Partner of two artisan workshops in Madagascar, Passer'ailes imports and distributes handcrafted objects using mostly recycled materials.
Who is Passer'ailes ?
Passer'ailes is a solidarity trade company, created in 2004 in Gironde, to promote and distribute the creations of tinsmiths of Madagascar.
Passer'ailes does not intervene in the management of the workshop. It then takes over to establish a link with the outside world and broaden the horizons of Malagasy craftsmen. In France, through a light structure, Passer'ailes adapts its commercial offer to the fluctuating production capacities of the workshop and makes its partners aware of this constraint.
The distribution of the products respects the rules of ethical trade. "Buying fair trade is not a generous act but a balanced trade where everyone, craftsmen and consumers, can find their way. On this condition, the exchange will be sustainable and will bring hope for a real development for the craftsmen. Passer'ailes rigorously controls its costs, limits the number of intermediaries, and is committed to paying a fair price for the work of each person so that the price of the objects remains in line with their manufacturing costs. Its commercial margins are established.
Kabambî adheres to the Passer'Ailes operating principles and respects the recommended prices, considered as "ethically correct" by Passer'Ailes.
A showcase for the know-how and creativity of these craftsmen who are forging a more dignified daily life with their hammers, Passer'ailes invites encounters by building a bridge between two worlds that time has separated.
NEW: the foundry workshops ofAmbatolampy
These workshops of aluminium founders are all grouped in a village located at 70 kms from Tananarive. They are very old family businesses that mainly make cooking pots from recycled aluminium (engine heads, aluminium profiles...). The new generations are trying to renew themselves by working with companies such as Passer'ailes but it is only the beginning.
The workshop of Miis'Art'Dines
The Miis'Art'Dines workshop uses paper and recycled cardboard to make cheerful and colourful mobiles. The know-how and creativity of these free-hand craftsmen offer us a unique range of lively and beautiful objects for the home.
The marketing of Passer'ailes products respects the values of fair trade by promoting sustainable exchanges and the development of the workshops it supports in Madagascar.
Miis'Art'Dines - A story of women and sardines! More info on Miisa, the founder and coordinator of the workshop by clicking here.
For this range of objects made in Madagascar from recycled sheet metal for the home and garden, Kabambî works with Passer'ailes, the importing partner of the Atelier d'Ankazobe, located in the rice fields, a few minutes from the centre of Tananarive. The workshop has been developing at its own pace for ten years, in the heart of an entirely Malagasy universe. Its priority is to offer work and training to those who need it most. The objects are made entirely by hand.
The workshop ofAnkazobe
Violette and Dieudonné, a Malagasy couple who inherited the family tinsmith's business, have developed this project, brick by brick, to counter misery and despair. They refuse fatality and have imagined a workshop, a place of life, where each worker can find a decent life. Today, 400 men and women have built their lives there. Here, there is no assembly line work, no sophisticated tools, people work on the floor and learn with others, always keeping their hands free.
Everyone finds their place, whatever their skills, age or disability. Mothers with their babies, older women, deaf-mute adults, young delinquents, each one is concentrated on his or her task, but the looks we see radiate the same smile, that of rediscovered dignity. Crouched down among the workers, Violette explains, adjusts, organizes the work.
Dieudonné, surrounded by a few attentive craftsmen, draws ambitious projects on the red earth.
The wind that pushes this Noah's ark takes its strength from mutual aid and solidarity. The project is not limited to shaping iron, it accompanies the life of the workers: "We have to master the daily routine, so that everyone can work in serenity" says Dieudonné. So, in the middle of the tools, a canteen and a solidarity grocery store have been set up, to feed themselves and their families better.
But the pride of all is the small school built in the middle of the filled rice field. A hundred children learn to read and write in five impeccably kept classrooms. One day," says Dieudonné with a smile, "we'll build a high school here!
A true and beautiful story... told by each of the Passer'Ailes/ Atelier d'Ankazobé objects!