efforts of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) working in collaboration with Indigenous Makushi Peoples of the North Rupununi Savannahs, is one of the more elegant and successful social enterprises in the English-speaking Caribbean. REI is owned jointly by the North Rupununi District Development Board, the Makushi Research Unit and the Medicine from Trees group. This social enterprise is now in its fifth year and produces a deluxe facial cleanser, Rupununi Essence Luxury Facial Cleanser, which has acquired a cult following among Guyanese, expatriates and a growing number of individuals in the Diaspora. The product is a cosmeceutical; it is a cosmetic product with functional ingredients which generates skin health through anti-bacterial, anti-viral, cleansing and restorative skin functions.
The Indigenous Peoples of Guyana as the earliest peoples to continually inhabit Guyana’s hinterland areas have an enduring and invaluable knowledge. This knowledge, developed over more than 7, 000 to 10, 000 years on how to live and thrive in their chosen places of habitat, is referred to by Professor Suresh Narine, the Director of IAST, as “KNEW knowledge.” In fact, Professor Narine credits the coining of this term to Professor Dan Longboat, a Professor at Trent University belonging to the Mohawk People who is also a citizen of the Haudenosaunee – People of the Longhouse.
Rupununi Essence was born out of collaboration between NEW Knowledge and KNEW Knowledge. The NEW knowledge refers to the modern science that staff members of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology was able to apply to the KNEW Knowledge of forest botanicals and their functions, valuable rainforest species and traditional ways of extracting botanical actives that are held by Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples. The resulting product has become iconic, first and foremost for its functional properties which are extolled by a growing number of users on social media and other dissemination platforms. Because the products are produced utilizing an innovative social enterprise structure, the product also allows customers to derive a sense of social justice, environmental stewardship, forest conservation and climate change intervention every time a bottle of the well-packaged product is purchased.
The product begins its life in the rainforests, particularly in the watersheds of the Rupununi and Essequibo Rivers. In these remote river valleys, giant Crabwood trees, also prized for their mahogany hardwood, seasonally shed their pods. These pods make their way in the rainy seasons into the tributaries and streams which lead to these two mighty rivers. The Crabwood pods are collected by the Makushi Peoples and after an intricate process which takes up to 21 days, the Crabwood Oil is extracted using a traditional process and an Amerindian tool called the matapi. The oil, which has for thousands of years been used and extracted by Indigenous Peoples in the various regions of Guyana, was first analyzed by Narine as a young Professor at the University of Alberta in Canada, many years ago. At the irrepressible urging of Annette Arjoon-Martins, local environmental advocate and one of the founders of the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society, Narine’s graduate students at the University of Alberta assessed the Physico-Chemical attributes of the oil.
The study confirmed the reports of Crabwood Oil which had been in the Spanish-language and Portuguese-language scientific literature for some time; the oil is replete with anti-viral, anti-bacterial, moisturizing and restorative compounds. Further discussions with other scientists such as Dr. Ulric Trotz, the founding Director of the IAST, led to a sustaining interest by the local research institution in the oil and its benefits.
It was to take a period of nearly ten years before the IAST had amassed sufficient institutional knowledge of the crabwood oil and acquired the requisite processing and analytical equipment as well as the collaborative relationships with the Makushi People to begin to embark on the project which has created the superlative product, which has become as much a sought after iconic Guyana gift as some of the more enduring rums for which the country is so well known.
The collaboration required the employment of a novel approach, which Narine describes as Cultural Diplomacy – another term borrowed from a Professor at Trent University, Professor Jonathan Bordo. Bordo studies Cultural Diplomatics in the context of “Place” and he and Narine are long-time collaborators on the application of this emerging discipline in social enterprise. “There is a kind of spontaneous combustion that occurs,” Narine enthusiastically declares, “when under a traditional benab, deep in the heart of the Rupununi Savannahs, material scientists, chemists, economists and Indigenous Elders sit down to break Cassava Bread and share solutions. It is a deeply rewarding experience which requires mutual respect and a commitment to understanding and sharing each other’s values.”
It was to take several more years after the formal process of engagement and forging of partnerships between the Institute and the Makushi Research Unit and Medicine from Trees women’s group were to settle on a dominant design of the product. This was then followed by an intense period of chemical, physical and allergenicity tests. Concurrently, supply side logistics, process development, quality control protocols and marketing, pricing and packaging strategies needed to be developed. Doing all of this without transformative capital and operational funding was a challenge, and here, Narine credits the philanthropy of Guyanese who are always willing to join hands across the cultural tapestry; “many individuals, such as the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohammed-Martin, donated their time and expertise. In Professor Mohammed-Martin’s case, she developed the video advertising for the product which was shot on location by her volunteer team, all free of cost.”
“Anyone can make a thing,” Narine says, “it takes many helping hands and constant focus to make a good thing. I am grateful to the many people who have and are still providing their expertise and assistance as we navigate through the life cycle of boot strapping a sustainable social enterprise which is vertically integrated from the rainforests to your bathrooms and beauty parlours. That is a remarkable journey.”
Kaieteur News has learnt that the company is waiting to launch several other products to its line-up; a facial exfoliant and restorative mask being among them. All of these have been developed by the IAST and its Makushi collaborators from Rupununi botanicals. Rupununi Essence products are available at Pharmacies, Supermarkets and Beauty Supply stores in Guyana as well at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and from the IAST by calling 222-4215 or ordering the products through Instagram or Facebook. Deliveries during COVID-19 restrictions are available from the IAST.
GRA catch EXXON trying to hunch GUYANA over 11 BUS dollars in one shot!!!!
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