TriShan Organisation

PROJECT & PROGRAM Program 1: Responsible Tourism Services In fact, there has been a boom in national and international tourism in recent years in Ha Giang region, the land known as paradise on earth. People are attracted by the pure beauty of Vietnam’s nature and the character of its people, which are at their best in this region. Spectacular scenery of green mountains, winding rivers, flowing valleys and serpentine roads are the distinguishing features. They are also won over by the distinctive culture of our hill tribe minorities. This tourism boom presents a potential threat to the many beautiful values that local people hold dear. This situation has been happening in villages such as Sapa where many minority people stopped farming to join a group of street earners although they do not have any commercial skills in hand. We believe that these problems will be solved by a model of responsible tourism. As the result of the research, a new ini­tia­tive to cre­ate a responsible tourism program has been launched, aims to: - Reduce poverty, a long-term sustainable vision to continue to provide work, and provide a working example for other tourism providers around the world. - Create job opportunities for the local people through services like homestays, tourism activities: trekking, motorbiking, volunteering,… - Preserve traditional cultural values and encourage social responsibility for stakeholders, and develop a respectful relationship between tourists and the local population. Program 2: Building Capacity For Local Ethnic Minority Youth Ha Giang is a province with the potential of tourism and economic valuable in green tea, Shan tea and herbal tea. However, local people don’t know how to develop their strengthens, it makes the youth go to big cities to get a job which is the today-trend. TriShan’s vocational training aims to help disadvantaged hill tribe youth, enabling these disadvantaged hill-tribe teenagers to acquire skills, knowledge essential for improving their quality of life and stay on human dignity. Realizing more of their potential and enjoy expanded capabilities to address their problems. Every year, we enable 30 disadvantaged hill tribe youth to acquire working and life skills and essential knowledge for improving their quality of life. The training is real life applicable, can solve reality problems from what they are facing in their community, aimed at shaping think globally-act locally. Project 3: Market Access for the rural poor through sustainable value chain development of national heritage tea - Ancient Shan Tuyet tea Shan Tuyet from Ha Giang is both known domestically and internationally: In 1960, the scholar Mr. MK Djemukhatze of the USSR Academy of Sciences wrote in the visitor’s book of Suoi Giang: “I have traveled across 120 countries which have tea trees in the world but I’ve not seen anywhere there are perennial tea trees like Shan Tuyet tea. Whether this is the place where the tea tree came from - the tea here is unique. In the bowl of green tea, there are all the 18 tastes of the top tea types in the world." The scientist also researched on the North Vietnamese tea plants and published a book in 1976. Djemukhatze could confirm that the Vietnamese tea trees in the north are the ancestor trees of its kind. The fact that it has been recognized as a Vietnamese natural heritage contributes to protecting the genetic resources of the well-known tea species. Ha Giang belongs to one of the regions in Vietnam where the indigenous culture of the Baiyue people (including North Vietnam and the southern bank of the river Yangtze of China) has been preserved for a long time. They possess a vast knowledge of ancient Vietnamese national botanical culture. Many valuable practices like tea drinking and the processing methods of stuffing it in bamboo tubes have been preserved until today by the ethnic minorities in Yunnan and northern Vietnam. Scientists have found out and shown that this way of processing has created a very precious tea that is very beneficial to our health with seven different types of probiotics - the best product can only be manufactured of the thick Shan tea leaves that have a high content of starch. Since the 1970s, the processing methods have been restored in China’s famous tea region Yunnan in order to market a famous tea brand - the Pu-erh tea (also referred to as Pu'er tea). The tea has a very high commercial value and could win customers in many countries around the world. The story of the traditional tea culture was thus used commercially and has been spread to the whole world and led to a better income to the local people in the Yunnan region. Many European countries import thousands of tons of Chinese Pu'er tea per year. Important to know is that many Vietnamese areas around Ha Giang provide the Chinese traders with the valuable resource of Shan tea that is subject to the traders’ famous brand name. The revenues, unfortunately, do not stay with the local Vietnamese people but go to the Chinese traders. A national, traditional product - the Shan tea - has become non-national and commercialized. The livelihood opportunities for the local Vietnamese farmers from the tea plants are consequently still very limited and furthermore subject to price volatility on the international market. Other reasons are the following: -Advanced processing technology and product promotion is missing due to a mainly local consumption. -Companies providing the raw material for the intermediate trade purchase at a low price from the farmer to export at large scale. -Few companies implements Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Fair Trade policies. TriShan's solutions to the target groups and generates revenue: -Establish the relationship between Highland CDS and the local cooperative of tea farmers; the relationship based on the principles of Fair Trade (FLO Certification). -Develop a brand identity, including copyright -Help with technical to produce Pu'er tea cakes, matcha