When you show a local artisan a new design or a new way to do something, you don’t only get good crafts for your resort.

You also give him new opportunities.

Because with this new skill, or those new ideas, he can expand his own business and creativity.

We have been working for a few month with a local rattan artisan, and spent time at his workshop discussing techniques and design.

It will seem very small for most of you, but for me, this is part of a sustainable approach (we could have saved time and money by ordering online).

When you give money to someone, you give one, he gets one. Then, you don’t have this money anymore. And he has it, until he spends it.

You TRANSFER value.

But when you give ideas, share designs and skills, you still have all this knowledge. And the other has it as well.

You DUPLICATE value.

Below is an example of a handmade rattan mirror we made with a local entrepreneur in the back of his house.

It wad a trial-and-error work, and in the end, this is the result we decide to keep and work with for our bathrooms.

Most of everything we build on the island is handmade, and has its own story.